You recognize what they are saying: “Don’t meet your heroes. It would solely disappoint you. The curtain will raise in your enamored illusions, and you’ll come out sadder and wiser, possibly even cynical.” So when Nacho requested me if I might be curious about doing a hands-on with a 65-year-old Rolex Submariner, I used to be apprehensive. Ought to I? The youthful reference 5513 has all the time been a grail watch of mine. It’s one which I’ve spent lots of time with, in lots of its totally different guises. What would it not be like to hang around with the older reference 5508? Wouldn’t it be so delicate and rattly that it might flip me off of classic Submariners altogether? Or might it shove the 5513 apart and change into my new grail?
In fact, I couldn’t flip down the chance, so I discovered myself slipping the 1959 dive watch over my left hand. I might like to say I closed the clasp with a assured click on, however the skinny, pressed sheet metallic had warped over time, and I needed to wrestle it into submission. I pulled the outer casing of the clasp in direction of me and pushed it down. It held. As a matter of truth, it felt oddly safe. The 5508 and I had been off on our first date. Let’s see how we fared…
Placing the Rolex Submariner 5508 in context
A fast succession of minor and main updates characterizes the early years of the Rolex Submariner. Subsequently, you’ll be forgiven in the event you don’t know your Fifties Sub references by coronary heart. I’m glad to confess I don’t both. In reality, the late ’50s noticed a number of totally different generations and variations overlap, making issues notably difficult.
The 5508 and 5510 each got here out in 1958. The Submariner 5510 was thicker, at about 15mm, and featured an 8mm so-called “large crown.” Rolex rated its water resistance at 200 meters. Reference 5508, however, measured solely 12.6mm thick and had a small crown and water resistance rated at 100 meters. You can see variations with a pink triangle in addition to ones with a silver triangle on the bezel for the 60-minute marker. The one I’ve right here is retrofitted with a later bezel.
That is the primary technology to function Rolex’s caliber 1520, a special model of which additionally ticks in my 1967 Datejust. Concurrently, that is the final Submariner technology with out crown guards. The dials nonetheless featured radium lume, though the compound was diluted in direction of the tip of the manufacturing run in 1962. Later fashions, subsequently, are likely to have lighter-colored lume. Additionally, the dials are my favourite sort — gilt.
Going again to the supply
I had a visceral response after I first pulled this 5508 out of its pouch. It was a weirdly comforting sensation of reduction. Over the previous years, I’ve dealt with so many vintage-inspired dive watches. Domed crystals, gilt-colored dial printing, and pretend patina all grew to become a bit stale. Right here I used to be, holding the true deal. That is precisely what all of these watches attempt to appear to be. The 5508 brings me again to the supply of an aesthetic that has change into one thing of a cliché.
Curiously, it solely makes this watch extra enticing to me. I used to be afraid I might have uninterested in this look via sheer publicity to homages to it. The other is true. Gazing at this 5508, I notice that no quantity of gold paint and beige lume can strategy a well-aged gilt-dial Submariner. It’s as if Justin Timberlake sang the blues; it could be completely in pitch and technically expert, however I’ll take Howling Wolf or Large Joe Williams any day.
By means of the years, the dial’s black galvanized floor cracked, forming sharp traces just like the shards in a skinny layer of ice on a lake. It’s the horological equal of the traces round an previous individual’s eyes, formed by many years of laughter and crying. It could all be cracked, however it’s actually not damaged. To me, a fantastically aged dial like this exudes gravitas and confidence. Every little thing nonetheless stands proud, not hiding its battle scars. That is the supply, and I adore it.
Carrying the Rolex Submariner 5508
In case you have by no means dealt with a Rolex of this age, the expertise might be nothing such as you may envision. Fashionable Rolex watches really feel like ultra-precise, strong chunks of metal. The transferring components really feel as in the event that they run on ceramic ball bearings, and the heft evokes confidence. There’s none of that right here. The 5508 is gentle, even eerily so. It feels as if I might pull components off with my naked arms.
That is partly an phantasm. Rolex developed and produced these watches as critical diving instruments. They’re loads dependable and hard. It’s simply that we don’t affiliate any such really feel — rattly and light-weight — with toughness. Nonetheless, there’s a purpose these watches survived over six many years of usually exhausting use. In fact, there’s a marked distinction between fashionable Rolex watches and the 5508. Its offspring will outperform it in all elements besides one — appeal. As a diving instrument, this watch is inferior to its later updates. As an object of our affection, nevertheless…
The skinny, riveted bracelet made from folded sheet metallic holds the 5508 on the center of my wrist. It is a small Submariner, measuring 37.5mm × 46.9mm × 12.6mm, which is inside spitting distance of a Tudor Black Bay 54. Curiously, it doesn’t really feel like a small dive watch. Its design is so balanced that it has a commanding presence. The 5508 asserts itself past its dimension, simply as Luka Modrić does on any midfield.
Is the Submariner 5508 my new grail watch?
I apologize if that is turning into one thing of a love track. Belief me after I say this isn’t to make up for my current Rolex-related indiscretions on Fratello Talks. The Rolex Submariner 5508 merely represents all the pieces I like about watches. I like dive watches, and I can not consider a single one which got here after this that I want over it. This, to me, is peak dive-watch design. Right here we’re, six many years later, and each different model continues to be making an attempt to make its watches appear to be this.
Admittedly, you would need to regard the possession of a watch like this as a interest in and of itself. You could end up scouring the online for period-correct components when one thing wants changing. I would definitely drop by my watchmaker at the very least annually to get the seals inspected. Then once more, caliber 1520 is dependable and nonetheless straightforward to service in 2024. If this watch had been mine, it might actually not spend its days within the protected.
In the long run, all that issues is how a watch makes you’re feeling. This Rolex Submariner 5508 made me really feel actually particular. I felt the identical after I lately performed a 1933 Gibson L-00 acoustic guitar. Its cracked black lacquer regarded like an upscaled model of this 5508’s dial. The guitar had repaired cracks, worn-out spots, and tuners that felt nothing just like the buttery-smooth ones discovered on fashionable guitars. I struck a chord, and the guitar barked, trembling and bucking in my lap like a nervous canine. That one chord was an occasion…an addictive expertise. The 5508 had exactly the identical impact on me. Sure, that is my new grail watch.
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