A set of vintage Panerai instruments – the so called “Trittico”

Left: depth gauge (30 meters)
“Radiomir Panerai” dial, coated 70 mm case.
Center: watch (Ref. 6154)
“Egiziano Piccolo” with “Radiomir Panerai” dial, 47 mm case.
Rigth: compass
Dial divided into 22.5° sections, coated 70 mm case.

Club Panerai is celebrating the 10th anniversary on may 1st, 2010.

The Club Panerai is dedicated to the owners of some of the Luminor and Radiomir models, manufactured by the Officine Panerai of Florence, overall for the Commandos and the Scuba-Divers of the Italian Navy.

The annual Club Panerai Meeting has become an important date for Panerai collectors around the world. Thanks to the organizers Piero Lapiana, Marco Mancini and Ricciardo Canova, the guests have been able to visit historical places, which are related to the history of Panerai watches and operators, which have used the instruments from our favourite brand during their missions. By their efforts and good relationship to the italian navy, guests have been able to get access to military places which usually are not open for the public. Also some italian veterans have joined the meetings, which will remain as unforgettable moments for those who were able to meet them in person.

Highlights of the past meetings have been: The visit of the “Arsenale” (Naval Museum in La Spezia), the visit of Bocca di Serchio (a secret training site of SLC pilots during WW2) together with Emilio Bianchi (M.O.V.M.), several visits at the Commando of the italian scuba divers Com.Sub.In. (Le Grazie), the visit of the training ship “Palinuro”, the visit of the Naval Academy in Livorno, the visit of the Panerai Boutique in Portofino – just to mention a few…

The hotel “Club I Pini” with its special atmosphere has given the meetings a special family atmosphere. We like to thank the organizers from Club Panerai for their efforts in the past ten years and a successful future for their club!
[Ralf Ehlers & Volker Wiegmann]

Today’s extract out of our database is a 6152/1 watch. It holds the Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 4 movement (typical for 6152/1 watches), which has 17 Jewels (bridge engraved “17 Rubis”) and Incabloc shock protection. The crown protection device bears an engraved “1” on its backside.

Panerai collectors call this kind of watches “The Luminor Base” because of the typo on the dial, the missing second hand (only 2 hands) and the crown protecting device, which is one of the main design elements that makes a Panerai watch “different” to many other watches.

Powered with the Rolex movement, this type of vintage Panerai stands for the “Base” version without small second (modern Panerai watches of ref. PAM2, PAM112 and PAM176).

The title “Luminor Marina” (modern Panerai watches of ref. PAM1, PAM111, PAM177) has its root in the vintage 6152/1 watches (see the 6152/1 on the left), which are powered by Angelus movements (Cal. 240) with the typical small second function. They symbolize “The Luminor Marina” as version with 3 hands, that is hours, minutes and small second.

Officine Panerai underwater torches produced for the egyptian navy in the 1950’s.

The plexi tube was changeable for two functions: clear part on top for floodlight use (large photo), black part on top for spotlight / signal use (small photo). The plexi tube has windings on both ends and can be changed by the unit while operating underwater.

The torch can be switched on/off by turning the knurled wheel.