Rolex Submariner Ref. 5513 - Maxi Mk5

Straight Facts

The Rolex Submariner is a true icon - and the word icon does get thrown around a lot. If you were to ask 10 people to draw you their idea of a watch looks like - chances are they would draw or describe something that looks like a Rolex Submariner. It’s the dive watch of reference good/bad/indifferent there is no escaping it. Over its 70 year run there have been numerous changes made to the model, but this - the reference 5513 - is widely considered to be the reference to own.

The 5513 spanned almost 30 years of production (1962-1989) and underwent a series of changes that saw the earliest models born with gilt dials, and the last ones born with high-gloss dials with white gold surrounds. The present example hails from the later half of the 5513 production run where matte dials that we prize as collectors were still in use, along with ‘Maxi-Dials’. What is a Maxi Dial? Well, that is when the lume plots were made larger to improve low-light readability of the watch. The reason why? Simple - these watches hail from an era when the Submariner was still mostly used by people who needed the ruggedness and capability of a true sports dive watch. Over the life of these pieces many watches got destroyed, had their dials changed out, or just got lost in the cushions of a couch that ended up in a trash compactor (Check the cushions ASAP!)

This watch is in truly outstanding condition with a flawless dial and unpolished case - though the bezel is missing its lume pip. With two-lines of text the dial is clean and uncluttered, before all the multiple lines of text we know today began being printed. This is a special one, and with the 70th Anniversary of the Submariner in 2023, what better way to celebrate.

*Some marks or spots on the dial are reflections or dust on the crystal and are due to high intensity strobe lighting used while photographing. They are not actually on the watch or visible in natural lighting.