Sub 5513 purchase advise please. 😀

[Vf1200]

Hi,
I really don’t know a great deal about submariners but have always wanted a birth year watch. A dealer has offered me a 5513 1968 with a 5512 backcase for 10k. Please can anyone give me some advise as to what I should be looking be looking for. I’ve seen such variations on the price online and it’s totally confused me. Would really appreciate any help you can give.

[exador]

Would need photos to offer any advice sorry.

[inadeje]

Hi, pretty uncanny, I too was born in 68 and, did exactly what you are doing (birth year) some months back, even more uncanny is it was a 5513...worse yet, I am originally from the UK...

[inadeje]

It is extremely common for vintage watches to have the wrong case back. Back in the day, they’d have say 5 watches in for servicing and, each would be at varied levels of termination. All the case backs would be in a tray and, the watchmaker would grab the first he saw and, put it on the finished watch. Afterall, externally, who would know? It wasn’t a big deal back then and nobody really cared. The owner wasn’t going to complain, as the internal writing wasn’t visible. However, for purists and, true future value, it needs it’s real case back which, incidentally, also would have the year/month on it. So, getting another 5513 back (they’re aesthetically identical) would also require finding your watches year too. I’d offer 8500 or 9k and, use that as an excuse, saying you will need to locate a caseback...

[lupus66]

years should match a bit however 5512 and 13 are both correct.

[exador]

Originally Posted by inadeje

Hi, pretty uncanny, I too was born in 68 and, did exactly what you are doing (birth year) some months back, even more uncanny is it was a 5513.

Hi, what’s your serial? From my understanding, a ‘68 should be meters first

[68Sub5512]

I have a ‘68, per the COSC paperwork.... (tested in Jan 1968)...
Not my birthyear, but I like it quite a bit.

Actually.... if it was tested in the first week of Jan, 1968, would that make it a 1967? Or a 1968.... I assume the movement was assembled before it was tested....

What event actually determines the year?

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[vega234]

I would always prefer a matching numbers rlx...

[swish77]

Originally Posted by Vf1200

Hi,
I really don’t know a great deal about submariners but have always wanted a birth year watch. A dealer has offered me a 5513 1968 with a 5512 backcase for 10k. Please can anyone give me some advise as to what I should be looking be looking for. I’ve seen such variations on the price online and it’s totally confused me. Would really appreciate any help you can give.

I suggest you get the best condition watch you can find (and within your budget) in the neighborhood of 1968, but perhaps not tied precisely to that year, which is all-but impossible to confirm 100 percent anyway.

Keep in mind that a "birthyear" watch isn't exactly what you might think. Are you referring to the serial number charts that can be fairly accurate for dating but are only estimates; the year stamp on the caseback, which might be a year or so earlier than the actual assembly of the entire watch; or the paperwork/Rolex guarantee for the sale (if you have that). Watches might sell 3-4 years after the case back stamp and/or what serial number charts say.

For example, if you found a great Sub that was confirmed sold in 1968, but the caseback was stamped 1967, is that a birthyear watch or not? Technically not, I guess, but if it were me, I would certainly consider that close enough. If a dad bought a new Sub on the day his son was born in 1968, to give to him later in life, that Sub most likely would have been made a year or two earlier.

In other words, I wouldn't worry so much about trying to pin it down exactly at the cost of sacrificing a better condition watch. My 2 cents.