Opinion on hands for 1966 Gilt 5513

[NOPDK]

Phillip Ridley is in process of working on my fathers 5513 which has been in my possession since 1988. Watch was given to my father in 66 by my Grandfather and will be posting a history of the watch soon. 15 years ago I sourced color matched gilt luminova hands as the original ones were badly oxidized with bubbling of the metal but fully intact lume.

I do not want to put the original hands back in but have them safely stored.

I have 3 options on hands and need some guidance/opinions.
1). Keep the current gilt color matched luminova hands in place which really do look great and match perfectly

2). Purchase set of NOS OEM tritium gilt hands with lume that is a little lighter than what is on my dial

3). Purchase set of NOS OEM tritium non-gilt hands with lume that from pictures looks to nicely match my dial lume.

Are gilt or non-gilt hands correct on this piece? 1.38M serial watch. The original hands are not gilt but I've seen gilt 5513's with gilt hands. Need education if watch was delivered with both options. Watch will never be for sale so effect on valuation of piece is only academic. I want to make it as correct as I reasonably can while having it look the best possible.

If anybody has a set of correct OEM hands that they have stored away please let me know. Somebody might be sitting on a pair of NOS tritium gilt hands that color match my dial. This is for restoration of a treasured family heirloom and I would be most appreciative of any assistance in bringing project together. Phillip sourced a date stamped 66 Swiss rivet bracelet and now just need to decide on what to do with the hands.

[phillip ridley]

I will add one point. The gilt hands that came with the watch are not luminova, as he said, they were color matched but do not glow.

[roh123]

In my opinion golden gilt hands are more close to 1.0-1.1 serial. I’d say that at 1.38 the hands are most likely stainless steel. Of course it is Rolex so it could have gilt at that serial but I would expect them to be ss at that stage. Lume should of course glow similar to the dial.

Nice watch.

[Tom1675]

Great piece.

[SgWatchBaron]

Leave them as it is...

[NOPDK]

Thank you for feedback

[springer]

Originally Posted by roh123

In my opinion golden gilt hands are more close to 1.0-1.1 serial. I’d say that at 1.38 the hands are most likely stainless steel. Of course it is Rolex so it could have gilt at that serial but I would expect them to be ss at that stage. Lume should of course glow similar to the dial.

Nice watch.

I agree. Original hands should be stainless steel.

[bradleyt09]

Gorgeous piece and great heirloom. Treasure it in good health.

[RolexBrian]

I own a 1.38 gilt from 1966. In my case the original (steel) hand's lume aged to a slightly lighter hue than the the lume on the dial (not uncommon for the period). I had LAWW source a period correct set of hands and match them to the dial. I'm storing the original hands. My watch looks very very similar to yours and has a beautiful brown "glow".

[Tavli3]

Originally Posted by NOPDK

Phillip Ridley is in process of working on my fathers 5513 which has been in my possession since 1988. Watch was given to my father in 66 by my Grandfather and will be posting a history of the watch soon. 15 years ago I sourced color matched gilt luminova hands as the original ones were badly oxidized with bubbling of the metal but fully intact lume.

I do not want to put the original hands back in but have them safely stored.

I have 3 options on hands and need some guidance/opinions.
1). Keep the current gilt color matched luminova hands in place which really do look great and match perfectly

2). Purchase set of NOS OEM tritium gilt hands with lume that is a little lighter than what is on my dial

3). Purchase set of NOS OEM tritium non-gilt hands with lume that from pictures looks to nicely match my dial lume.

Are gilt or non-gilt hands correct on this piece? 1.38M serial watch. The original hands are not gilt but I've seen gilt 5513's with gilt hands. Need education if watch was delivered with both options. Watch will never be for sale so effect on valuation of piece is only academic. I want to make it as correct as I reasonably can while having it look the best possible.

If anybody has a set of correct OEM hands that they have stored away please let me know. Somebody might be sitting on a pair of NOS tritium gilt hands that color match my dial. This is for restoration of a treasured family heirloom and I would be most appreciative of any assistance in bringing project together. Phillip sourced a date stamped 66 Swiss rivet bracelet and now just need to decide on what to do with the hands.

Here's my 66 gilt, 1.24. Pretty certain they are the original hands and they are ss.

