Finally, in the mid-’80s, high quality replica Rolex transitioned to glossy dials featuring lume plots with white gold surrounds around the lume plots. It’s the first hint that the diver’s watch was pivoting from tool to luxury. The excess of the ’80s had arrived in full force, and not even the reliable old 1:1 fake Rolex Submariner could resist it. Even the lume plots have gone from a functional feature to a statement.
“This dial combo represents our first glimpse of luxury for the longstanding tool watch,” says the private collector from whom I borrowed the glossy 5513 you see photographed here. He points out that the dial and white gold surrounds really shine in bright sunlight and then revert back to its more muted DNA as a tool watch in lower light. This aaa quality replica Rolex comes from the very last year of 5513 production and you can see that the tritium lume remains a bright white; earlier super clone watches can show some creamy aging, a cool juxtaposition against the modern, glossy dial.
I’d often thought these more modern glossy dials were a bit too luxurious – in the worst sense of that word – but especially combined with the same old Swiss movement copy Rolex Submariner 5513 case, I’ve grown to tolerate the look of this last generation of 5513s. The last vestiges of its tool-watch origins are hanging on like George Clooney to his last few black hairs. Still there and always handsome, but soon enough, the first five-digit models would make the Sub mostly modern.
I might prefer a matte dial, but there’s a modern appeal to these late glossy dials, not to mention they offer some value. They might not feel quite like a “true” vintage copy watch yet, whatever that means, but soon enough, they will.
