Six months after I visited the german “Kampfschwimmer” veteran for an interview, it was time to deliver him a copy of our new book “History1” – keeping a promise that I made back in december 2011.

Both, Mr. Kiefer and his kind wife Irma, welcomed me at their home in good health and so I was able to forwarded greetings from my co-author Ralf Ehlers to both of them. After reading “his” chapter, I took this photo of him – a smile says more than many words… which was without a doubt a priceless moment.

Karl-Heinz Kiefer is featured in chapter III of our new book “History1”. A preview of “his” chapter can be found here.

Auf ein Wiedersehen, Herr Kiefer – bleiben Sie noch lange so fit!
[Volker Wiegmann]

…more than just an old piece of leather, full of wrinkles and patina. It tells us its age and proof of activity long time ago – looking on this strap is almost like looking into a face of a veteran. It reminds me on what other brands don’t have – a true history. Other brands may create a story around a product. Panerai is different: Panerai had products wich created their stories themselves… approved by brave men in their underwater missions. Lots of these stories were lost and nearly forgotten, but today some surfaced and show us the DNA of the brand – even in the shape of an aged calf strap…

The dark brown 26 mm wide strap with a lenght of 150/90 mm has been produced by Cuoierie Meccaniche Brelli in Tuscany, who was the supplier for straps used on Panerai watches of the last century. The stainless steel GPF buckle is sewn into the strap.

More than 50 years old, this strap is a proof of the quality and skills of the suppliers choosed by Panerai – and a part of their unique DNA.
[Volker Wiegmann]

Put on the macro lens today and tried to catch some details of the “GPF – Mod Dep” buckle, which is mounted on my Ref. 6152/1 “Luminor Panerai” watch.

Used on 26 mm straps, this type of stainless steel buckle exist in three versions: plain, with a matriculation number of the navy (up to three digits) and, as seen here on the photo, with the embossed trademark “Guido Panerai e Figlio” (short version “GPF”). All versions of the buckle have a brushed finish.

The GPF trademark logo, which unites the three initials G, P and F in a circular form, has been used on various documents or instruments shown in the left corner of the photo – which can be called a typographical masterpiece of the last century – it is without a doubt a piece of the Panerai DNA. The short “Mod Dep” (“Modello Depositato”) stands for “registered design” / “trademark”.

A later version of this buckle has been produced with a matte grey coating and can be found e.g. on nylon straps, mounted on Panerai compasses from the 1980’s, Ref. BSP 851 and BSP 852 (hooded version).

Interesting is, that back in the 1980’s the compass has been engraved on the backside with “Officine Panerai” but the buckles with the old company name (“GPF”) were still used…

For our good friend Assaf Burstein from Israel, a long hunt is finally over. We took notice that he can call himself the new happy owner of a Ref. 3646 / Type C watch with “Radiomir Panerai” dial.

The watch has one of the dials which luminous elements (markers and numbers) turned into a deep red colour. In our opinion, the reason for this was the varying composition of the Radiomir paint used in the production of smaller batches. One of the few surfaced pieces of this kind with similar dial has been introduced more than two years ago here.

Not only the front of the watch is a stunner, also the caseback bears a “nice to have” feature, which doesn’t exist often today: less than 10 pieces are known with a “Xa FLOTMAS” (a short for “Decima Flottiglia MAS”) engraving, together with a matriculation number. It underlines that this watch has been used by italian frogmen during 2nd world war. Inside the watch, the Cal. 618 / Type 1 movement from Rolex is ticking, with the typical decorations on the movement bridges, which makes it “one more” clean 3646 / Type C watch entry in our database!

Features of the watch:
Reference: 3646 / Type C
Dial: “Radiomir Panerai”  (sandwich, engraved)
Case number: 1010244
Movement: Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1

You can read and see more about the different versions of Ref. 3646 watches in our 2nd book “Vintage Panerai – The References”. In specific, watches of the Ref. 3646 / Type C are introduced in chapter I.III (page 67 to 83)

Congratulations, Asi – we’re very happy for the “new piece” in your collection!
[Ralf Ehlers & Volker Wiegmann]

Photo courtesy / with kind permission of Geoff Hess, USA

Interesting news to come up soon this week, seems like Ref. 3646 is on the spot! This reference carries the DNA of the brand… simple but striking!

Stay tuned!
[Volker Wiegmann]

A vintage Ref. 6152/1 with Rolex movement and “Luminor Panerai”dial is featured in a test report on PAM 372 (“Panerai Luminor 1950 3 Days 47 mm”) in the actual issue 03.2012 of watch magazine “Chronos” (Germany). The report shows the historical roots of the “simple and beautiful” PAM 372, written by Jens Koch with photos by Marcus Krüger.

Still a few days to go, but already “in the mood” for the XII 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!

The photo report of last year can be found here. Enjoy!
Wishing all attendees safe travels and a great time – a presto! 
[Volker Wiegmann]