Reference:5512
Submariner → 5512
The 5512 is the chronometer no-date Submariner and the watch that locks crown guards into the Submariner line. It runs alongside the 5513 for almost two decades but sits above it in the range, and it ends up the scarcer watch by a wide margin. The Rolex-commissioned Submariner book by Nicholas Foulkes puts total 5512 production at 17,338 units.
Core facts
| detail | value |
|---|---|
| reference | 5512 |
| family | Submariner (no date, chronometer) |
| production | approximately 1959 to 1978/1979 |
| total production | 17,338 units |
| movement | caliber 1530 (early), 1560 (mid), 1570 (late) |
| case | 39.5–40mm, first Submariner with crown guards |
| crystal | acrylic |
| dial path | chronometer (COSC four-line) and early non-chronometer two-line |
Where it sits in the line
The 5512 is the premium no-date Submariner: COSC-certified by the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres, sitting above the non-chronometer 5513 in the same no-date slot. That was the commercial split then and remains the collecting split now. At every point in the production overlap, the 5512 is the scarcer, higher-specification watch.
Production outline
Against the 5512's 17,338 units, the non-chronometer 5513 produced 151,449. Roughly one 5512 for every 11.4 5513s. Period retail pricing reflects the chronometer premium: in 1966–1968, a 5512 cost $210–$235 versus $160–$175 for the 5513.
The 5512 reads as a long run with four distinct generations, each defined by crown guard shape, dial type, and movement caliber. The generations overlap at the edges and were never clean factory transitions, but they are stable enough to navigate by.
Crown guard generations
Four production generations are documented for the 5512. The table below maps the key variables for each.
| Generation | Period | Crown guards | Dial | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1959 | Square | Gloss gilt, Chapter Ring | Cal. 1570 |
| 2 | ~1960–1963 | Pointed (Cornino) | Gloss gilt, Chapter Ring; 2-line and 4-line | Cal. 1530 or 1560 |
| 3 | Mid-1960s | Pointed (Cornino) | Gloss gilt, 4-line only | Cal. 1560 |
| 4 | Late 1960s | Rounded | Matte, white print | Cal. 1560 |
Serial band ranges are collector approximations drawn from caseback production stamps and known examples, not Rolex factory records; Rolex does not confirm vintage production dates. Watches near a transition point may not match the expected configuration.
Generation 1 — Square crown guards, 1959
The square-crown-guard 5512 is the rarest of the run. Fewer than 15 are usually cited. The guards are blunt and straight, Rolex dropped the shape almost immediately, and surviving examples trade in a different tier from later 5512s. The movement is documented as 1570, the dial is gloss gilt with chapter ring, and Christie's sold one in 2013 for CHF 190,000.
On gilt dials the gold-coloured text is exposed brass under black gloss, not gold paint on top. Silver text, when present, sits above the lacquer. That layered construction explains why gilt dials age differently from later matte printed dials.
Rolex Forum collectors note that three distinct crown-guard shapes are concentrated within 1959 alone: the square guards, an early transitional form, and the beginning of the pointed Cornino profile. Rolex was iterating fast.
Generation 2 — Pointed "Cornino" crown guards, ~1960–1963
Generation 2 moves to pointed Cornino guards around 1960. The shift was not perfectly clean, and transitional examples exist. Both two-line and four-line dials appear here, which is why the shorthand "5512 equals four-line chronometer" fails early in the run. Movements are 1530 or 1560 depending on timing.
Generation 3 — Pointed "Cornino" crown guards, mid-1960s
Still Cornino guards, but by this stage only four-line dials appear. This is where the 5512 fully expresses its chronometer identity. Movement is caliber 1560. Dial is still gloss gilt.
Generation 4 — Rounded crown guards, late 1960s
The transition from pointed to rounded guards happens mid-to-late 1960s. Dial printing shifts from gilt to matte white around the same period; the exact boundary overlaps with the 5513's own matte transition. This generation bridges into the long matte phase that runs to the end of the reference.
Early crown-guard and gilt years
The 5512 starts in the glossy gilt dial era, with a glossy black dial and gilt-coloured printing in place of the later matte style. Early gilt 5512 watches with square or pointed crown guards are where the reference reaches its highest values.
Matte years
The matte era follows and carries most of the long middle and late production. This is where meters-first and feet-first language starts to matter; those terms describe whether the dial prints 200m before 660ft or the reverse. Late in the run, Maxi dials appear: collector shorthand for matte dials with noticeably larger lume plots.
Movement notes
The 5512 runs through three calibers across the full production span: 1530 early, 1560 in the middle, 1570 late. The split that matters is between early non-chronometer watches and the later chronometer movements, not between minor spec changes inside each family.
Early two-line 5512s share 1530 territory with the early 5513. The 1560 and 1570 are the mature chronometer movements that define the later 5512.
A wrinkle: some first-generation square-crown-guard watches are documented with caliber 1570, against the usual early-equals-1530 sequence. The pairing is documented; the reason is not.
