Rolex Submariner 5xxx family

The 5xxx Submariner family is the core no-date vintage Submariner story. It starts with the last no-crown-guard watches, runs through the transitional big-crown 5510, and settles into the crown-guard commercial core of the 5512 and 5513. From there it breaks into special-issue branches: the COMEX 5514 and the British military 5517.

Core map

Six references make up the family. The 5508 is the small-crown, no-crown-guard watch, the last of its branch. The 5510 is the big-crown transitional bridge. The 5512 is the chronometer crown-guard no-date Submariner; the 5513 is its non-chronometer counterpart. The 5514 is the COMEX-only branch with a helium escape valve (HEV), and the 5517 is the fixed-bar military branch.

Small crown and big crown refer to the size of the winding crown on the pre-crown-guard watches. Those terms carry their full meaning in the references themselves.

Where the family changes

Crown and case architecture

The family starts without crown guards and ends with them permanent. The 5512 is the structural pivot — it locks crown guards into the Submariner.

The sequence runs across the 5512's own four documented generations: 5508 and 5510 close the no-crown-guard era, then square guards open the 5512 in 1959, pointed "Cornino" guards run from about 1960 into the mid-1960s (split into two of the four generations by dial detail rather than guard shape), and the mature rounded form takes over from the late 1960s and carries the rest of the long 5512 and 5513 run. Jose Pereztroika's review of Nicholas Foulkes's Oyster Perpetual Submariner: The Watch that Unlocked the Deep (Wallpaper / ACC Art Books, 2024) disagrees on naming: it places a distinct "eagle beak" shape between the square and pointed guards, where the 5512's own generation table calls "eagle beak" just a nickname for Cornino — a disagreement the record does not resolve.

Commercial split

The 5512 and 5513 overlap for years but hold different market positions. The 5512 is the chronometer no-date watch, certified to COSC and priced accordingly. The 5513 is the non-chronometer no-date watch, produced in far higher volume and sold at a lower retail price. That split drives much of the modern collecting split as well.

Special-issue branches

The 5514 and 5517 are not retail peers to the 5512 and 5513. They are branch watches tied to specific professional distribution paths: COMEX for the 5514 (French commercial saturation diving) and the British Royal Navy for the 5517.

Reference by reference

5508

The 5508 is the last mainstream Submariner without crown guards. It sits in the small-crown world and closes the earlier case chapter before the 5512 changes the line. Archive examples now include a tropical 1959 watch, a service-dial example, and a 1962 exclamation-dot late example.

5510

The 5510 is the short-run big-crown transitional watch — roughly a year by the majority reading (Antiquorum and Phillips catalogue it end-1958 to 1959), stretched to late 1960 by Horologium's own research, with total output still argued across a 300-600-piece band. Case and crown still look back to the 6538, but the movement is already caliber 1530, the same caliber that powers the early 5512 and 5513. That dual identity is its whole point.

5512

The 5512 is the premium no-date Submariner and the first reference where crown guards become a lasting part of the model. It carries the chronometer story across a twenty-year run and four documented crown-guard generations.

5513

The 5513 is the long-run commercial core. Twenty-seven years of production, 151,449 pieces, dial eras from gilt through matte to late gloss. No other Submariner reference covers as much ground.

5514

The 5514 is the COMEX-specific branch. COMEX (Compagnie Maritime d'Expertises) was a French commercial diving firm that pioneered saturation diving. The 5514 is a 5513 case with an HEV, issued directly to COMEX divers and never sold through any retailer. Major-house lots place dedicated 5514 production across roughly 1972 to 1978; Foulkes's book instead dates the launch to 1969 with a run of 1,618 pieces, a reading Pereztroika's review of that same book revises to 1974 and roughly 800 pieces — the two secondary readings disagree with each other as much as with the auction record. A sold 1976 archive example with box, service papers, and documented diver provenance anchors the reference.

5517

The 5517 is the British military Submariner, known universally as the MilSub. Fixed bars, a 60-minute bezel, T SWISS T tritium dial, and military caseback markings put it in a different lane from the commercial references. The footing is concrete: two Sotheby's 5517 lots, a photographed 1977 example from Hodinkee's Mike Wood report, and a sold military 5513 archive example for context.

Dial and movement logic across the family

The 5xxx family is not one dial story. Early watches live in the glossy gilt world, then the 5512 and 5513 split into different long-run dial arcs. The 5512 carries the chronometer movement path. The 5513 settles into the long non-chronometer route.

Lazy summaries get collectors into trouble here. The 5xxx family rewards reference-specific thinking.

Bracelet and packaging logic

Bracelet fitment is easier to document than original delivery. Across the 5512 and 5513 the documented fitment overlap is familiar: 7206/80 early, 9315 with 280 or 380 in the middle, 93150/580 late. That is fitment, not a universal delivery chart. The same caution applies to boxes and papers.

