Rolex. A fine and rare stainless steel automatic wristwatch with sweep centre seconds, bracelet, black lacquer exclamation dial and pointed crown guards
On lots marked with an + in the catalogue, VAT wil… Read more The Property of an Important Italian Collector
Rolex. A fine and rare stainless steel automatic wristwatch with sweep centre seconds, bracelet, black lacquer exclamation dial and pointed crown guards

Signed Rolex, Oyster Perpetual, 200m=660ft, Submariner, ref. 5512, case no. 820'498, manufactured in 1962

Details
Rolex. A fine and rare stainless steel automatic wristwatch with sweep centre seconds, bracelet, black lacquer exclamation dial and pointed crown guards
Signed Rolex, Oyster Perpetual, 200m=660ft, Submariner, ref. 5512, case no. 820'498, manufactured in 1962
MOVEMENT: automatic, cal. 1530, 26 jewels
DIAL: black lacquer "exclamation", luminous dot, baton and dagger numerals, luminous hands, sweep centre seconds
CASE: stainless steel, tonneau-shaped with pointed crown guards, revolving black bezel calibrated for 60 units, screw back, screw down Twinlock crown, 40 mm. diam.
SIGNED: case, dial, movement, stamped IV.62 inside the back of the case
BRACELET/CLASP: stainless steel riveted Rolex USA Oyster expanding bracelet, deployant clasp stamped 7/67, approximate overall length 180 mm.

Special notice
On lots marked with an + in the catalogue, VAT will be charged at 8% on both the premium as well as the hammer price.

Lot Essay

The present watch is a rare representative of famed reference 5512, featuring not only the coveted pointed crown guards, but also a black lacquer "exclamation" dial with gold printing. These types of dial are very hard to come by and garner immediate attention from Rolex aficionados. Characterized by an additional luminous dot positioned underneath the 6 o'clock hour marker, the exclamation dial is highly coveted.
Exclamation dials were used by Rolex as a means to indicate that the radium used on the dial to make it luminous was within the norm approved by the Atomic Energy Commission in the U.S. These types of dials are found only on models from the late 1950s to early 1960s. The radioactive radium used on luminous watch dials in the first part of the 20th century was replaced in the middle of the century by less harmful tritium.
Both reference 5512 and reference 5513 come with two different types of protective crown guards: pointed ones or rounded ones. Examples with pointed crown guards are fewer and thus more attractive to collectors. Lovingly referred to as "cornino" by Italian watch enthusiasts, the ends of these crown guards are much thinner, almost tapering to a point, compared with the more rounded crown guards of later standard Rolex production.
Reference 5512 was introduced in 1959 and stayed in production until the late 1970s. Pointed crown guards can only be found in the first few years of production. The watch on offer dating from 1962 is, therefore, one of the last to feature them.

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