How does this 5512 look?

[bob78h]

Hello all,
After owning several modern Rolexes I'm now looking to purchase my first vintage watch. I'm a little unsure of what to watch out for though and wanted to see what you guys think of this 5512.

To me, the case looks good, I think possibly recut but lugs still look thick. I believe the bracelet is a replacement 93150. Not sure about the dial and bezel though. The bezel teeth do look sharp which seems a little unusual for a watch of that age.

My main concern is the dial and hands. I've read that the patina should generally match, but on this watch the hour hand looks different. Is that normal?

I'm not necessarily looking for a perfect patina; I want a daily wearer and would probably end up sending the watch in for a movement service and service dial/hands. More important to me is a strong case that hasn't been polished down. But I want to know what I'm getting, especially since the prices on vintage watches vary so much based on condition and originality.

Anything I'm missing about this watch? Thanks a lot guys!

[swish77]

What's the beginning of the serial number? I'd want to see better, natural light photos, not these bad whitewashed ones. Hard to tell what's going on with the patina, and why it's uneven and discolored on the hands and a couple of the hour plots. It could even be that a lot of the tritium has been lost on the hour plots, but better photos would help tell the story.

It looks like a maxi dial toward the end of the 5512 run (about 1978 with early 5 mil. serials), with the "s" and the "5" on the tritium marking at the bottom of the dial overlapping the minute markers. Earlier '70s dials on 5512s didn't have that quirky feature.

Case appears polished/re-cut, but not necessarily in a bad way. It actually looks decent, with fat crown guards. Insert has been replaced.

I'd also ask for photos of the movement, engravings between the lugs, and a UV photo showing the dial/hands. The latter could give you clues about the issues with the lume.

[didyunt]

It looks amazing.

[Styles Bitchley]

Even at a good price the mismatched lume on the hands and uneven hour plots would drive me nuts.


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[Dr Watches]

It looks super washed out, which is the point of taking pictures that look like that.

[bob78h]

Originally Posted by swish77

What's the beginning of the serial number? I'd want to see better, natural light photos, not these bad whitewashed ones. Hard to tell what's going on with the patina, and why it's uneven and discolored on the hands and a couple of the hour plots. It could even be that a lot of the tritium has been lost on the hour plots, but better photos would help tell the story.

It looks like a maxi dial toward the end of the 5512 run (about 1978 with early 5 mil. serials), with the "s" and the "5" on the tritium marking at the bottom of the dial overlapping the minute markers. Earlier '70s dials on 5512s didn't have that quirky feature.

Case appears polished/re-cut, but not necessarily in a bad way. It actually looks decent, with fat crown guards. Insert has been replaced.

I'd also ask for photos of the movement, engravings between the lugs, and a UV photo showing the dial/hands. The latter could give you clues about the issues with the lume.

Seller (Crown&Caliber) says it's a 2.7 million serial, ~1971. So it sounds like the dial is not original? I agree about the case/crown guards, usually those are much more polished down so that's one of the main reasons I was considering this watch.

And I agree with all of you guys about the photos. Not sure why all their listings are so washed out, makes it impossible to see much detail.

I'm leaning towards passing on this one, I saw a recent post about someone who bought a 1675 from C&C and it doesn't give me much confidence. I'm thinking it may be a safer bet to pay a little extra and go with a highly regarded seller for my first vintage piece. HQ Milton is local to me so I may shoot them a message.