Hi Forum members

A dealer I have bought a number of watches from claims to have a pre Comex 5513 for sale. However, it has a 32***** serial number.

My understanding is that pre Comex 5513's are in the 5m range. I'd like to know if what he is saying is correct or he is mistaken (I'm not going to suggest being dishonest).

I'd be grateful for any assistance and promise to post pics if I go ahead and buy the watch tomorrow. I'm expecting to find it's a serif dial.

Many thanks

 

Pre-Comex should be in the 5M range, as you stated. Good description here: http://www.5513mattedial.com/PreCOMEX.html (see helpful screenshot below).

Let's see the photos, maybe there is a simple mistake. The crown is very wide at the base on the pre-comex dials. Very easy to identify.

 

Maybe he meant to say that it is a pre pre Comex dial (or maybe even pre pre pre). That could explain the SN discrepancy.

 

Yes, out of all the crazy 5513 variations out there as a novice I can identify the pre-comex ref the best .
@Ricbo2010 Here is a pre-comex I got to try out for reference

Every thread needs a pic!!

 

Here's mine, 5.15M.

 

As promised, I haven’t bought this yet but here’s a couple of pics. I’m more confused now because it appears to have a serif dial in terms of the 3, 6 & 9 indices BUT the ‘E’ in ‘Rolex’ has the serif which suggests it is a non serif dial according to my research.

Pics aren’t very good, sorry.

 

Non-serif to my eye, but I'm not an expert. I feel like the lume is receding a bit from the 3, 6, 9 markers, which makes it look like there are serifs, but when I blow up the photo, I don't really see serifs, just some exposed corners of the paint under the lume. The middle line of the "E" is clear.

Looks nice at fist glance, but insert is not original, as you probably know. It could cost you $2k or so for a nice one.

I'm sure you're already aware of this, but I'll just add this link here as a reference.
http://www.5513mattedial.com/Serifs.html

 

I do see the L with lots of serif, but I don't see the = in the depth rating being to the left of the A of the SubmAriner. Are you sure it's a pre-comex dial? Looking at @Dan S 's example and mine, it's clear the = is left to the A but I'm not sure in yours.

 

You're right, it's not pre-comex. Read the posts, and you will see a discussion of serif vs. non-serif. I think we've ruled out pre-Comex.

 

That's right, I'd certainly agree it's not a pre Comex. In response to Dan S to me it does look as though there's serif to the indices.

 

Thanks, the one I was looking at today is not a pre Comex based on the info you guys have kindly provided.

 

Thanks, I have read through the 5513 site and it's really helpful.