I travelled to London yesterday evening to meet a chap with a view to doing a trade for this:
It's a 1978 Rolex Submariner 5513. I've been on the lookout for a nice example of a 5513 for a while now but I've never found one that floats my boat so to speak. The reason this particular model caught my eye is two fold. Firstly it has quite a scarce dial, it's referred to as the 'Mark 1 PreComex'. These dials are exactly the same as the ones used in the milsubs and the Comex's, but without the circle 'T' of the milsub or the branding of the Comex. It's thought that Rolex just used up any unused dials they had when they produced the milsubs and Comex's, which is the sort of thing that Rolex did a lot of back then! The plots on these dials aren't quite 'Maxi' plots but they are larger than the regular 5513 dials. The regular 5513 PreComexs were produced between 1977/78 and appeared in the 5.1 million serial number range watches, + or -.
The other reason I was attracted to this example was the fact it comes with it's B&P, which you don't see very often with watches of this period. It was sold at John Bull in Nassau (still Rolex's official dealer in the Bahamas) on May 20th 1978. The watch is completely original and still on it's original bracelet. I even have the spare link! It was serviced last year by William Rice, a highly regarded independent who is Rolex authorised. It still has the balance of the two year warranty remaining although I don't think it will be needed!
One of the strange quirks about this deal is considering it was sold in the bahamas and has been through a few owners since then, coupled with the fact I travelled to London to view it and do the deal, the address of the owner who owned the watch when it was serviced is only a couple of miles away from where I live. Spooky! ..... or as I think, it was just meant to be mine!
Topic: Rolex submariner 5513 (Read 1003 times)