Your thoughts on overhauled 5513s

[ravenhome777]

What are your thoughts on overhauled 5513s that have been serviced through Rolex?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rolex-Subma...UAAOSwZbVcBEI2

The ad says it has a tritium dial. I wonder if it would glow like it did originally in the 1960s.

I also wonder if they just recently applied the tritium to the dial or if they applied it in the 1960s. If they applied it in the 1960s, I would imagine that it would have developed a patina even if it wasn't on the watch. I also wonder if Rolex has access to tritium paint in this day in age, and if there are any laws in Switzerland concerning the use of applying tritium paint today.

Another thing I was wondering about is if you could buy a cheap 5513 that is in horrific shape, send it to Rolex for an overhaul for 1 or 2k and essentially get a watch back that is brand new and the value would be up around 12k.

[HarryLime]

I can't imagine how that would sell for that price.

[Dan S]

Just for the sake of accuracy, I think it is a 5512. But I agree that the price is optimistic given all the service parts and the polished case. I'm not sure if the dial actually has tritium, or if it is a SL service dial marked T<25. I believe I have seen those.

[ravenhome777]

The description says "One of the things this watch was given was a new tritium dial."

I wonder how that works. A new tritium dial. I wonder if Rolex is able to still paint tritium on the dials.

If it is, in fact, a tritium dial then in theory it should age and patina over the years, no?

[Dan S]

Originally Posted by ravenhome777

The description says "One of the things this watch was given was a new tritium dial."

I wonder how that works. A new tritium dial. I wonder if Rolex is able to still paint tritium on the dials.

If it is, in fact, a tritium dial then in theory it should age and patina over the years, no?

Yes, I understand that's what the description says.

[ravenhome777]

So if I bought a Rolex in poor condition like this one, and sent it into Rolex I could essentially get a new 5513 for 1500 bucks:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Rol...YAAOSw-xhcWx7U

[ravenhome777]

Originally Posted by Dan S

Yes, I understand that's what the description says.

But do you think that's true, or do you think it's actually super luminova?

[ravenhome777]

Looking at the service sheet from Rolex, it says something about "TR" but it also says something about "LUMI", so that's confusing.

[Dan S]

This is just an educated guess, but I don't think it's tritium. I think the seller just wrote that in the listing because the dial says "T<25". But since Rolex installed it in 2017, I think it's most likely some sort of (super)luminova dial that is marked to look like an old dial. The receipt also shows that they installed luminova hands, and it's hard for me to imagine that they would have installed hands and dial with mismatched luminescence, but I could be wrong about that.

The line item for the dial says that the markers are "LGN". If we could find out what that code means for sure, I guess that would settle it.

[Dan S]

Originally Posted by ravenhome777

Looking at the service sheet from Rolex, it says something about "TR" but it also says something about "LUMI", so that's confusing.

That is for the second hand. I don't know what that "TR" means, but all the hands indicate "LUMI", which I think is pretty clear.

[ravenhome777]

Oh, that's disappointing. I could see paying 12k for the watch if it was authentic Tritium but not if it was SL.

Also, he should update the description because that is deceptive and false advertising. That makes a big difference in the value of the watch.

[77T]

As long as Rolex does the work, I am fine with it. It’s when someone cobbles stuff together that eyebrows need raising.

As for value on this piece, the only thing known to be original may be the midcase. There’s no way to know if the movement had been swapped sometime in the past

As is, $12,500 seems high by $2-3k.


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