Historical market view

The 5512 and 5513 do not occupy the same market depth. Nicholas Foulkes's Oyster Perpetual Submariner: The Watch that Unlocked the Deep (Wallpaper / ACC Art Books, 2024) puts the gap in sharp relief: 17,338 pieces for the 5512 against 151,449 for the 5513. Roughly one 5512 for every eleven 5513s. The Foulkes book is the only source behind both figures, and it is not infallible — Pereztroika's review of the same text catches a wrong launch year and production count for the 5514 and a separate disputed figure for the 6536 — so treat the 5512/5513 split as the best available reading rather than an audited one.

That ratio does not make every 5512 automatically better, but it does explain why the 5512 feels scarcer in the market and why special-branch 5xxx watches move into a different price tier quickly. A sold 1976 5514 COMEX archive with box, service papers, and diver provenance anchors that branch; the 5517 market runs on two Sotheby's lots from 2018 and 2023 plus a 2020 Fellows sale that broke the auction house's all-time record at £174,800 against a £50,000-70,000 estimate — real money for a watch whose own total production is still contested across five separate published readings.

Related references

• Submariner family index
• Submariner 5508 — no-crown-guard 8mm
• Submariner 5510 — Big Crown, cal 1530
• Submariner 5512 — first crown guards
• Submariner 5513 — the long-run no-date classic
• Submariner 5514 — the COMEX 5xxx
• Submariner 5517 — the MilSub

Sources

• The Vintage Rolex Field Manual — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
• Nicholas Foulkes, Oyster Perpetual Submariner: The Watch that Unlocked the Deep (Wallpaper / ACC Art Books, 2024)
• Review of the Authorized Rolex Submariner Book — Jose Pereztroika, Perezcope
• Rolex MilSub Sells for Over £174,000 Smashing Fellows House Record — Fellows Auctioneers, 2020
• Rolex 5510: Some Notes — Horologium, 2010
• History of the Rolex Submariner - Part 2, The 55XX References and 1680 Date — Tom Mulraney, Monochrome
• Collector's Guide: What To Know About The Rolex Submariner Reference 5512 — Charlie Dunne, Wind Vintage
• Vintage Rolex Submariner Reference 5508 — Bob's Watches editorial staff, Bob's Watches
• Rolex Submariner Ref 5508 Small Crown Tropical Dial Circa 1959 — Wanna Buy A Watch?
• Rolex Submariner 5508 Service Dial — Loupe This
• Rolex Submariner Ref.5508 1962 Exclamation Dot Dial — Vintage Gold Watches, Vintage Gold Watches
• Rolex 5510 — Bob's Watches editorial staff, Bob's Watches
• Rolex Big Crown Submariner Reference 5510 Unpolished — Eric Wind, Wind Vintage
• 1958 Rolex 5510 Big Crown Submariner — Grey and Patina, Grey and Patina
• The Rolex Square Crown Guard Submariner Reference 5512 — Revolution Watch editorial, Revolution Watch
• 1960 Rolex 5512 Tropical Gilt Tulip Submariner W/Box & Paper — Grey and Patina, Grey and Patina
• 1965 Rolex 5512 Gilt Submariner — Grey and Patina, Grey and Patina
• Vintage Rolex Submariner 5512 — Bob's Watches editorial staff, Bob's Watches
• Vintage Rolex Box reference guide list 1950 to mid 2000's — WatchProSite community, WatchProSite
• Rolex 5513 Submariner Review & Ultimate Buying Guide — Bob's Watches
• 1966 Rolex 5513 "Bart Simpson" Tropical Patina Submariner — Grey and Patina, Grey and Patina
• 1965 Rolex 5513 Gloss Gilt Submariner W/Box & Paper — Grey and Patina, Grey and Patina
• Rolex Submariner "South African Army", Ref 5513, Military Stainless Steel Wristwatch With Bracelet, Circa 1970 — Sotheby's, Sotheby's
• Vintage 1989 Rolex Submariner 5513 — Bob's Watches editorial staff, Bob's Watches
• Vintage Rolex Submariner 5513 Stainless Steel Oyster — Bob's Watches editorial staff, Bob's Watches
• Rolex Submariner Ref 5514 COMEX (1976) Box and Rolex Service Papers — Watches of Distinction, Watches of Distinction
• Action Star Jason Statham Just Added This Vintage Submariner to His Rolex Collection — Jared Paul Stern, Bob's Watches
• Rolex Military Submariner Ref 5513 (1974) — Watches of Distinction, Watches of Distinction
• Inside Mike Wood's 'For Exhibition Only': A Private Rolex Collection On Limited Display — Tim Vaux, Hodinkee
• Full Spec Military Submariner, Reference 5517, Circa 1978 — Sotheby's, Sotheby's
• MilSub Submariner, Ref 5517, Stainless Steel Military Wristwatch Made for the British Armed Forces, Circa 1978 — Sotheby's, Sotheby's