Perhaps one of the two biggest rolex subs which many would have to have a staple on would be the 5512 or 5513.
In the vintage world, these two references represents a golden era of rolex's innovation in 1959-1960s.
They introduced a massive amount of tool watches specifically for occupations which required them to go under conditions where time keeping was important.
The 5512 was first introduced in 1959 and had a 15 year production run. Many vintage Rolex historians have agreed that there are a total of 4 variations.
Of which, the rarest would be the first version. The 5512 was important in rolex's history because of the introduction of a crown guard. During a diver's descent, the crown guard protected the crown from damage which might result water leaking into the watch.
This was a big innovation at that time, the SCG or Square Crown Guard - is an extremely rare watch in the gen world. Only about 100 pieces were estimated to have been made. And even less survived during the past 60 years in good condition. As tool watches, these pieces underwent dives, abuse and were constantly polished, serviced and parts swapped over their years of use. It is literally almost impossible to find one in good NOS condition.
A very rare 1959 SCG SYL 5512 was sold in christies in 2013 for 190,000 CHF. This was an extremely rare event due to the rarity of the condition as well as the dial.
The Rep
In the rep world - the SCG mod work is probably one of the hardest mod to get right. For many reasons, the difficulty of shaping the case posses a big challenge as compared to a PCG. If the modder is off just a tiny bit, the whole mod will not work. Not only does the shape of the square needs to be right, the chamfer work is challenging to create on a square crown guard.
In addition, creating an illustion of a longer crown guard requires two ways - either to shorten the crown height or to extend the crown guard by welding.
Both of which are no mean feat.
It takes tremendous trial and error as well as skill on the modders part to get the SCG done right cohesively. Modders who reach this level are known to never declare how difficult it is, kudos to them for taking up the challenge in bringing the rep vintage world to a whole new level.
In the rep world, the number of good SCG builds are even lesser than the gen. As of now, I only know of about 3 pieces which were shown publicly. Two of which are currently in the hands of lucky owners and one with me.
Today, I received a watch done by a friend who also did my BC - dlf, I was not able to obtain this build directly off dlf when he first posted it for sale.
Thankfully a few months later, the new owner decided to let it go and I took the plunge instantly. Having already owned a build by dlf, it was a no brainer as the 6538 is constantly one of my daily favorite pieces to wear. Incredibly subtle and stunning.
Due to time constraints which I have this week, I have decided to hold off taking macro pics till I have time, but this is the watch which I received today.
As you can see, the new owner swapped out dlf's original aged insert with a tropical brown. Although not period correct, this insert fits the watch tremendously well. Under various angles, the piece is 100% beautifully tropical.
Together with the 6542 pan am, I would rate the 5512 SCG to be one of the hardest rep mods to pull off for vintage rolex. The amount of patience, skill and luck required is not for the faint of heart.
More pics will come end of this weekend
