October 2010

Rolex British Milsub ref .5513/5517

di Stefano Mazzariol & Marcello Pisani.

One of the rarest and most interesting examples of "special deliveries" never produced and distributed by the Rolex Submariner is certainly to fixed loops created for the armed forces of His Britannic Majesty, commonly called "milsub" among collectors of English.

One Of The Most rare and interesting example of "special distribution" ever Produces and distributed by the fixed July Certainly Rolex Submariner is created for the armed forces of Her Royal Majesty brittish, commonly Known as the "milsub" Among Inglese speaking collectors.

The Milsub, negli anni '80 , non era al centro dell'attenzione dei collezionisti.

In quel tempo si tendeva ad aggiornare l'orologio per assomigliare ai nuovi modelli.

Il 5513 piu' venduto era il modello con quadrante bicchierini.

Sempre in quegli anni , mi ricordo che se un 5513 bicchierini poteva valere da 800 a 1.000.000 delle vecchie lire , un Milsub veniva scambiato per 500/600.000 Lire.

Questo perche' aveva il quadrante pallettoni e non poteva , se non intervenendo, montare un bracciale.

The Milsub, in the 1980’s was not the center of attention for collectors. At that time the tendency was to update the watch to appear like the newer models.

The 5513 that sold best was the model bubble with dials.

In Those Years I Remember That if in 5513 Was Worth Between 800,000 and 1,000,000 Italian lira, in milsub Could Be Traded for 500/600, 000 it / Lit.

This Is Because It Had the buckshot to dial and bracelet Could not be mounted on it Unless It Was modified.

Many of these watches were doth spurn, deprived of the dial and sword hands, polished the bottoms, in short, in some way "discharged" from the military.
often were not relevant to the case with end caps, replaced or exchanged frequently under review, this further demonstration of how little would have been counted and valued.

Many Of These Were dismantled watches, dials and Deprived of Their sword shaped hands, polishing the back, in a way Basically They Were "discharged" from the military world. Often we find

That backs do not correspond to the houses, while Being Replaced Often substituted or serviced. This Is Another example of how little They Were appreciated.

All these steps have made that very few copies in good condition and with all the features that distinguished him, arrived today
From a temporal point of view the supply runs for about 10 years since the early 70's for an approximate total of 1,200 copies and is somewhat later than that of the Omega Seamaster 300 ref. 165,024.

All of this resulted in very Few specimens in good condition with the original and Characteristics That Distinguished Them Being found today.
From a temporal point of view, the production occurred for Approximately 10 years beginning in the early 1970s for a total of 1.200 specimens and Closely Followed the Omega Seamaster 300 ref. 165,024.

Courtesy Jatuka.

Unlike Omega in which the loops were still welded by technicians from the Ministry of Defence, the watch arrived in milsub already with all military specifications required by the contract, so the "Quartermaster" was limited to outside influence assignment code to the bottom of the clock.

As we shall see below these watches were awarded to all British armed forces, that is a dire :

--1) Royal Marines ( che fanno parte della Royal Navy non essendo un’arma autonoma come negli Usa ) ;

--2) Royal Air Force ( ad esempio unità “airborne” eliportate ) ;

--3) British Army ( che non ha il termine “royal” ) quali ad esempio il famoso “SAS”,

lo “Special Air Service” creato durante la seconda guerra mondiale ).

Visto il largo uso di “Task forces” ( unità miste ) fatto dagli Inglesi fin dagli anni 60 non deve stupire il fatto che un orologio assegnato alla Royal Navy sia stato invece usato da unità dell’esercito ( ad esempio la SAS ) o che un orologio assegnato “army” sia stato invece portato in guerra dai Marines o da unità speciali dell’esercito.

The Milsub differed from the Omega in that the fixed lugs on the Omega were welded by technicians from the English ministry of defense, while on the milsub, the watch arrived already containing all the military specifications according to the contract, so the quartermaster only had to engrave the assignment code on the outside of the back.

As we will see later, these watches were assigned to all branches of the English armed forces, meaning:

1 – Royal Marines (which are part of the Royal Navy, not being an independent branch like in the US)

2 – Royal Air Force (for example the ‘airborne’ heliport unit)

3 – British Army (which doesn’t have the term “Royal”, for example the famous “SAS”, the “Special Air Service” created during World War II.)

Due to the widespread use of “Task Forces” (mixed units) by the English until the en of the 1960s, it is not surprising that a watch assigned to the Royal Navy was used instead by army forces (for example the SAS) or that a watch designated as “army” was instead carried into war by the Marines or a special unit of the Army.

Based on the military specifications requested (the same seen previously Started "second half of the 1960s for the Seamaster 300) milsubs Inglese Were presented to the military men in this way:
a - Pressed fixed lugs (the case then lightly polished Was So They Would not protrude)

According to military specifications required (the same as those laid down in the second half of the 60 for the Seamaster 300) milsubs were transferred to the British military in this way:

- a) loops embedded fixed pressure (with a case that was then slightly polished to make them not stick out);

- b) quadrant to which was added a big "T" to indicate the presence of a luminescent
mixture containing tritium, a radioactive emission therefore much lower than that of the old military watches used for radio markers and hands;

b - Dials That Had A large "T" added to the indicated presence of a luminescent That mix contained Tritium, radioactive Therefore with Emissions below to Those of old military watches That radium used for the indices and hands;

Photo OMEGA hands on / hands

- c) special oversized hands for easy reading in less than optimal light conditions such Gladio;

c - Special oversized hands to make it Easier to read in Less Than optimal lighting Called Swords;

--d) inserto con minuteria continua , cioè con indicazione dei minuti fino a 60 anzichè fino a 15 come nei normali inserti Rolex.

d – Continuous minute insert, i.e. with minute indicators that went up to 60 instead of up to 15 like normal Rolex inserts.

