Rolex Submariner Ref. 5513 with Underline Gilt Dial and Rodriquez Messina Provenance

The Rolex Submariner stands among the most important sports watches of the twentieth century. Introduced in 1953 as Rolex’s professional diving watch, it quickly established a design language that still defines the Submariner today. By the early 1960s, the model had also entered popular culture through Sean Connery’s Submariner in Dr. No. Reference 5513 was launched in 1962 as the non-chronometer sibling to the 5512 and would go on to become one of the definitive no-date Submariners of the vintage era.

The present watch belongs to the earliest part of the reference’s production, circa 1963/64, and combines a number of details especially prized. Its glossy black gilt dial is produced by the early lacquered process in which the lettering and minute track appear in gilt relief through the black surface, rather than being printed on top of it. Beneath the signature at 12 o’clock sits the fine underline marking, a feature generally associated with the transitional period between radium and tritium lume. At six o’clock, the dial bears the Swiss-only signature, while the depth rating is of the desirable meters first type, reading 200m = 660ft. The case further retains its sharply pointed crown guards, commonly referred to as PCG, a configuration seen only for a relatively short period in the early 1960s. Together with the notably sharp case proportions and well-preserved bevels, these elements make for a highly compelling early 5513.

What further distinguishes the watch is its provenance. The case back is engraved “Cantiere Navale L. Rodriquez Messina”, referring to the Sicilian shipyard founded in 1887 and later internationally known for its hydrofoils and high-speed passenger craft. Rodriquez itself notes that it operated the world’s first scheduled seagoing hydrofoil service in 1956. According to the consignor, the watch was received when the original owner travelled to Italy to collect a passenger hydrofoil for Flygbåtarna, the fast-ferry service that operated between Copenhagen and Malmö, likely M/S Tärnan, which was built at Rodriquez in Messina for the route. As such, the engraving anchors this early Submariner in an unusually tangible maritime context, linking it to both Italian hydrofoil production and the Flygbåtarna traffic across the Øresund.