Watch Paparazzi

Entrepreneur Emma Marcegaglia spotted wearing Rolex

Emma Marcegaglia, one of Italy's most prominent business figures and former president of both Confindustria and Eni, was recently photographed wearing what appears to be a Rolex Submariner ref. 5513 — a vintage dive watch that rewards careful attention far more than a cursory glance would suggest.

Launched in 1962, the Rolex Submariner ref. 5513 was conceived as a cleaner, more accessible counterpart to the ref. 5512, which carried the Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified (COSC) designation on its dial. Without that certification requirement, the 5513 allowed Rolex greater flexibility in movement selection over its 27-year production run, and the watch consequently passed through several calibre iterations — from the cal. 1520 to the celebrated cal. 1530 and eventually the cal. 1570. Waterproof to 200 metres, fitted with a unidirectional rotating bezel and a Mercedes-hand configuration, the 5513 defined what a professional dive watch looked and functioned like for nearly three decades.

For collectors, the Submariner 5513 is anything but a monolithic reference. Its extended production lifespan generated a remarkable breadth of dial and bezel variants: gilt and matte dials, meters-first and feet-first depth notations, glossy "Tropical" patina examples, and the coveted "Maxi" dial editions from the late 1970s. Each configuration has its own following, and the reference is widely regarded as an essential study in vintage Rolex taxonomy. The 5513 was also notably issued to the British Royal Navy, lending it an additional layer of provenance that sustains collector interest.

Marcegaglia's career trajectory — leading Italy's largest industrial employers' federation and subsequently the board of Eni — places her among Europe's most influential corporate figures of the past two decades. Her choice of a vintage Rolex Submariner ref. 5513 rather than a current-production piece signals familiarity with horological history and a preference for substance over spectacle.

On the vintage market, the Rolex Submariner 5513 commands prices that vary enormously depending on configuration and condition. Standard matte-dial examples in honest condition typically trade in the $8,000–$18,000 range, while exceptional Maxi-dial or Tropical variants can reach $30,000 and beyond. No official retail price applies to this discontinued reference.