Hello VRF,

First time posting and without further ado, here is my glossy gilt dial 5513 from III65 with serial 1.27xxxx. Enjoy.

T

Nice! Elegant! Simple beauty, really. Always been one of my favorites...

Ron

that's a beauty. love that dial!!

Officine Panerai~ more than a watch... it's fun to wear a war tools on wrist!!

nt

Beautiful, and what a way to announce yourself

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Striking resemblance! What serial is yours, Bobby?

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... all for the kind words! I was fortunate enough to purchase this wonderful 5513 from a widow locally, which belonged to her deceased husband who passed more than 10 years ago. We sat and chatted for almost an hour of her sharing stories about her husband. The story was that this man bought the 5513 brand new from an AD back in mid 60's couple years after he had been certified as a recreational diver. Even though she remembered he bought the watch but had no idea it was a Rolex until recently she accidently discovered it sitting inside a drawer. She said she does not remember if he ever did wore it much as his frequent daily time piece was a Timex.

This 5513's service record is unknown but judging from the condition when I first saw it, I'd say it has been serviced two, maybe three times but there was only one watchmaker's note on the inside of caseback. I made that conclusion because the lugs appeared to have been polished but not overly done. The hands seemed to have been replaced as the second hand was in better condition with a different shade of luminescent. Aside from that, the bezel, insert, domed crystal, caseback, and crown are all original. The dial is in flawless condition with few hairline swirl marks. The bracelet is C-I rivet stamped 7-71, which I think is a replacement since it is still in excellent condition with almost no stretch at all. I had the watchmaker replaced and re-lumed the hands to match the patina of the dial, switched to a genuine service crystal, installed a new style triple lock crown and stem, add a brand new 93150 bracelet with 580 end links, and complete a service on the movement with pressure testing. I retained all the original parts that were outfitted with the new ones. I chose this route as I want to have form and function.

I thank my CW21 for hooking me up and bringing this fine example back to life!

I hope this was not too boring to read.

Mine is still my favourite watch in my collection.

Now that's stunning!

Not a gilt dial.. but still.. the 5513 is my all time favorite watch!

Greetings from Amsterdam

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