[watchlovr]

What does Philip advise?
I think you probably know what you want to do already and are just looking for some reinforcement from the forum.
What is your preference?
Lovely watch with a great look already.
If mine I’d be inclined to leave as is.

[roh123]

The thread is over two years old. I am sure this have been settled.

[NOPDK]

Originally Posted by roh123

The thread is over two years old. I am sure this have been settled.

Blast from the past indeed. Settled long ago but here is info if it helps.

For 1.38M serial the early flat hands in steel finish are correct.

1st pict: This watch 10 years ago with the later style curved gold hands that were color matched to dial.

2nd pict: I sourced original tritium later style curved SS hands with Lume that matched up really nicely to the dial.

As I wore the watch with SS hands I just wasn't enjoying the look as much as how the gold hands brought out the gilt text and color of the lume so much more. I contacted LAWW and they were able to restore the original flat hands which I had in storage for 15 or so years. The lume was intact but the metal had badly oxidized and pitted. LAWW gave me the option of restoring to the original SS finish or to make them GILT gold finish. Even though not correct for serial number I had them restored with Gilt gold finish. LAWW then color matched the lume to the dial.

This watch is a family heirloom and cherished. It will never be sold. For me, the flat gold hands add so much visual appeal that I'm comfortable with the trade off of pushing what is technically correct. If this were a watch that one day might be sold then I would have refinished in the correct SS or most likely saved myself much time and expense and just kept the tritium SS hands with matching lume on the piece.

3rd and 4th Picts: Original flat gilt hands restored by LAWW in gold finish. For me this is how the watch looks best. I typically err on side of side of keeping all of my pieces as correct as possible BUT...


For a gilt era piece the early flat hands do make a visual difference compared to the later curved hands. LAWW did excellent work restoring mine and I highly recommend using them for hand restoration if you have the original hands that are in sub-optimal condition.

From first to last pict you can see how the lume darkened and aged over a decade.

[NOPDK]

Also in those 10 years the dial has started to take on some brown tropical tones in direct sunlight. I've had this piece since 1988 and it has been in the family since new.

[NOPDK]

.

[RolexBrian]

I'm looking at your pics. How do you tell the difference between flat style hands and curved style hands?

[NOPDK]

The flat hands just look more vintage in person which is an unsatisfactory explanation but its true. if you look down the length of the later style Mercedes hour hand you can see a curvature to the hand where the center of the hand is further from the dial than the edges. There is a slight bow to it. For the flat hands the hands are just as thick in the middle as at the edges and level all the way across the profile of the hand.

Easier to see in person. Found some picts which hopefully show it. First on shows the later style curved hands. Second pict shows the original flat hands refinished in gold. Third pict is a 6610 that I have with original flat gold gilt hands. You can see how the original gold hands have a texture to them unlike the later gold hands which are perfectly smooth. Don't have any picts looking down the length of the Mercedes hands which would show it better.

Also shows what a gilt dial that retains the glossy lacquer looks like vs one with matte degradation of this layer.

[swaini3]

Here's a thread that shows the curve in the hands as well:
https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=511896

[RolexBrian]

Great explanation. By the way, my gilt 1.38 is a 1.3824_ _. I wonder how "close" are ours is in production. Also, thanks to your tutoring, I confirmed my original (SS) hands are flat.

[NOPDK]

Originally Posted by RolexBrian

Great explanation. By the way, my gilt 1.38 is a 1.3824_ _. I wonder how "close" are ours is in production. Also, thanks to your tutoring, I confirmed my original (SS) hands are flat.

Super close. 1.3880xx. Given Rolex production numbers yours is likely around 30 minutes older than mine. Ha.

Post a few Picts of yours. How has your dial aged compared to mine?

[RolexBrian]

here:

[southtexas]

Phillip did this hour hand for me:




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[RolexBrian]

@giltclub

[Ben39]

Tho I love gilt hands... But these original to watch & period correct flat hands will do for me!







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[MrGoat]

Originally Posted by southtexas

Phillip did this hour hand for me:




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That is a gorgeous watch!! Almost look like it’s gunmetal.


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[WatchEater666]

Nothing more beautiful than a well worn vintage sub. Looks great OP.