Puzzle: 5513 Missing Link or Scariest Replica Ever?

[kyleGrossett]

Hello All,

A friend of mine had me assisting with the sales of a few of his watches. One however has me perplexed. The 1984 5513 submariner has a dial I have never encountered with both M and FT capitalized, yet to my eye, the rest of the watch seems correct.

To further add to the authenticity, the dial is unmistakably tritium with no reaction to light, however a faint persistent glow under low light remains.

The serial is 8.333 Million which I researched to rest between the following known dials:

Type V Maxi - 8.29M



WG Surround/Gloss -8.5M


And lastly here is the watch which everyone has told me to date has a counterfeit dial at the least. Just looking for constructive and substantiated feedback on the dial or watch as a whole.



As an aside. I found one dial with capitalized depth which was (apologies for the horrible photo):








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[kyleGrossett]

A few more photos of the watch in question. Please note that I do not pretend to be an expert in Rolex. Always learning, and looking forward to seeing feedback on this piece.




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[kyleGrossett]

This is the 369 Submariner featuring the only other depth similar to that seen on this dial.


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[NKflyer]

The watch itself looks authentic but the dial is definitely aftermarket. There are many other tells besides the capitalized M and FT.

[kyleGrossett]

Despite all the flags, i just wanted to make 100% sure there was no possibility the dial was a prototype of some sort, rare variant, etc.

And I feel silly now after checking something with a jewelers loop and the dial markers glowing like a Panerai after.

It seems my "tritium test" was too far away from the light source.

On the plus side, everything else including the hands seems legit.

Except for I don't know what up with the green pip. But that's minor stuff.

Mystery solved. Much appreciated. Time to go dial shopping.


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[Chribs]

The movement is not genuine Rolex 1520 , where are the weights on the balance Wheel ?

[freefly]

Originally Posted by Chribs

The movement is not genuine Rolex 1520 , where are the weights on the balance Wheel ?

Movement is fine.

[CMSgt Bo]

Originally Posted by Chribs

The movement is not genuine Rolex 1520 , where are the weights on the balance Wheel ?

The 1520 movement (correct for the 5513) used a stick regulator (as did the 1530). You usually see free sprung balances (with the weights on the balance wheel) in the chronometer version (1560 or 1570), which would be correct for the 5512.

If you see a 1520 movement with a free sprung balance it's probably a 1560/1570 wearing the wrong balance bridge. It is not uncommon for the wrong bridge to get installed during service since they are interchangeable with six different caliber numbers.