Posts Tagged ‘5513’
Tropical Meters First 5513 Rolex Submariner
Like Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, wabi-sabi has a hold on me. I think what appeals to me so strongly in a tropical dial is that it’s a massive middle finger to the idea of putting a watch in a safe and waiting for appreciation. This is appreciation through love, which to my sensibility is…
Read More5513 Rolex Royal Navy Milsub
There’s something a bit bizarre about spending a quarter million on a military watch because it was once, ‘just a tool’. For example, I wouldn’t spend that on a hammer used to erect a barracks in Iraq because it was also once a tool. I wouldn’t even spend that on Mark Wahlberg because he once…
Read MoreGilt 5513 Rolex Submariner
A true gilt dial just hits different. See, there is no one perfect 5513 dial; there are some less common such as the ‘Bart Simpson’, some more common such as the latter productions with white gold surrounds, some common yet gorgeous such as Maxi dials, some a bit bizarre such as 80s Spider dials, and…
Read More5513 Rolex Royal Navy Milsub
Watches which have lived a full life and have that story to tell on their exterior hold pride of place for many us. In that pantheon, Rolex’s milsubs are arguably the most highly collected military watches of all time. Records denote ~1250 delivered examples across the three reference varieties. The run has everything: slight variation,…
Read MoreMeters First 5513 Rolex Submariner
I (and probably many others) had a collector tell me once, ‘. . .just buy the sub.’ In the previous decade those would have been wise words to adhere to, almost poetic in their truth. The world which we now inhabit, I think it is safe to say, is a bit more nuanced than that.…
Read More5513/7 Double Reference Rolex Royal Navy Milsub
The 5517 is a very rare 5513-derived British Royal Navy Submariner variant. There exist true milsubs which are stamped both as either 5513 or 5517. However, there are few watches which slipped through the Swiss cracks with two references engraved. Much like the 6536/8 is the rarest case engraving of the big crown era, the…
Read MoreA Reasonable, Late, Spider Dial 5513 Rolex Submariner
I think I have a real problem; I’ve started to like all the little nuances that exist in Rolex collecting. I enjoy spotting a rail, floating Tiffany Cosmograph, underline, or exclamation point dial. I know it’s sick. Today I’m writing to feature a lovely example of the late 5513 with white gold surrounds that sports…
Read MoreA Beat, ‘Bart Simpson’ 5513 Rolex Submariner
I like completely fucked watches. As the collector mantra goes ‘condition is everything’. Yet, I think there’s something so honestly charming about a watch which has been worn without regard and the patina which ensues. Additionally, I think it comforts me subconsciously. A watch with abusive wear across all of its components decreases the probability…
Read MoreExplorer-Dial Rolex 5513
5513s are dime-a-dozen and that’s a good thing. Rolex’s production today is about equal the entirety of the rest of Switzerland, combined. Desire for vintage models is huge and the 5513 is a perfect Submariner to meet that demand. However, one of the best things about the 5513 generation is that there is depth within…
Read MoreA Gorgeous Gilt 5513 Submariner
It’s hard to objectively quantify why we like old watches. I trip over my own words writing here all the time in attempts to justify this insane fixation. However, I would assert that if I showed this 5513 and a modern 124060 to the everyman on the street side-by-side, they would understand. This classic gilt…
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