Lot 325

Rolex "Oyster Perpetual 100m=330ft Submariner", Movement No. N723875, Case No. 489197, Ref. 5508, Cal. 1030, 38 mm, circa 1959
A diver's rare automatic vintage wristwatch with turnable "no-hash" insert bezel with red triangle
Case: steel, screw back ref. 5508 III/59, turnable bezel with "no-hash" insert with red triangle, riveted steel "Oyster" bracelet (10 bracelet elements); large, screw-down crown without crown guard, replaced at customers request in the 1970s. Dial: black, luminous indexes (re-lumed), luminous Mercedes hands (re-lumed).
Until around 1964 the Submariner dials showed the so-called gilt printing, but Rolex changed this to get closer to its vision of the perfect diving watch. Two final experimental Submariner models without crown guards were introduced: Reference 5508, replacing the References 6536 and 6536/1. These models were fitted with new 1500 series movements; Cal. 1530 and Cal.1560 were used. Reference 5508 was guaranteed waterproof to 100m/330ft and could be delivered with or without the word "Chronometer" on the dial. This reference was produced approximately from 1958 to 1965; reference 5508 appeared about 1957-58. This is actually reference 6536, but with the new 5508 reference number. The reference number change was done to give all Submariners 55XX reference numbers from the late 1950s on. This lasted until 1990, when the last 55XX models were produced.