Rolex Military Submariner

The History of the Rolex Military Submariner

Once part of the Special Forces diving gear, the Rolex Military Submariner today is a holy grail in any vintage watch collection. Along with the Rolex Comex Submariner ref 5514 circa 1970 and the Rolex Single Red Sea-Dweller ref 1665 circa 1967, the Rolex Military Submariner for the Special Boat Squadron is highly treasured by the serious Rolex collector. The Rolex ‘Mil Sub’, as some call it these days, is the King of Cool timepiece, full of mystique and elegance.

In the early 1970s, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) approached The Rolex Watch Company in Geneva to customise a Rolex Submariner Non-Date ref 5513 suitable for the Royal Navy’s division of underwater soldiers (Special Boat Squadron) and it had to be simple, solid, and dependable. The following modifications were requested by the MOD:-

- minute markers on the bezel insert that circled the full 60 minutes and not just 15 minutes like the civilian model,

- fixed bars on the watch case allowing for the fitting of nato straps to ensure the watch did not get lost in rough conditions thus giving the timepiece a solid and stealth like quality. In comparison, the steel bracelets made a clinking noise that could alert the enemy when on covert missions,

- gladiator hands giving divers better visibility on covert night missions,

- a hacking movement that stops the movement momentarily so that the military unit could synchronise their watches before starting a mission,

- an anti-reflective satin case finish,

- dial with a circled ‘T’ indicating that the 5 minutes markers use of extra Tritium for luminescence in black out conditions such as night-time underwater missions,

- engraved casebacks with a military broad arrow and appropriate military markings helping the back office to keep a track of the timepieces,

All the customisation work was conducted by Rolex Geneva except the caseback engravings which were carried out by MOD in the UK. The casebacks were engraved for various Royal Navy units. The Special Boat Service (SBS) had their Mil Sub’s designated with ‘0522’ just above their individual numbers and the Special Air Service (SAS) had theirs marked with ‘W10’.

The Military Rolex Submariner Double ref 5513/5517 and ref 5517.

Ref 5513 test models with civilian inserts Circa 1968 - 1972

Ref 5513 SERIF

Ref 5513 Non SERIF

Ref 5517 Smudge Crown

Ref 5517 Maxi dial

The MOD was immensely satisfied with the final product, but they wanted the Rolex Military Submariner ref 5513 to have its own unique reference number and not to be confused with the civilian version. Thus, was born the reference 5517 and a huge order was placed with Rolex Geneva as the MOD needed the watches urgently.

Unfortunately, the ref 5517 cases were not ready in time and so used the ref 5513 cases and engraved 5517 on the underside of the lug on the case back. Thus, was born the Rolex Military Submariner Double ref 5513/5517.

The five models of the Mil Sub are:

Ref. 5513 - engraved between lugs at 12 o'clock, civilian insert and 3 digit of the serial number inside case back
Ref. 5513 - engraved between lugs at 12 o'clock and now with military inserts
Ref. 5513/5517 - (engraved respectively under lugs 12 o'clock and 7 o'clock respectively)
Ref. 5517 - engraved between lugs at 12 o'clock
Ref. 5517 - engraved between lugs at 12 o'clock with Maxi Dial.

There are of couse, some exceptions to the rules. For example, there was a special batch of 30 Rolex Military Submariners ref. 5513 numbered 786 to 815 which all had 5517 dials and W10 engravings and all were delivered to the Central Ordance depot in Donnington, UK.

All Rolex Military Submariners should have 5517 dials and a few do have 5517 maxi dials.

The Rolex Military Submariners ref 5517 with serial numbers 5212xxx do not have serial numbers engraved inside the caseback, whereas all 5339xxx have the serial numbers engraved inside the casebacks.

Caseback Military Engravings

The outer caseback on a correct full specification Rolex Mil Sub will be engraved, depending on whether it was a British Navy (0552) or British Army (W10) issue.

Contrary to popular belief all watches would have been used for diving, as although the W10 deliveries were Army or SAS issue, during the 1970s both units were trained divers, thus the watches were available to divers of either unit.

0552 (RN MOD service code)

923-7697

Broad Arrow

Issue Number / Year for Issue

W10 (MOD code for the Army)

6645 (NATO code for time measuring instruments)

99 (NATO code UK)

923-7697 (NATO code for divers watches)

Broad Arrow

Issue Number / Year for Issue

Production Numbers

It should be noted that these Rolex Military watches were never available to the public, to the Royal Navy or to the British Army and remained the property of the British MOD till they were sold at Army Surplus Auctions.

Rolex Geneva supplied the MOD around 1000 (one thousand) Rolex military submariners who in turn issued them to the Royal Navy and British Army from 1972 to 1979. Exact numbers are not available. So, the question should not be how many were produced but how many have survived today in original condition. The answer is not good news:

- Lost in covert military missions. It's normal that some were lost in dangerous and covert military missions,

- Destroyed by the MOD service centre as it may have been more convenient to order new ones from Rolex then to repair and service the ones that were damaged,

- MOD service centres were very careless and more interested that a watch was able to function rather than be meticulous in that all the correct parts were fitted to a particular watch,

- Converted to civilian models. Many (hundreds) of the Rolex Military Submariner were sold in MOD fire sales when they were no longer required. They were purchased by watch dealers who were blinded by a quick profit rather than protecting and understanding the historical significance of these watches. The watches were ripped apart with the military inserts, hands and dials were binned and replaced with civilian versions and casebacks with the military engravings were polished off. The fixed bars were replaced with the fragile spring bars so a steel bracelet could be fitted.

- Never returned when issued to military personnel. The Rolex Military Submariners were issued to SBS officers when on a mission and returned to military storage on completion. But a few of the watches were never returned and marked down as lost on mission. Some of the officers just fell in love with the watches and kept them. A few survived in original condition but some did not. Being aware that these watches were in fact the property of Her Majesty's Government, and a fear of being caught, the case back military engravings were polished off.

Simply put after a Shakespeare tragedy and a comedy of errors I would say no more than 50 Rolex Military Submariner have survived in original condition.

I remember when I first fell in love with the Rolex Military Submariner at the end of the 1990s and was buying every piece that I could find but watch collectors did not understand them and did not buy. So I decided to write an article online (when the internet was born) to educate the watch collecting community as to why the Rolex Military Submariner is and would be a Holy Grail watch. The rest is history.

The Submariner model being one of the most iconic wristwatches ever made was presented by Rolex in 1953 as a diving tool watch. Throughout the years, Submariners have lay the foundation of how a sports timepiece should be and was even commissioned by Rolex to the most extreme ventures in human history. Although not evidential the Submariner has gone through multiple face lifts from minute differences to the case, crown, bezel and dial for improving the durability of the watch. Today, collectors are starting to notice the differences and rarity of each references, and specific reference like the 6538 “Big Crown”, 5514 “Comex”, 1665 “Double red” to the very prized Military Submariner is highly popular among vintage enthusiast.

We are always interested to hear from collectors or original owners who have a vintage Rolex Military Submariner which was issued by the military or used during military service.