Rolex Submariner 5513, questions regarding repair/service

Hi Forum Friends!

I am starting to learn again regarding vintage Submariners.

And I have been offered a 5513 for a reasonable price (Maybe??).

The things that makes me hesitate are:

The movement - it looks really bad, and in need for new parts, service etc,
and also - how could this have happened?
The hands - they are very corroded, and is it possible to find new period correct ones, or can these be repaired/adjusted?

Other than that I do think that the watch is in a good condition.
Serial nr places the watch as a 1978.
And the dial should be a Mark 1, with still very nice lumeplots, and the dial looks clean.
Bezel has the fat fonts, and the lume pearl is adjusted.
No clue regarding the crystal and crown, but the crown for a 1978 should have the 3 dots maybe??
The case, luggs, crownguards, caseback, etc looks nice and not so ”worked over”?



The 93150/580 bracelet has stamped VD in the clasp, which should also be period correct.

So what do you think??

Interesting that you found one with a low-jewel movement in Europe. Dial is nice, and the Maxi1 is quite popular. Major issues: badly polished case, pitted hands, abused movement. Also a couple of minor things: aftermarket crystal and lume missing from the pearl. The case is the main issue for me. I would only buy that watch with the idea of having the case refinished.

These low count jewel movements omit jewelling the auto wind components. Rotor post, reduction gears, all of them not jewelled. Result is worn bearings and pivots. This one shows a lot of symptoms of the auto wind components being badly worn. Chances are no shop will touch it, even Rolex. Pay more for a better one.

No question this movement will need some work. The last time I bought a 5513 with one of these badly neglected low jewel 1570 movements, my watchmaker replaced all the bushings with jewels (Rolex provided these as standard replacements) along with some other parts in the auto-winding mechanism. Since that time, it has only become harder to get those parts, so hopefully the OP knows someone with the ability to repair it.

Good morning to you kind people, and sorry for my slow reply!
I was traveling yesterday with no good connection...
But reading the answers I do understand that there is a lot of work here!
And I learned a bit also, always nice of you Guys!
I have showed the pictures to my watchmaker, and they have access to the parts.
He told me about the problems with the watch.


My first impression was that the watch had been "fixed up" for the sale, and not by a knowledgeable watchmaker.
But it was the dial that made me want to go further.
As usual the best way to do an assessment would be to see the watch in the flesh and hold it...

But that's a bit hard right now since I am on a small island!
I will think about everything, and once again - thanks for your answers!

Cheers!

😀

Thanks Dan, there should be ”lots of metal” to make a decent reprofiling/refurbishing, but what do you think about the hands?
Maybe finding new ones? But then trying to match the lume plots would be hard?
And the movement is really in a bad shape!

The hands are what they are. They look original, and personally, I wouldn't worry about them except for having the lume stabilized (there appears to be a crack running along the lume in the minute hand).

Well...

I emailed the seller with some questions (that you Guys helped me with) a week ago, and no respond at all!
So this one might not happen fo me...

Once again - thanks for the help!