Over the years, the vintage world of replica Rolex has developed its unofficial language, with certain words or phrases being coined to describe various, often highly desirable pieces among collectors. Throwing names like “Blueberry” or “Double Red” at a party is usually enough to see every eye in the room light up. But perhaps most importantly, especially for those interested in the most famous dive watch of all time – the Rolex Submariner – is the word “MilSub.”
To the untrained eye, the MilSub may seem like another variant of the famous Rolex Submariner dive watch, but it is much more. It is part of watchmaking history, often trading at astronomical prices, and many avid Rolex collectors will agree that they are worth every penny. Let’s look at what makes Ref. 5517 special, one of the rarest and most expensive vintages. Rolex replica watches ever made. It is a compound of the words “military” and “submarine,” describing any of four different models that we modified to meet the requirements of the British Armed Forces, dating back as far as 1957.
These watches have typical vintage dive watch features such as bi-directional 60-minute bezels, acrylic crystals, no crown protection, and self-winding movements. Overall, they were a great foundation for the MilSub because they were durable and water-resistant enough for military divers and other defensive military operations.
The bezel is now made of stainless steel, and the hash marks on its aluminum insert last 60 minutes instead of just the first 15 minutes like the commercially available Submariner. In addition, they retain on the dial a special symbol carried over from the original MilSub of the 1950s. A small letter “T” in the circle at six o’clock indicates that the highly dangerous radium originally used for the hands and indexes has been stripped by Burford, a subcontractor to the Department of Defense, and replaced by the safer tritium. It’s a tiny detail that is important when looking at vintage Rolexes.
The difference between the last three MilSubs is based on their release dates. In the early 70s, the reference 5513 was used, followed by the model issued 5513/5517, known as the double stamp. Although it is not a heavily modified 5513, it has a unique numbering and a backstory that few copy watches can match, making it the most grail-like piece in the Rolex Submarine canon. Item 5517 was only issued to the military, each example has wide arrow-shaped hands, and while prices for the real thing have always been high, they have recently crossed the astronomical range.