In this regard, we note that there are two schools of thought, the first speaks of the first models that Milsub Do not mount the ring over division continues, the second, in our opinion more 'convincing that milsubs have always left the Rolex with the bezel continues, as the Seamaster 300 soldiers already used it since the 60's and that the specific military also appears outside the main structure is always the same.

We would like to note That two school of thoughts exist Regarding this, the first states Milsub That the early models did not use the continuous division bezel, the other, Which we feel is more convincing, milsubs That is always left with the Rolex That given the continuous Bezel Seamaster 300 Used Them until the end of the 1960s and the military specifications That Appear on the outside of the backs are the same.

assignments outside of the bottoms (made pantograph) are of two types and are preceded by a numeric code of the Ministry of Defence indicates that armed force who was assigned the clock, ie < 0552 > (for Marine) or < W10 > (The army).

The assignment on the outside of the back (made using a pantograph) are of two different types and are preceded by a numeric code from the Ministry of Defense Inglese Which Indicates the armed forces the branch to watch Which Was assigned, ie <0552> ( for the navy) or (for the army).

In the first case the number is followed by the code that indicates < 923-7697 >
classification in a British military wristwatch "for many" (ie with high water resistance).

In the first case the number is Followed by the code <923-7697> Inglese Which stands for the military classification for wrist watches made "for divers (waterproof Therefore with a higher rating)

In the second case (abs army) the code is followed W10 by a NATO stock number. ie a 13-character numeric code that indicates the characteristics of 'clock in the classification within NATO.

In the second case (assigned to the Army), the W10 code Was Followed by a NATO stock number, 13 digit number Indicated That the Characteristics According To watch the NATO classification. We then

:
--il codice di specie < 6645 > che indica in ambito NATO la tipologia a cui appartiene l’oggetto ( in questo caso un orologio da polso ).

Therefore we have:

- The series code <6645> which indicates the type it belongs to ( in this case a wrist watch)

--il codice < 99 > che indica il paese che ha assegnato il Nato Stock Number relativo

all’oggetto ( cioè all’orologio ) , che non è necessariamente quello che lo ha prodotto ; in questo caso abbiamo < 99 > che indica ovviamente il Regno Unito .

- - The code <99> that indicates the country that has the NATO Stock Number assigned to it, Which Is not Necessarily The One That produced it, in this case We have <99> Obviously Which Indicates the United Kingdom.

- the code that identifies the particular object (in this case is the same used by the British state for a wristwatch for divers).

- The Code That Particular identifies this object (that in this case is the examination used by the Inglese referred to a wrist watch for divers)>

Both assignments then contain the "broad arrow" ( an arrowhead that indicates how the watch sia di proprietà della Corona ) che ha caratteristiche di=

verse a seconda dell’anno di assegnazione.

Both assignments contain the “broad arrow” that indicates the watch is property of the Crown which differs depending on the year of assignment.

Nella parte più bassa del fondello troviamo infine anno e numero progressivo di assegnazione , senza distinzione fra esercito e marina ; questo vuol dire che non c’erano due diverse sequenze di assegnazione ( come nei Seamaster 300 ) ma una so=

la ( che ovviamente ad ogni nuovo lotto di supply again from the lowest number
vacated, and that is not used during the previous batch).

With regard to the references using the shell, Rolex watches at first provided with the reference "standard" (5513) in the first half of the 70s, followed by a few lots with "double reference" (in 5513 and 5517 under a carrure 'loop), and in the second half of the decade lots marked with a special reference used only for the forces of the United Kingdom (5517), like what we did for the Comex (5514)

On the lower part of the back we find lastly the year and progressive assignment number, with no distinction between the army and navy; this means that there were not two different assignment sequences (like the Seamaster 300) but rather only one (which started with each new lot from the lowest number available, or rather that had not been used by the previous lot).

As far as the reference number used, Rolex had already supplied watches with the “standard” reference (5513) during the first part of the 1970s, followed by a few lots with “double reference” (5513 in the case and 5517 below a lug) and lastly during the second half of the decade, lots marked with a special reference used only for the United Kingdom armed forces (5517), matching what was done for the Comex (5514)

Questi orologi erano utilizzati in condizioni veramente “heavy duty” ed anche nelle

riparazioni ( spesso effettuate nelle facilities militari ) non si andava molto per il sottile , per cui molte volte alcune parti venivano sostituite con quanto era al momento disponibile , come gia' detto precedentemente con sostituzione di fondelli da un orologio ad un altro o cambiando gli inserti , i quadranti ed i fondelli “militari” con altri “standard” , cioè non specifici e

privi delle caratteristiche originali.

These watches were used in truly “heavy duty” conditions and even the repairs (often done in military facilities) weren’t treated very lightly, so many times some of the parts were replaced with what was available at the time, as we mentioned before often replacing the back with that of another watch, or changing the inserts, the dials and the “military” backs with other “standard” ones, meaning non specific and not having the original characteristics.

I Rolex 5513/5517 Milsub hanno avuto un passato militare , ma hanno subito pure delle " torture civili", the few "veterans" survivors finally able to enjoy a present and a future of valutazone and glory. The 5513/5517 Rolex

Milsub Have Had To endure not only a military past, But also "civilian Tortures." The few "veterans" that are only now finally SURVIVED Able to Enjoy a glorious present and future of Being highly valued.