Dial map
The 5512 dial taxonomy organises by generation rather than by named dial variants. The 5513, by contrast, is classified by named types (Underline, Bart Simpson, Maxi). The two reference articles use different taxonomies because the references were collected differently from the start.
Early two-line and gilt
Early 5512 examples can be two-line, before the reference settled into the four-line chronometer layout. These non-COSC two-line dials sit only in the earliest production. Two-line gilt examples with square or pointed crown guards are exceptionally rare.
The two-line configuration carries the depth rating and "SUBMARINER" only, with no chronometer certification text. The four-line configuration adds "SUPERLATIVE CHRONOMETER" and "OFFICIALLY CERTIFIED" (the SCOC text). A rare OCC variant exists from the very earliest production: "OFFICIALLY CERTIFIED / CHRONOMETER" instead of the standard SCOC layout, analogous to the OCC 1675 GMT.
Text colour patterns evolved across the gilt run. In 1959–1960, mixed silver and gold text combinations appear: depth rating in silver, "SUBMARINER" in gold, with SCOC text (when present) in silver. From 1961–1962 with the MK1 Old Font coronet, two-line dials have both lines in silver. With the newer coronet types from 1961–1962, two-line dials show both lines in gold, while four-line dials have the first two lines in gold and the SCOC lines in silver. From 1963 onward the standard pattern is the first two lines in gilt with SCOC text in silver.
Four-line gilt
Four-line gilt examples are the cleaner chronometer-era expression of the reference and one of the main reasons collectors chase the 5512 over the 5513. The four-line layout adds COSC chronometer certification text below the depth rating, and the gilt finish carries the warmth of the early production era.
Matte white-letter dials
After approximately 1967 the 5512 moves from gilt to matte white-letter dials, in step with the wider Submariner line. Matte 5512s include meters-first, feet-first, and late Maxi examples; the subtype boundaries are too soft to force into a rigid chart.
Rolex Forum collectors identify a "Meters First Neat Fonts" variant as a named sub-type within the matte meters-first category, distinguished by a particularly clean, precisely spaced typeface in the dial printing. A serif dial variant is also documented from approximately 1971–1972, where the dial text uses a serif typeface that differs from both the earlier and later non-serif matte printing. These named variants track the same typographic progression documented in the 5513 dial timeline.
Gilt to matte transition
The gilt-to-matte transition happens around 1967, but the exact boundary is fuzzy. Some late-gilt and early-matte examples overlap in the serial number range. The transition is a zone, not a clean line.
Case, bezel, crystal, and crown
The 5512 is the case-development watch. It is the first Submariner with crown guards, and it brings a significant case size increase from the 38mm of the preceding 6536/1. Some sources measure the case at 39.5mm; most round to 40mm. Either way, that diameter becomes standard for the entire line through the modern era.
Crown guard evolution from square to pointed to rounded is the most important physical change across the production run. Collectors call the earliest guard shapes "square crown guards" and the second generation "eagle beaks" or "Cornino" — collector field language, not Rolex factory taxonomy.
The crystal is a super dome plexi (model 19 or Tropic 39), giving early examples a pronounced domed profile. The watch keeps the standard no-date Submariner format and rotating bezel, with early Long 5 inserts (whose "5" has a long tail) still appearing often enough to matter.
Early gilt dials show an exclamation dot below the 6 o'clock lume plot, a small round marker that likely functioned as a radium warning indicator. The radium-to-tritium transition occurred in the mid-1960s, and dial printing shifted from "SWISS" to "SWISS T<25" to denote the change in luminous material.
Chapter ring timing: gilt 5512 dials from 1959 through 1962 carry a characteristic gold-tone connected minute track (the chapter ring) around the dial periphery. From 1963 onward the chapter ring is absent, unless the dial is a carryover from an earlier production year. A chapter ring combined with an underline is very rare; when found, casebacks are typically dated to Q4 1962.
Bezel authentication: Fat Font Mark 1 and the "Kissing 40"
The earliest 5512 bezels are Fat Font Mark 1, identifiable by two things working together: thick, bold numerals and the "kissing 40" at the 40-minute position, where the 4 and 0 are nearly touching. The gap between them is almost nothing. Once recognised, the layout is unmistakable, and a service bezel that lacks it is easy to spot.
The Mark 2 bezel was likely introduced with Generation 3 in the mid-1960s, though the exact transition point is not cleanly documented. Service bezels use thin-font numerals and no kissing 40, both flags that a bezel has been swapped. A genuine Fat Font Mark 1 bezel on an early gilt 5512 is a meaningful authenticity and value indicator; a service bezel on the same case is a significant collector downgrade.
Dial authentication: the gilt fraud vector
5512 gilt dials, especially chapter-ring dials, are one of the more active fraud vectors in vintage Submariner collecting. The premium on an original gilt 5512 dial is large enough to make refinishing and dial swapping commercially attractive. A genuine 5512 gilt dial should show a gilt chapter ring with the correct hash-mark style for its production period, a Rolex coronet in the shape appropriate for that era, and print characteristics (font weight, letter spacing, depth-rating format) consistent with the serial band.
