A new entry in our records, another great example of a typical Ref. 3646 / Type D watch made in 1943 / 1944 and used in the 2nd world war, reached our database: Auctioneers Dr. Crott received a yet unknown Ref. 3646 / Type D watch for their 92nd Auction which will be held in Frankfurt, November 14th 2015 (LOT 27).

Surfaced to the market 70 years after the 2nd world war for the first time, consigned by the family of a german “Kampfschwimmer” veteran, this Ref. 3646 / Type D Vintage Panerai watch is marking one of less than 80 watches of this number group Type D known until today.

Features of the watch:
Reference: 3646 / Type D
Dial: “Kampfschwimmer”  (sandwich, engraved)
Case number: 2606XX
Movement: Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1

Beside the typical features of the watch, such as the high version of the bezel, neccessary for the high sandwich dial from Panerai, the onion shaped Rolex crown (“Brevet +” / Type 11), the short bent soldered lugs and also the Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 movement, its unpolished case and original “volcano dome” plexi are striking features. Actually the onion crown can’t be screwed down to the case as the tube has no winding grip anymore. Known as “the #1 part to be worn off”, the onion shaped crown is always something to be sensible with. Imagine that the crown has to be used every day and if the watch gets many wrist time (which has obviously been the case in this piece…) one day a new tube is needed. The unpolished surfaces of the cushion shaped case, its original blued hands and the original plexi are giving this Ref. 3646 /Type D watch an unique and rare patina.

The outer caseback of the watch bears no personal engraving, the inside of the caseback shows the typical decoration and the Rolex SA stamp with reference and case number. The blued steel hands hold the original luminous material, the four numbers and eight markers of the Panerai sandwich dial faded from dark yellow to a deep orange.

Similar watches of this type with anonymous “Kampfschwimmer” dials are featured in our books “History1″ (chapter II) and “History2″ (chapter V and chapter VII). Watches of the Ref. 3646 / Type D number group will be featured in chapter II.IV of our upcoming book “The References” (2nd edition).

We hope the watch will find a good new home and that it remain surfaced in the Vintage Panerai collectors world. [Ralf Ehlers & Volker Wiegmann]