Rolex Submariner Ref. 5513 (no-date)

The working diver's Submariner

Rolex introduced the reference 5513 in 1962 as the successor to the 5508, alongside the more expensive 5512. The difference was certification: the 5512 was a COSC chronometer, with four lines of text on its dial, while the 5513 was not, and carried two. That kept the price down and made the 5513 the Submariner for working divers, soldiers and adventurers who needed a tool rather than a certificate.

The 5512 and 5513 changed how the Submariner looked. Rolex added 'shoulders,' or crown guards, to protect the winding crown, grew the case to 40 mm and made the oversized crown standard. Until about 1964 the guards were pointed; later ones were rounded. One account dates the pointed guards to 1962 and 1963 only.

One collector argues that the 5513 is where the modern Submariner's full design arrived: the stout case, screw-down crown, crown guards, rotating diver's bezel and the dial layout still recognizable on Submariners made today, paired with an acrylic crystal and, early on, a gilt dial.

Twenty-seven years of small changes

Because it was made so long, the 5513 spans three eras of Rolex manufacture. Early dials are glossy black with gilt text, where the brass dial plate shows through, and radium lume, later tritium. Some early dials carry an Explorer-style 3-6-9 layout; one account dates these to 1962 through 1965. Around 1966 a flat-topped coronet appeared that collectors call the 'Bart Simpson' crown.

Around 1965 or 1966 Rolex moved to matte dials with white print and tritium lume. The first matte dials read '200m = 660ft,' the so-called 'meters first' dials, a transitional run of about three years. From about 1969 or 1970 the order reversed to '660ft = 200m.' In the late 1970s and early 1980s came 'Maxi' dials with larger lume plots, in five recognized types.

In the final years Rolex fitted glossy dials with applied markers in white-gold surrounds. One account dates this to 1984 to 1989, another to 1982 to 1989. Some of these glossy dials have since crackled into a web pattern collectors call 'spider' dials; whether that is patina or damage is argued.

Inside, early 5513s used the caliber 1530 and most later ones the 1520, both self-winding and hacking, beating at 19,800 vibrations per hour with about 42 hours of reserve. The bracelet also dates a watch: riveted links (ref. 7206) early, folded links (ref. 9315) next, solid links (ref. 93150) in the 1980s. The 5513 was also the last Submariner with a bi-directional bezel, before Rolex moved to unidirectional bezels after 1983.

Navies, divers and an army

Some 5513s went to work for governments. In the 1970s the British Ministry of Defence commissioned modified Submariners for the Royal Navy, with fixed strap bars, sword-shaped hands, fully graduated bezels and a 'T' on the dial for tritium. These 'Milsubs' were engraved with military issue numbers, and some carry the double reference 5513/5517.

From 1970 the French diving company COMEX received a special 5513 fitted with a helium release valve for its saturation divers. In 1974 dials began to carry the COMEX logo, and the reference changed to 5514, a number reserved for the company. These watches were never sold to the public.

In 1975 the South African Army used factory-modified 5513s with a black-coated case to cut sun glare during its intervention in the Angolan Civil War.

A buzz saw in 'Live and Let Die'

Sean Connery's Bond wore the earlier 6538. When Roger Moore took over in 'Live and Let Die' (1973), Q Branch issued him a 5513. In the film the watch has a 'hyper intensified magnetic field' strong enough to deflect a bullet; Bond uses it to unzip a dress ('Sheer magnetism, darling!') and pull a spoon off a saucer, and its bezel turns into a buzz saw that cuts him and Solitaire free above a shark pool.

The prop was built from a 1972 steel 5513 with its movement removed to make room for the modifications, a saw-tooth bezel and a black dial. The gadget was the work of production designer Syd Cain, who had worked for producer Albert Broccoli since the 1950s and was art director on 'From Russia with Love,' the film that introduced Q. The case back is signed inside 'Roger Moore 007.'

On November 8, 2015, that prop sold at auction in Geneva for 365,000 Swiss francs against an estimate of 150,000 to 250,000 francs. One report gave the result as $365,000, but the sale record states the figure in Swiss francs.

