What movements did the Rolex Submariner 5513 use?

Rolex Submariner ref. 5513 is documented primarily with two non-chronometer movements: calibre 1530 in early examples (seen on watches dated circa 1962–1963) and calibre 1520 in later examples (seen by circa 1967). Christie’s also catalogued a 1964 watch described as ref. 5513 with calibre 1570 as part of a specific transitional configuration.

Is the Rolex 5513 chronometer-certified?

No. Ref. 5513 is widely described as the non-chronometer no-date Submariner, in contrast to ref. 5512, which is generally chronometer-certified.

How can you tell a meters-first vs feet-first Submariner 5513 dial?

On matte dials, the depth rating line is the identifier. “Meters first” reads “200m = 660ft,” while “feet first” reads “660ft = 200m.” Sotheby’s places an overlap in production between late 1968 and early 1970, so the depth line should be evaluated alongside the rest of the watch’s era cues.

What is the key difference between the 5512 and the 5513?

The defining difference is certification: the Submariner 5512 is generally the chronometer-certified no-date Submariner, while the Submariner 5513 is generally the non-chronometer counterpart. Dial text often reflects that split, but individual watches can be altered by service, and Christie’s catalogued a specific watch described as ref. 5513 with chronometer wording as a transitional example. The most reliable identification is the reference engraving and the movement inside the case.

Are “meters first” and “Maxi dial” the same thing on a Submariner 5513?

No. “Meters first” is a depth-rating layout on early matte dials (“200m = 660ft”). “Maxi” describes a later matte subset defined by enlarged luminous hour plots (and multiple print layouts within that theme). They are independent traits with different time windows.

Is the Bart Simpson dial a separate 5513 dial family?

No. “Bart Simpson” refers to a coronet printing style seen on some late gilt Submariner 5513 dials. Hodinkee associates it primarily with 1966 production, and Christie’s describes a circa 1966 example using the same nickname. The dial remains within the broader gilt family.

What is a realistic Submariner 5513 value today?

Submariner 5513 value depends heavily on dial era (gilt, matte, or late glossy with white-gold surrounds), originality, and case condition, so there is no single price that fits the reference. As a general market benchmark, WatchCharts lists a market price of $13,230 for ref. 5513 (as of 2026-06-08), while individual watches can trade materially above or below that level depending on configuration and condition.

What should you look for when a Submariner 5513 for sale claims to be “all original”?

Claims of full originality should be tested against the watch’s internal consistency. Bob’s Watches emphasizes that service dials and hands are common on vintage 5513s, often revealed by bright, uniform lume and poor color match between dial plots and hands. Start by confirming the correct dial family for the case’s era cues, then check that the depth-rating layout and any Maxi-scale traits make sense together, and finally verify the reference engraving and movement.

Rolex Submariner 5513

The Submariner Rolex left alone: across twenty-seven years the 5513 barely changed, so each small dial shift became a datable event, and reading those shifts is how collectors learn vintage Rolex.

Production: 1962–1989
Case material: Stainless steel
Case diameter: 40 mm
Bezel insert: Aluminum
Crystal: Acrylic (plexiglass)
Depth rating: 200m / 660ft
Movement: Cal. 1530, then Cal. 1520
Chronometer: No
Lume: Radium → tritium
Crown guards: Yes

Rolex built the Submariner 5513 for twenty-seven years and changed remarkably little: the same 40 mm steel case, the same no-date dial layout, one quiet movement update from cal. 1530 to cal. 1520, and non-chronometer specification throughout. That constancy is the reference’s real significance. With the watch held still, every small change Rolex did make, nearly all of them on the dial, became a legible and datable event: glossy gilt printing gives way to the spare matte look of the 1970s tool watch, and matte in turn to late glossy dials with white-gold surrounds. Collectors learn to read vintage Rolex on the 5513 because the 5513 is where the reading is clearest.

Within the crown-guard Submariner family, ref. 5513 is most naturally read alongside ref. 5512. The 5512 is generally the chronometer-certified sibling, while the 5513 is generally the non-chronometer counterpart, a distinction that is often echoed in dial wording on original-configuration examples. Dial text alone, however, is not a reliable test of reference identity or certification on a watch that may have been serviced or modified over decades. Christie’s, for instance, catalogued a watch described as ref. 5513 (manufactured 1964) with a “Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified” dial and a calibre 1570, and described that specific watch as a transitional version.

