Bob's Discount Furniture Commercial Vintage of the Week Episode 5 | Bob's Watches 2025

VIDEO Bob's Watches Vintage of the Week Episode 5 | Bob's Watches TV commercial 2022 • This week’s installment of Vintage of the Week features the beloved Rolex 5513 Submariner. Shop this watch and more: https://www.bobswatches.com/luxury-wa... NAVIGATE THIS VIDEO 00:00 INTRO 00:32 Wrist Check 01:11 Rolex Submariner 5513 01:52 Maxi Dial 02:53 Lume Plots 03:24 Comparison 03:59 Comparison Pt. 2 04:14 Cleanliness of the Dial 04:33 Condition 04:48 Lugs 05:05 Box and Papers 06:03 Value 07:56 Patina 09:18 Outro Are you ready to add the world’s most iconic dive watch to your collection? Shop our entire inventory of certified pre-owned Rolex Submariner watches here: https://www.bobswatches.com/rolex-sub... Welcome back to our series Vintage of the Week. Each episode will showcase a different vintage watch and what makes it special, including its history, price, and features. This week, we examine the legendary Rolex Submariner 5513. It is one of the most sought-after vintage Rolex watches and is often seen as a gateway into vintage watch collecting. Let’s find out why. HISTORY Rolex introduced the Submariner in the 1950s. Early models featured a dateless dial. The date mechanism that would eventually be a fixture in the collection would not debut within the series until the 1960s. By the time ref. 5513 hit the market in the early 1960s. It was one of the very last of the original no date Submariner watches. The first reference to feature a date mechanism on the dial – ref. 1680 – followed a few years later in the late 1960s. We would not see another dateless Sub until ref. 14060 hit the market in 1990. By then, the last of the original vintage Subs were long gone. The Rolex 5513 Submariner is also special because it was one of the first references within the series to feature crown guards, preceded only by ref. 5512, which came to market just a few years prior, in the late 1950s. 5512 vs. 5513 Reference 5512 and 5513 are virtually identical, with the biggest difference being the movement powering the watch. Ref. 5512 is powered by a chronometer-rated movement, while the ref. 5513 is not. As a result, the text on the dial is different as well. Ref. 5512 features four lines of text on the dial, while the ref. 5513 features two lines of text – aka the 2-liner dial. Even though their production overlapped considerably during the 1960s and 1970, ref. 5513 was more successful and continued production long after ref. 5512 was discontinued. Part of its appeal over the ref. 5512 was the fact that ref. 5513 featured a cleaner dial with less text and also that it was the more affordable option at the time since the movement was not chronometer rated. Of course, as a quality Rolex wristwatch, ref. 5513 was still very precise. Rolex 5513 Dial Variations Ref. 5513 remained in production for almost thirty years, the longest production run of any Submariner. During that time, several dial variations hit the market. Initially, ref. 5513 featured a glossy gilt dial. Around the mid-1960s, Rolex changed the dial to matte dials with meters first text. Around 1969, dials featuring feet first text started to enter production. Around this time, we also saw the non-Serif and Serif dial variations. Next, Rolex released what collectors have come to refer to as “Pre Comex” dials, followed by Maxi dials around the mid-1970s. Lastly, reference 5513 discontinued the matte dial with painted hour markers for glossy dials topped with applied hour markers with white gold surrounds. Rolex 5513 Price Because ref. 5513 was produced for so long it can be relatively easy to find on the used Rolex market for a fairly affordable price. However, with vintage Rolex watches becoming more and more sought-after and as availability dwindles, we can only expect the value of ref. 5513 to increase. OUR EXAMPLE That brings us to the example of the Submariner 5513 that is showcased in this video. It was produced in 1983 and featured a Maxi dial with larger hour markers. Maxi dials were made from 1977 until around the mid-1980s. As mentioned above, Rolex returned to the glossy dial variety with white gold surrounds after the Maxi dial Sub. This example is truly one of the last matte dial no date Submariners produced. It features ivory Tritium lume with some slight patina, Rolex’s iconic Mercedes hands, and a matching black 60-minute bezel. As is common with vintage Rolexes, the case is topped with an acrylic crystal and wears on an older-style Oyster bracelet with 580 end links. The clasp is stamped “H,” telling us that the bracelet was produced in 1983 and confirming the watch’s production year.- advertisement spot 2022