Rolex Submariner

The first Rolex Submariner was launched in 1954 and has been in continuous production ever since, making it one of the longest running models of any timepiece made. Ever.

Of course, today, Rolex Submariners are significantly more… bling. With white gold surrounds and glossy black dials, the Submariner of today has become a status symbol and a piece of jewelry.

But from it’s origin, the Rolex Submariner was a stripped down tool watch, designed with one mission in mind. The clean, matte black dial and symmetrical hour plots was the hallmark of sub-aquatic, form-meets-function design. For decades, the Submariner was not a collectible Rolex; it was seen as a hardy watch chosen by those who needed something that could take a beating. And it did.

Inside the collectors circles, there are a lot of big terms thrown around.  Fat font this, Mark IV that and a glut of opinions about what constitutes an 'unpolished' case.

At analog/shift, we think that all of this stuff clouds the most important parts of the process and often leads to people neglecting to see the forest for the trees.  At the end of the day, taking a step back from the details can give you the real picture of the watch and allow you to know whether or not it's the right one for your collection.  

This particular Ref. 5513 Submariner comes out of the private stores of a local collector and is excellent shape.  With a 1.8 million serial that dates it to roughly 1967, this one has everything you want in a Sub and nothing you don't.  With a very honest case showing no signs of over-polishing, a very nicely patinated meters-first matte dial with a perfect patina and a clean bezel with its original pip, this Sub is worthy of any discerning collector.