Why was there no transitional no-date Sub?

[rkny]

*Edit* Obviously there was. Oops. But read on to see what I mean.

I’ve always loved the transitional matte maxi dialed Subs and SDs with sapphire. But I never pursued one because I prefer no date.

Any speculation as to why Rolex briefly put a glossy/applied marker dial under a plastic crystal on the 5513 instead of following the language of the 16800 and 16660?

[springer]

The glossy Sub 5513, the GMT 16750 and I believe the Explorer I all had plastic crystals during the 1980s.

Regarding not all of the plastic crystal models not transitioning to sapphire crystals at the same time, my guess would be that the transition to the sapphire crystals did not happen all at once and was a gradual process due to various engineering and testing procedures that were necessary for each new model. Some models might have completed that complete process earlier than others.