Late gilt 5512 examples from approximately 1966 can show what collectors call "Bart Simpson" coronets, where the deep yellow of the galvanic gilt process produces a coronet whose colour and proportions draw the cartoon comparison. Less common on the 5512 than on the 5513, but the term does appear in auction catalogues. A bright yellow coronet on a late gilt 5512 warrants verifying the serial range before assuming it is genuine.
Coronet evolution across the gilt era: 5512 gilt production used at least seven identifiable coronet shapes, which serve as dating and authentication aids:
- MK1 / "Old Font" coronet (1959–1962): The last spike on the right side of the coronet extends further down than the other four spikes, reminiscent of coronets on the preceding big-crown Submariners (6538). Term attributed to collector Marcello Pisani.
- Longer spikes coronet (1961–1962): Coronet with noticeably longer spikes than the Old Font.
- Shorter spikes / rounder coronet (1961–1962): More round at the bottom with shorter spikes.
- Tulip coronet (1961–1962): Distinctively shaped, named for its tulip-like appearance.
- Elongated spikes coronet (1963): Broad base with very long spikes. Seldom seen; a rare variant.
- Classic coronet (1963–1966): More broad and wide at the bottom than predecessors. Became the most common coronet for the remainder of gilt-gloss production.
- Bart Simpson coronet (1966): Produced at the very end of gilt-gloss production. Named because the coronet resembles the outline of Bart Simpson's head.
Matching the correct coronet shape to the serial range is one of the primary authentication checks for gilt 5512 dials. A coronet wrong for the period is a strong indicator of a replacement or refinished dial.
Movement authentication: butterfly rotor
Rolex Forum collectors flag the butterfly rotor as an authentication checkpoint for the 5512. The rotor, named for its shape, is the correct type for certain production periods within the reference's long run. A 5512 with an incorrect rotor type for its serial range is a red flag for movement replacement or parts mixing. The check is a quick visual once the caseback is off, and it matters most on early examples where the movement premium is highest.
Bracelets, end links, clasps, and packaging notes
The documented fitment arc is familiar: 7206/80 early, 9315 with 280 or 380 in the middle, 93150/580 late. That is a fitment map, not a delivery record for any single watch.
Observed examples back up the caution. Early documented watches wear rivet bracelets, while a late Maxi example wears 93150/580 with a clasp dated later than the watch head — useful for understanding survival patterns, weak as evidence of original delivery.
Packaging deserves the same caution. One early high-end example is recorded as box and paper, but a single example is a data point, not a policy.
Special branches
Square crown guards
The most obvious early branch, and one of the main reasons the 5512 matters beyond the dial text. Square-crown-guard 5512 examples from 1959 are among the rarest and most valuable vintage Submariners, and they represent the first expression of what becomes the standard Submariner case shape.
Pointed "Cornino" crown guards
The second-generation crown guards form a distinct collecting branch. Less rare than square guards but still early production that predates the rounded guards most collectors know.
Early two-line dials
Two-line dials show the 5512 before it settled into its four-line chronometer identity. A two-line gilt 5512 with early crown guards is a fundamentally different watch from a late four-line matte 5512.
Historical market and auction record
Foulkes' Rolex-commissioned Submariner book puts total 5512 production at 17,338 watches. That number explains why the reference has always felt scarcer than the 5513 in the market and why prices have consistently run higher.
The early high-end branch sits in a different universe from later commercial examples. A 1960 tropical gilt tulip 5512 with stated box and paper traded at $75,000, and a 1965 four-line gilt example at $32,500. At the other end of the run, a 1979 late Maxi 5512 traded at about $18,495. The spread tracks the generation hierarchy more than condition.
A Sotheby's lot in the captured set documents a 1967 5512 with caliber 1570 movement and inner caseback marked 5513, but the public listing mislabels it as a date watch despite plainly showing a no-date Submariner. The listing is documented but unreliable as a benchmark.
Crown guard type drives value as hard as anything else on the watch. Square-crown-guard examples from 1959 trade in a completely different tier from rounded-crown-guard examples from the mid-1960s onward, even when both carry gilt dials. The crown guard is a date marker and a rarity indicator at the same time.
Sources
- RolexHaven.com — serial-level Small Crown Submariner documentation
- The Vintage Rolex Field Manual — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
- 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
- Reference Points: Understanding The Rolex Submariner — Stephen Pulvirent, Hodinkee
- 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
- Rolex Reference 5512 Submariner, A Stainless Steel Automatic Wristwatch With Bracelet, Circa 1967 — Sotheby's, Sotheby's
- The Rolex Square Crown Guard Submariner Reference 5512 — Revolution Watch editorial, Revolution Watch
- In depth-review Rolex 5512 Submariner — Edmond Saran, Le Monde Edmond
- 5513 Matte Dial and Gilt-Gloss 5512 Submariner — Comprehensive Reviews — Beaumont Miller II, 5513mattedial.com
Named contributors: Gilt-gloss dial research by Beaumont Miller II (5513mattedial.com), with acknowledged contributions from Marcello Pisani (originator of the "Old Font" coronet terminology).