Thoughts on potential '68 5513 purchase

[john_coburg]

Dear all,
I am looking at purchasing the attached '68 5513, and wanted to court peoples views on it's quality and likely fair market value. It appears to have an original dial that (and I am no expert) matches with it's vintage: matte dial, white writing, meters first. The lume looks to be a little damaged, and there is some corrosion to the hands, but their patina looks to be relatively well-matched. The pearl looks to be a later replacement, and is distinctly non-matched, but other than that, the condition looks fairly good, with original (I think) acrylic crystal. It has both a 93150 bracelet and an (older?) rivited sprung bracelet included... not sure which matches the vintage better. I don't have the serial number unfortunately. I can have it for $6000/£3575, which feels good value to me. Thoughts? Additionally, I'd like to replace the bracelets for a NATO; what size screwdriver do I need? Or can the job be done with a paperclip, as I have sometimes heard..?
Many thanks for anyone's views.
John.

[watchcrank]

Actually looks like decent example. Relatively polished little as strong chamfers & looks like period insert or close. Discoloration of minute markers are subjective. I'd want to see it under uv light. I'd bet it glows that odd green color & check serial & model under bracelet as well as have case back removed by competent watchmaker, check date stamp & then movement condition. M

[AdamWong]

nice decent case, but horrible dial.

[Mark020]

Dial is poor imho.

[Old Expat Beast]

Not a fan of that lume.

[andromeda160]

It's a pretty original watch, still retains the original crown on it which is pretty neat, i prefer creamy white patina but some like it like this. $6,000 seems to be pretty spot on market value, case has seen some polishing, but it's not extremely over polished like most examples from the era, I think you could find a better example for the money. Especially since you plan on throwing it on a NATO. I'd rather have a near pristine watch head for the price than a few extra bracelets I didn't plan on using. You can pop the springbars out with a toothpick or paper clip, no screwdriver needed


And the expandable bracelet was usually used for divers back in the day so it would fit over their wetsuit, I doubt it's original to this watch as it's date coded 1970, but if this watch was used for diving I would advise having it opened to check where the caseback meets the case for pitting.

[john_coburg]

Thanks all for the comments. I still don't have the serial no, but attached a couple of pics of the caseback and the 1520 movement.
Agreed the lume is a little non-traditional and not to everyone's taste.
How much should I be able to get for the two bracelets on the open market?

[Vincent65]

I'd pass based on the dial and the considerable corrosion on the back of the case.

[Old Expat Beast]

Too much pitting and corrosion on case back.

[john_coburg]

Thank you. Does the pitting and corrosion realistically only affect water resistance performance? Or it causes further problems and complications? And if so, is is it repairable or only at considerable cost & effort?

[cajuntiger]

The pitting and corrosion is easily repaired...does that case back say IV.58 or 68?

[john_coburg]

Good point! I was worried it said '58 (which would be very worrying, and make no sense at all... per an earlier post of mine!) but if you zoom in, I'm pretty sure it says '68 and it's just the photograph. Glad to hear the corrosion and pitting is easily dealt with. Should that be done immediately?

[andromeda160]

Originally Posted by john_coburg

Thank you. Does the pitting and corrosion realistically only affect water resistance performance? Or it causes further problems and complications? And if so, is is it repairable or only at considerable cost & effort?

Realistically you could put RTV or a similar sealant and it would perform just as well, you could have it laser welded and re milled down. But a meters first 5513 isn't a particularly rare watch, and with the money you would invest restoring this one, it just doesn't make sense in my opinion to put the money in it. Especially since after you're done it's still going to be a restored case and not original. I'd search for another example, as this will affect resale value.

[Beelzy]

Wow....talk about a flood. That watch looks like Noah wore it.
Dial looks like it does because at some point the back leaked and flooded the watch.

[john_coburg]

That's interesting feedback, thank you very much. I'm based in the UK and the vast majority of 5513 examples I see for sale here (although many are arguably better examples for the same money) originate from the US, where I get stumped for c. 27% import duty. On that basis, at £3480 ($5840) it therefore still seems a reasonable bet for me, given it is said to be keeping good time, and I'm not going to be swimming in it...unless anyone can point me to any other UK-based sellers where I can shop around. Or unless I missed something.

[Beaumont Miller II]

Dial is authentic.
Case is very strong.
My feeling is that unless green is your your favorite color, at some point you will regret buying a Sub with green tones of patina.

Jedly, Mike Wood, and Jason Graham are all trusted UK based dealers.

[andromeda160]

Originally Posted by john_coburg

That's interesting feedback, thank you very much. I'm based in the UK and the vast majority of 5513 examples I see for sale here (although many are arguably better examples for the same money) originate from the US, where I get stumped for c. 27% import duty. On that basis, at £3480 ($5840) it therefore still seems a reasonable bet for me, given it is said to be keeping good time, and I'm not going to be swimming in it...unless anyone can point me to any other UK-based sellers where I can shop around. Or unless I missed something.

Almost seems like it'd be worth it to go on a vacation to Hong Kong or the US and buy a watch there and wear it back.

[Paul]

Nice case, really does look to be a correct. honest watch and lume colour / dial ageing is such a personal thing.
Aged plots - be they green, cream or yellow - can look charmingly 'vintage' in the flesh but hey - I'm a patina fan.
Remember too that macro pics really exaggerate patina.

The corrosion though is a whole different story. Many prospective buyers would quickly reject that watch at (almost) any price point.
So it's not worth $6k to me and not worth repairing at that price IMO

[watchcrank]

After those shots I'd pass as well. too much bother to repair and not reasonable for price.
If it was 4K then a maybe. Better examples to be found imho, here in States and across the pond. luck M