From entry point to six figures

Collectors often call the 5513 the best entry point to vintage Rolex, because so many were made over so long. Ordinary examples with late glossy or 1970s matte dials sit at the bottom of the range. Early gilt dials, meters-first dials and well-documented examples cost more.

Military examples are another tier. In December 2019 a circa-1974 Royal Navy 5513/5517 sold for a reported $262,000. In February 2022 a 1975 Royal Navy 5513/5517 offered by its original owner, a 27-year navy veteran, sold in London for £200,250, about $268,000, three times its estimate.

Celebrity stories do not always survive scrutiny. In 2018 a 5513 said to have been bought by Steve McQueen and given to his stuntman Loren Janes was consigned to a New York sale with an estimate of $300,000 to $600,000. After a vintage Rolex expert concluded that McQueen likely gave it to Janes but never wore it himself, and the McQueen estate objected, the watch was withdrawn. The auction house said it remained confident that McQueen gave the watch to Janes.

The numbers

Reference

5513 (military double reference 5513/5517; COMEX later 5514)

Caliber

Rolex 1530 (early), then 1520; self-winding, hacking, 19,800 vph, about 42 hours

Case

40 mm stainless steel Oyster, crown guards, acrylic crystal

Bezel

Bi-directional rotating diver's bezel

Water resistance

200 m / 660 ft

Production years

1962 to about 1989 (one reference table: 1990)

Production numbers

Not published by Rolex

Timeline

1. 1953

   Rolex begins producing the Submariner.

2. 1962

   Reference 5513 is introduced with pointed crown guards, a 40 mm case and a gilt dial.

3. 1964

   Pointed crown guards give way to rounded ones, by about this year.

4. 1965

   Transitional 'meters first' matte dials appear, for about three years.

5. 1966

   Gilt dials give way to matte dials with white print; the 'Bart Simpson' coronet appears.

6. 1970

   COMEX receives 5513s fitted with a helium release valve; the depth rating now reads feet first.

7. 1972

   The steel 5513 later turned into Roger Moore's gadget watch is made.

8. 1973

   Roger Moore wears the modified 5513 in 'Live and Let Die.'

9. 1974

   COMEX dials begin carrying the company logo, and the COMEX reference becomes 5514.

10. 1975

    The South African Army uses black-coated 5513s in the Angolan Civil War.

11. 1984

    Glossy dials with white-gold marker surrounds arrive (one account says 1982).

12. 1989

    Production of the 5513 ends (one reference table gives 1990).

13. Nov 8, 2015

    The 'Live and Let Die' prop sells at auction in Geneva for 365,000 Swiss francs.

14. 2018

    A 5513 linked to Steve McQueen is withdrawn from a New York sale after the McQueen estate objects.

15. Dec 2019

    A circa-1974 Royal Navy 5513/5517 sells for a reported $262,000.

16. Feb 2022

    A 1975 Royal Navy 5513/5517 sells in London for £200,250, about $268,000.

The world in 1962

• Feb 20, 1962

  John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth.

• Jul 23, 1962

  Telstar relays the first live transatlantic television signal.

• Oct 5, 1962

  'Dr. No,' the first James Bond film, opens in the United Kingdom.

• Oct 16, 1962

  The Cuban Missile Crisis begins.

• Mar 12, 1989

  Tim Berners-Lee writes the proposal that becomes the World Wide Web.

• Mar 24, 1989

  The Exxon Valdez runs aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

• Nov 9, 1989

  The Berlin Wall falls.

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, Rolex Submariner Ref. 5513 (no-date) is number 71 of 100 in the watches entries of the FLOAT 100. 54 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (10 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• The movement was removed from Roger Moore's 'Live and Let Die' watch to make room for the gadget, and the case back is signed 'Roger Moore 007.'
• Early matte 5513 dials put meters first ('200m = 660ft'); from about 1970 the order flipped to feet first.
• The 5513 was the last Submariner with a bezel that turns both ways.
• COMEX divers' 5513s had a helium release valve, and the company later got its own reference number, 5514.
• South African Army 5513s were given a factory black coating to cut reflections from the sun.
• Rolex says about 4 million Submariners of all references were made between 1953 and 2020.