Reading one is a matter of separating the traits that changed on different schedules. Dial finish establishes the major eras (gilt gloss, then matte, then late glossy with white-gold surrounds). Within matte production, the depth-rating order changes independently from “meters first” (200m = 660ft) to “feet first” (660ft = 200m), and those two layouts overlapped during the transition. Later still, “Maxi” dials enlarge the luminous plots within the matte family rather than replacing matte dials as a whole. Read one feature at a time, those independent timelines make the 5513 both varied and unusually legible, provided the watch has not been mixed across eras by replacement parts.

“Because the watch barely changed, every change counts: a 5513 dial reads like tree rings.”

Production timeline

5513 across 1962–1989

Sotheby’s and Christie’s both date the Submariner ref. 5513 to a production span of 1962–1989, and that long run is the reason the reference resists any single, tidy “one look” description. The watch crosses several distinct dial eras, and the most reliable way to understand it is to treat each visible trait as its own clue rather than assuming everything changed at once.

Dial finish is the backbone. Early watches are associated with glossy gilt printing, while later 5513s are most often encountered with matte dials that emphasize the utilitarian side of the Submariner. Around 1984, the reference moves into its final dial family, glossy dials with white-gold surrounds around the hour markers.

Inside the matte era, the depth rating offers an independent timeline. Meters-first (200m = 660ft) and feet-first (660ft = 200m) were both used around the change, and a Sotheby’s listing places the overlap from late 1968 to early 1970.

The movement story also reads as an overlap rather than a factory-published switch date. Auction material documents calibre 1530 in early 5513s dated circa 1962–1963, and Sotheby’s documents calibre 1520 in a 5513 dated circa 1967. Christie’s also catalogued a 1964 watch described as ref. 5513 with calibre 1570 as part of a specific transitional configuration, a reminder that individual watches can sit at the edges of the normal patterns that guidebooks describe.

1962
Ref. 5513 launched
Between-lugs engraving “5513”.
c. 1962 – 1963
Cal. 1530 documented
Movement signed “1530”.
c. 1967
Cal. 1520 documented
Movement signed “1520”.
c. 1964
Tritium signature
“SWISS T<25” at 6 o’clock.
c. 1966/67
Matte era begins
Flat matte dial, white printing.
c. 1968 – 1970
Meters→feet overlap
Depth line order changes.
c. 1984
Glossy WGS era
Applied white-gold marker surrounds.
1989
Ref. 5513 ends
Late examples with glossy WGS dials.

How to tell it apart

5513 against its neighbours

The closest vintage point of reference for the Submariner 5513 is the Submariner 5512. Both are stainless-steel, crown-guard, no-date Submariners in the same general size and format, and they overlap in era. The practical difference is the one Rolex chose to formalize through certification: the 5512 is generally chronometer-certified, while the 5513 is generally not, and their dials often reflect that difference in the presence or absence of chronometer wording.

At the end of the 5513’s long run, ref. 14060 is generally treated as the next mainstream no-date Submariner reference after 1989. It preserves the same date-free Submariner layout while moving into a more modern movement generation.

	6538 Earlier pre-crown-guard no-date Submariner 1954–1959	5512 Immediate predecessor and chronometer-certified sibling 1959–1978	This reference 5513 Rolex · focal 1962–1989	14060 Direct successor in the no-date line c. 1990–2001
Production years	1954–1959	1959–1978	1962–1989	c. 1990–2001
Movement	Cal. 1030	Cal. 1530 (early), Cal. 1560/1570 (chronometer-rated variants)	Cal. 1530, then Cal. 1520	Cal. 3000
Case material	Stainless steel	Stainless steel	Stainless steel	Stainless steel
Chronometer	Some examples; others not	Yes	No	No
Crown guards	No	Yes	Yes	Yes

Dial generations

Six dial generations across the run

The earliest Submariner 5513 dials are glossy gilt, black lacquer with gold-colored printing that preserves the look of Rolex’s early 1960s sports watches. Published timelines commonly place gilt 5513 production in the 1962 to 1966 range, with some spillover into 1967.

