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Rolex Submariner 5513 from 1965 restoration project

Rolex Submariner 5513 from 1965 restoration project

With luck, I happened to run into a first owner Submariner 5513 gilt dial.  The first owner was a diver by profession and used the watch for his job.  On his last dive, he lost the bezel and inlay.  The watch was revisioned twice by Rolex, so it has not been overpolished.  It still possesses the original bracelet 7206.  The hands suffered major damage, and the tritium has broken off.

This will be my restoration project for 2012, I will look for correct parts stemming from the early 60s.  According to the serial number, this is a 1965 Rolex.

More details to follow as soon as I pick this watch up this coming Friday.  I will take more photos, and document the process of restoration.

At this point, I do not yet know for sure what I will do with this watch down the road, if I may sell or not, maybe I will keep it, as it does not happen very often to find a first owner Rolex from that time.  Time will tell.  Enjoy following my restoration process.

Update:
Gameplan to bring this watch back to beauty:
1 – keep the case as is, it will not be polished at all.
2 – overhaul the movement, watch is not running and cannot be set.
3 – find bezel and inlay from the past time, matching with fat font, faded bezel.
4 – polish the superdomed crystal, if possible.  If not possible any more, replace it with a superdomed from the past which I have in stock.
5 – keep the dial as is, not reluming or anything like that.
6 – I do not yet know how to decide about the hands?` My watchmaker could fix the broken out tritium?  Should I go that road, or replace the hands with matching tritium hands, I may have some from the past?
7 – Friday is my pickup day…  😉

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