FS: 1966 5513 Submariner

[subkrawler]

Up for sale is a Rolex Submariner 5513 with a rather interesting history. The watch belongs to deep-sea/commercial diving pioneer Bob Ratcliffe. Bob is a pioneer in developing deep water commercial mixed gas diving, bell diving, and saturation diving practices.

As one of the commercial diving industry's most brilliant equipment designers, he is one of the four divers who founded the deep helium diving company Cal Dive. In 1969 Cal Dive joined forces with Phil Nuytten's Can Dive and World Wide Divers of Louisiana and formed OCEANEERING international, the world's largest publicly held diving company.

At OCEANEERING Bob developed his legendary mixed gas RAT HAT diving helmet for the company. Considered by many historians as the pinnacle of the early deep water light weight helmets, the RAT HAT is one of the most sought after helmets by collectors. To read more about Bob, check out this link below. Bob’s article starts on page 23.

http://aquaticcommons.org/15286/1/Th...ry_66_2011.pdf

Like a lot of the early pioneer mixed gas divers, Bob bought himself a Rolex. Now to be perfectly clear, I don’t own the watch, Bob does and I am assisting him with the sale. I know Bob through the common link of the Historical Diving Society, for which he’s been a founding member and adviser. I write the vintage dive watch column for the society’s quarterly magazine, The Journal of Diving History, so I was honored when asked to assist him with the sale.

Bob, now in his 80s, remembers purchasing the watch brand new around 1966, so the 1-66 stamp inside the caseback is an accurate reflection. As a true diving tool of the day, the watch saw a lot of time underwater. That use led to the serial number and the model number between the lugs, being worn away. Bob also had it serviced over the years to keep it reliable at depth so the dial, hands, and bracelet have all been replaced with genuine Rolex service parts.

Like I said, this watch doesn’t belong to me, but I am trying to represent it as accurately as possible. I have had it inspected by a certified Rolex watchmaker and he has assured me that all parts are genuine. I have not had it timed, but it does run well.

Bob is asking $15,200 and payment arrangement will be made through me to Bob. Questions are welcomed and I will try to answer them as accurately as possible. Thanks for looking.

[subkrawler]

Ttt

[subkrawler]

Price reduced to $14,000

[subkrawler]

Price reduced to $13,000

[subkrawler]

Price reduced to $12,000