5513 Sub restoration complete

[ADINVA]

my bad. 3 months!

[RFC]

Originally Posted by ADINVA

This is actually and surprisingly reasonable. How long did the entire process take?

During the holidays 3 months from servicing the movement in Arizona to restoring the case in Pennsylvania, then shipping case back to Arizona to encase/water test/regulate movement, to ship final product to Puerto Rico.

[beachboy17]

Great job....i thought this piece and story sounded familiar.

[XavierM]

Beautiful job !
Enjoy :)

[TuRo]

This ^ and why frankly we overate case condition - it can't be picked up on X ray my PhD studies have unearthed, and the real value is in the dial on an old timer !!! Cue the dissent....

[winst]

Looks great - Congratulations!

[mattg6]

Originally Posted by RFC

Really pleased how the restoration of my meters first 5513 ‘68 came out. Phillip Ridley in Arizona overhauled the movement, replaced worn internals, changed the crown, and installed a NOS T19 superdome. Drew and Emily Zimmerman in Pennsylvania refurbished the case to bring it back to original specs. Ridley delivered the watch to me in an original and the newest Rolex service pouch and case. I ordered from Velle Alexander in Minnesota a handcrafted stitched italian “cognac” leather strap for a more casual look. More on that for later.

I went into this adventure realizing that finding early matte dials 5513’s in excellent condition with unpolished cases at my budget would be very hard. I prioritized a piece from a trusted seller with an unrestored dial with matching hands, nice patina, and compromised by accepting that the case would be polished but not corroded or pitted and had to have the serial number visible as mine does. Found this meters first at Paul Duggan in NH and decided to restore it to make it my own. I highly recommend Phillip Ridley and Drew/Emily Zimmerman for service and restoration of Rolex vintage. Their work was meticulous and responsive. My i-phone pics don’t do justice to the piece.

Super cool, thanks so so much for sharing. I’ve been thinking about doing this. Curious: what aspect(s) of it allow you (anyone) to tell it’s not an original case. (Other than obviously it’d be rare to find in this condition). Is it the sheen/shine? The weight and feel? Does the laser welded part look off at all? Put simply: if you compared yours to a perfectly preserved one, what differences would you notice?

[Arnozerosix]

Originally Posted by mattg6

Super cool, thanks so so much for sharing. I’ve been thinking about doing this. Curious: what aspect(s) of it allow you (anyone) to tell it’s not an original case. (Other than obviously it’d be rare to find in this condition). Is it the sheen/shine? The weight and feel? Does the laser welded part look off at all? Put simply: if you compared yours to a perfectly preserved one, what differences would you notice?

You can notice the case has been restored by the difference of wear between the lug and the flanks....
I got my sub from 1962 "touched up" and polished, (not completely laser restored).
At least on mine I would say that only noticeable difference with a perfectly preserved case from that era is the lug light reflection....

[Arnozerosix]

here is the watch from OP, a non restored case with original Rolex shape doesn't reflect light like this....

[ADINVA]

Originally Posted by mattg6

Super cool, thanks so so much for sharing. I’ve been thinking about doing this. Curious: what aspect(s) of it allow you (anyone) to tell it’s not an original case. (Other than obviously it’d be rare to find in this condition). Is it the sheen/shine? The weight and feel? Does the laser welded part look off at all? Put simply: if you compared yours to a perfectly preserved one, what differences would you notice?

Personally for me, what are the odds of a pristine unpolished case for a watch that has been around for more than 40+ years? I do accept that there are examples of great unpolished cases but these must be very rare pieces. If it is too good to be true, I'll err on the conservative side that the case has been "restored".

Not categorizing it as a bad thing but as long as one enjoys wearing in good health, who am I to comment.

[phillip ridley]

Originally Posted by mattg6

Super cool, thanks so so much for sharing. I’ve been thinking about doing this. Curious: what aspect(s) of it allow you (anyone) to tell it’s not an original case. (Other than obviously it’d be rare to find in this condition). Is it the sheen/shine? The weight and feel? Does the laser welded part look off at all? Put simply: if you compared yours to a perfectly preserved one, what differences would you notice?

50 years from now if one were to look at this case, there are some signs that would suggest it was refinished; more specifically the back side of the lugs.

[RFC]

Originally Posted by mattg6

Super cool, thanks so so much for sharing. I’ve been thinking about doing this. Curious: what aspect(s) of it allow you (anyone) to tell it’s not an original case. (Other than obviously it’d be rare to find in this condition). Is it the sheen/shine? The weight and feel? Does the laser welded part look off at all? Put simply: if you compared yours to a perfectly preserved one, what differences would you notice?

I'm no expert in metallurgy.

But I'm confident I would be able to tell for two reasons, one, as you suggested, there is probably no vintage Sub on the planet unrestored and unpolished quite like this one and much less for sale. You have to assume that if you saw a case like this it had to have been restored. The two sides of my restored case are as shiny and new like a 124060 off the shelf of an AD. So clearly you can tell it's not in an original as new unrestored condition.

The second reason is a bit more nuanced. You can't tell from the bevels or chamfers because they are proportionally meant to be identical or as close to in dimensions to a period correct 5513/5512. They are supposed to be wider than 5-digit subs or GMT's. But you may be able to tell that as new NOS 5513's have a deeper or dull shine to the metal than my new polished case.

[RFC]

Originally Posted by phillip ridley

50 years from now if one were to look at this case, there are some signs that would suggest it was refinished; more specifically the back side of the lugs.

Phillip, got to go looking for clues when I get home!

I won't be here 50 years from now, so it's for my kids/grandkids to learn the finer points of Rolex vintage.