Piers Motley Auctions (Exmouth / United Kingdom) will auction a Ref. 3646 / Type E “Kampfschwimmer” with painted brass dial in their auction on 17 September, 2018 (Lot 245).

The watch appears in good condition from the photos provided by the auction house. The blued steel hands are completely filled with luminous material, the anonymous brass dial shows no broken off numbers or markers, which we know from other watches with such dials, recorded in our database. The watch comes with the flat version of the bezel, matching to its anonymous, flat dial. Both lead seals are still present. The caseback of the watch bears no individual engraving.

The watch is powered with a matching Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 mod. movement (17 RUBIS FAB. SUISSE instead of ROLEX 17 RUBIS on the left side of the central bridge). The onion shaped winding crown (“BREVET +” Type 11) is screwed down onto the collar of the 47 mm cushion shaped case with soldered lugs. The watch is fitted onto a custom made leather strap with underlay, showing a big portion of patina, too. There are service marks on the inner caseback which could be the reason for the ratchet wheel without sunburst design.

What makes this watch a Ref. 3646 / Type E in our database criteria? As we have pointed out different caseback engravings earlier here, a Ref. 3646 without the Rolex SA hallmark can be only Type E (26XXXX) or Type G (317XXX) from its six digit case number embossed on the inside of the caseback.

This specimen has enlarged the number group of Ref. 3646 / Type E watches from 260850 – 261097 to 260850 – 261111. Twentysix Ref. 3646 / Type E watches were registered in our records as of 1.1.2016, 27 watches since end of 2016 with the Ref. 3646 / Type E “California Dial” auctioned at Phillips, being the only “new” Type E entry in our records until this watch – the 261111 – surfaced and represents the 28th Ref. 3646 / Type E in our records.

Very interesting also (just like the overlap between Ref. 3646 / Type D and Type E watches – read more on page 535-543 in our book “The References” 1930’s-1940’s) that there exist watches of the Ref. 3646 / Type F (again with Rolex SA hallmark embossed in the center of the caseback) which have a lower case number than this Ref. 3646 / Type E.

You can read the press release from Piers Motley Auctions here.

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

[Photos with kindly permission / courtesy of www.piersmotleyauctions.co.uk]