A Vintage Panerai Ref. 3646 / Type E will be auctioned at Sotheby’s.

The inner caseback embossing is corresponding with the movement version of the Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 mod., typical for a 3646 / Type E watch – hopefully this “California Dial”  will find a good new home on may 15th…

Joined the XI Meeting Club Panerai in Viareggio/Italy, hosted by www.clubpanerai.com
Another fantastic long weekend in Tuscany with many Panerai collectors and friends.

Find my detailled reports posted in the public forum at www.paneristi.com below:
Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4

Thanks to Piero and his crew for making another great meeting in Italy, home of Panerai!
[Volker Wiegmann]

A Vintage Panerai “Kampfschwimmer” watch will be auctioned at Christies  on may 16th in Geneva. The watch is matching our database, being a “clean” 3646 / Type D watch with case number 260628 and correct Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 movement.

The caseback is individually engraved with two initials of the previous owners – together with the anonymous sandwich dial its a typical “Kampfschwimmer”.

An example of our classification work: The reference 3646 is divided into seven production groups (Type A – Type G), different caseback markings and numbers are important indicators.

The illustration shows the following caseback versions:
Ref. 3646 / Type D Brevetee Rolex S.A.
Ref. 3646 / Type E (plain / only number)
Ref. 3646 / Type F Brevetee Rolex S.A.
Ref. 3646 / Type G (plain / only number)

You can read and see more about the different versions of Ref. 3646 watches in our book “The References” 1930’s-1940’s. Find the illustrations of  ref. 3646 / Type A – Type C casebacks here.

Still two weeks to go, but already “in the mood” for the XI Meeting Club Panerai in Viareggio/Italy, meeting collectors and passionated friends from Italy, Europe and Overseas. Piero Lapiana and his friends will prepare another great event for sure. Radiomirs and Luminors at its best! A presto!

Find my 2010 meeting report in the public forum at www.paneristi.com. Enjoy reading part 1 / part 2 / part 3. Fellow paneristi mates published their personal reports in 2010 as well: Ron (Isle of Man) at www.paneristi.com published a nice random photo galore. Ralf (Germany) has published a nice report at www.paneraiforum.de with several batches of photos. Find a line-up of my earlier travel reports (2005 to 2010) published at paneristi.com here.

Wishing all attendees safe travels and a great time – a presto! 
[Volker Wiegmann]

Pretty nice weather conditions during the easter weekend in Germany… I just had to take out the “Arillo Luminor” Ref. 6152/1 and tried to catch nice lights and shadows on the dial…

Happy Easter!

Our friend Piero Lapiana from www.clubpanerai.com has informed us, that last week Ivano Salvetti, father of a very friend of Piero, Roberto who lives in Viareggio, has passed away.

Ivano Salvetti was a helmet diver of the Decima MAS in La Spezia and then on board of the
ship “Littorio” in Taranto, in the period 1941-1943, also with Emilio Bianchi and Eugenio Wolk.

Interesting to compare different compasses made in the 40’s and 50’s. With Ralf’s latest piece of his collection, we can compare three different cases and plexi dome shapes.

The flexible lugs are an eye catcher on the first (and probably the oldest) compass. Remarkable are the solid lugs and the black painted case of the 2nd compass, which has the same construction on the bottom of the case (6 screws going into the plexi dome) as the version with flexible lugs (see side view on the 2nd photo). Click here for more details.

Both small compasses have a short bearing line which is drilled horizontal into the dome (see top view on the 1st photo). The big compass made in the 1950’s has a longer bearing line across the entire dome. The position of the screw to open the plexi dome for filling it up with fluid is is at 3’o’clock position (90°), while on the smaller compasses the position of the screws is different (at 225° on the flexible lug version and at 45° on the small version with solid lugs).

The compass rose on all three compasses is divided into 22.5° sections, commonly used in seafaring circles. Note also the different shape (hight) of the plexi domes on the small compasses.

[photos by Ralf Ehlers]

Great addition in Ralf’s collection: a WW2 compass, probably made by Panerai. This type of compass is visible on photos taken during the war and it is a similar version of the small compass which we have published here.

It is interesting to see the strong lugs, which are similar to the compasses made in the 1950s and 1960s by Panerai, which have a bigger case. Remarkable is also the black coating of the case.

The position of the six screws on the backside and also the screw on the plexi dome are similar constructed as on the small Panerai compass linked above, which has thinner and flexible lugs.

[photos by Ralf Ehlers]

A yet unknown Ref. 3646 / Type D “Kampfschwimmer” surfaced recently.

During a visit at the german navy divers in Eckernförde, Ralf was able to put another watch into our database. One more piece of the big puzzle is placed into its right place!

Features of the watch:
Reference: 3646 / Type D
Dial: “Kampfschwimmer” (sandwich, anonymous)
Case number: 260518
Movement: Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1

The watch has the original strap fitted on, including the “bent down” crome coated brass buckle and bears a fantastic individual engraving on the solid caseback: “Marine-Kampfschwimmer 1945 – RD” (“RD” are the initials of the unit, which used the watch during his missions. The engravings are done in the same style (with the same tool) as other watches of this type have been “personalized”. The watch is matching our database perfectly, of which we published several identical watches in chapter I.IV of our book “The References”.

Its a big pleasure to see a “clean” Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 movement in this watch. It underlines our database theories as well. It bears the typical features of a Type 1 movement, beside the fact that no parts of this movement have been replaced or changed with others.

[photos by Ralf Ehlers]