On luminous material, specific period markings matter more than broad assumptions. Christie’s documents ref. 5513 examples with radium lume, including “exclamation” dials. Phillips also places a key dial-signature shift in 1964, stating that new regulations mandated changes in luminous material and that the earlier “Swiss” indication was replaced by tritium signatures such as “SWISS T<25.”

Several gilt-era cues are used because they can be evaluated from the dial side. “Chapter-ring” gilt dials are identified by a connected outer minute track, and Phillips places this connected-track style among the earliest gilt-gloss expressions (produced until roughly 1963–1964 in their broader discussion of gilt/gloss dials). “Underline” dials add a short horizontal line beneath a line of dial text. Hodinkee treats underline dials across Rolex sports models as a transitional marker often discussed in connection with the radium-to-tritium period, while noting that Rolex has not publicly confirmed a single official meaning for the underline.

Buying guide

What to check before buying a 5513

A Submariner 5513 is straightforward to place in the model family, but surprisingly easy to misread in the details. The reference spans 1962–1989, and the same long service life that kept many examples wearable also made dial and hand replacements common; the checks below test whether an individual watch’s components still tell one consistent story. Dial text corroborates, it does not identify: even chronometer wording is not absolute on this reference, so weigh printed lines together with the movement, dial family, and overall configuration.

Begin with the dial’s finish family

Place the watch in its broad dial family first: early glossy gilt, matte, or late glossy with white-gold surrounds. A finish that conflicts with the rest of the watch is often the clearest sign of a swapped dial.

Treat meters-first, feet-first, and Maxi as separate checks

Within matte production, meters-first versus feet-first is a text-layout choice, and Sotheby’s places overlap between the two from late 1968 to early 1970. “Maxi” is a later matte subset centered on enlarged hour plots, discussed in dedicated references as a separate late-matte direction. Confirm each trait directly, because none of them guarantees the others.

Use dial text as corroboration, not a single-point test

The 5513 is generally described as the non-chronometer counterpart to the 5512, and many examples are seen without chronometer wording. Christie’s also catalogued a 1964 watch described as ref. 5513 with “Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified” on the dial and calibre 1570, and described that specific watch as transitional. Cross-checking the reference engravings and the movement is therefore more reliable than relying on one printed line.

Watch for service dials and replacement hands

Bob’s Watches highlights that service luminous can appear brighter and more uniform than aged tritium, and that mismatched lume color between dial and hands is a practical warning sign when evaluating originality.

Avoid refinished or reprinted dials

WPBWatchCo treats refinished dials as a major value and authenticity negative for vintage Submariners. Inconsistent fonts, unnaturally fresh lume, and a surface that does not match the expected finish for the dial family are common tells.

Inspect the case for over-polishing

Bob’s Watches emphasizes that heavy polishing can thin lugs and soften original case geometry. Strong definition in the lugs and clear transitions between brushed and polished surfaces usually indicate a better-preserved case.

Bezel inserts: check correctness and era

Bob’s Watches notes that period-correct aluminium inserts and their typography are closely tracked, and that later service inserts can change the watch’s character. Insert assessment carries the most weight when it agrees with stronger dating cues like dial family and matte-era depth-rating layout.

Be cautious with military and professional-use claims

The 5513 has well-known special-issue categories, including British Military Submariners (often discussed as MilSub, ref. 5513/5517) and COMEX-associated watches. Bob’s and WatchGuys both stress that these niches attract heavy fakery, and that credible examples rely on configuration details and documentation rather than stories.

Every watch sold on Grey Market goes through this kind of inspection, hands-on, before it ships to the buyer. More in our FAQ

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Similar references

Adjacent in the Submariner family

Chronometer-certified sibling in the same no-date Submariner format

5512

1959–1978

Generally cited next no-date Submariner reference after the 5513 ends

14060

c. 1990–2001

Later no-date evolution following the 14060

14060M

2000–2012

Earlier pre-crown-guard no-date Submariner

6538

1954–1959

Short-lived transitional no-date Submariner

5510

1958–1959

Frequently asked

Common questions about the 5513

The Submariner 5513 production years are commonly given as 1962–1989, and both Sotheby’s and Christie’s explicitly date ref. 5513 to that span.

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Reviewed by the Grey Market authentication team · Last verified 2026-06-10

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