The short answer: on a fake 5513 "Big Triangle," the triangle at 12 looks wrong first, and the lume looks wrong second. A genuine early dial has a wide, low triangle with soft corners and lume plots that aged into a warm, uneven, sometimes cracked surface. Fakes tend to show a triangle that is too narrow or too tall, lume that is flat and even, and a dial that glows under UV where it should not.
Buyer's Guide to Rolex 5513 Big Triangle Replica: Prices and Tips
What the Big Triangle dial actually is
The 5513 ran from 1962 into the late 1980s as Rolex's no-date Submariner, rated to 200 m. "Big Triangle" is a collector label, not a Rolex term. It gets attached to early 5513 dials where the triangle at 12 is clearly larger than the round plots beside it. Collectors, dealers, and auction catalogs do not always draw the line in the same place, so treat the name as a description of a look, not a factory specification. That looseness is exactly what fakers exploit. A reprint dial with an oversized triangle can be listed as a Big Triangle and priced like one.
The five checks I run
- Triangle geometry. Look at the width against the two plots below it. The genuine marker should read as a squat, wide triangle with rounded points, sitting in the dial rather than on top of it. A sharp, tall, or perfectly equilateral triangle is a warning.
- Lume texture. Aged radium and early tritium do not look like frosting. They crack, shrink, pull away from the surround, and take on a mottled cream or pumpkin tone. Uniform beige paste with a smooth surface is the classic reprint sign. Shine a 365 nm UV light on it: original lume should be dead, and anything that glows bright is a relume or a modern fake.
- Printing. Check the coronet shape, the spacing of ROLEX, and the serif on SUBMARINER. At 6 you want either SWISS or T SWISS T depending on the year, and the depth rating order and font should match that period. Look with a loupe at the edge of the letters. Reprint ink sits on the matte finish with a raised lip; factory printing sits in it.
- Hands. Gilt hands and lume that match the plots in color and texture. Mismatched hands are common on watches built from parts, and they cut value hard even when the dial is real.
- Case and movement. Serial between the lugs, correct chamfers, caseback stamps, and a 1520-family movement. Photos of the movement matter more than the box and papers, since paperwork does not authenticate a dial.
Where the fakes come from
Most bad Big Triangles are not complete counterfeits. They are three other things. Reprinted dials dropped into genuine cases. "Marriage" watches assembled from a case, a dial, and a movement that never shipped together. And cases with laser-welded lugs or re-stamped serials, which polish up nicely in photos. A dial can be real and the watch still be wrong.
Questions to ask before you pay
Ask for macro shots of the dial at 12 and at 6, a UV shot in a dark room, the serial, and a movement photo. Ask who authenticated it and when. Ask if the dial has been relumed or refinished, in writing. A seller who dodges any of that is telling you something. Also sanity-check the price against recent sales for the same dial type, because a Big Triangle listed far under market is usually a reprint with a story attached.
rolex 5513 big triangle replica
If you already bought one, get a second opinion from someone who handles vintage Submariners weekly, not from the seller. Return windows close fast, and a written condition report is worth more than any forum thread.