www.paneristi.com – the unofficial resource for Officine Panerai – is celebrating it’s tenth anniversary in 2010. Today, the moderators of paneristi.com have announced a special edition watch (PAM360), which can be ordered at Panerai via e-mail only. Read more here.

Kudos to all involved persons behind this project, especially Mr. Angelo Bonati, his crew and the owners and moderators of paneristi.com!

photo credits: www.panerai.com / www.paneristi.com

The Panerai Ref. 6154 “Egiziano Piccolo” in good company: compasses, depth gauges and it’s “big brother” GPF 2/56 “Egiziano Grosso” in the background.

Even with an impressive case size of 47 millimeters, the Ref. 6154 watch looks pretty small compared to the instruments around, which have a case size of 70 x 90 mm.

Movement view of two Ref. 6152/1 watches: Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 4 movement (17 Rubis and Incabloc shock protection) and the Angelus Cal. 240 SF (15 Rubis and Incabloc shock protection, signed “JUIN .61”) on the right.

Both watches have the legendary crown protecting device. The device of the watch with Rolex movement (124806) is signed “BREV. ITAL” and “9”, while the watch with Angelus movement (124784) is signed only with “3”.

Interesting to see, that the watch with Rolex movement has different hands (double pencil shape) compared to the watch with Angelus movement, which usually comes with single pencil shaped hands. Note also, that the size of the “Luminor Panerai” is different (smaller on dials with Angelus movement).

You can read and see more about the watch 124784 in our 2nd book “Vintage Panerai – The References”, chapter VI.III (page 312-329).

Nice view on a ref. 6152/1 dial with Angelus 240 SF movement. In this perspective, the “sandwich” construction of the Panerai dials is clearly visible. The luminous material is placed deeper / under the dial’s surface. It’s not painted on the face of the dials, as it was usually done by other brands at this time. Numbers and markers are cut out (milled) from the dial, which is matte black painted. The “Luminor Panerai” inscription is milled on the dial (but not cut out), filled with white color.

The “sandwich” dial is one of the most important identifying features – pure Panerai DNA.

Read more about this and other identifying features – the DNA of Panerai – in both of our books. [Volker Wiegmann]

Ralf has provided a stunning macro photo of the milled symbol, which is filled out with white, non-luminous color. It appears only on the dials of GPF 2/56 reference watches: the legendary “8 Giorni Brevettato” symbol, representing the Angelus Cal. 240 SF movement with 8 days power reserve.

The case diameter of this reference is 66 millimeters including the crown protecting device. It was made by Panerai for the Egyptian navy in the mid 1950’s, which received the nickname “Egiziano Grosso” because of its huge size.

Three modern Panerai watches have this symbol of Panerai DNA printed on their dials: the famous PAM203 (2005) with vintage Angelus movement and two Special Editions with 8 days inhouse movements (P.2002/7): PAM339 (2010) and PAM341 (2009). Another rare Special Edition – PAM267 (2007) – is using the same vintage Angelus movement as the PAM203, but without the “8 Giorni Brevettato” symbol printed on the dial.

Read more about the “8 Giorni Brevettato” in chapter IX of our book “The References”

…looking at the 3646 again and again – always stunning to see and feel the design of this watch. It’s simple. It’s clean. It’s perfect. The Panerai DNA is still striking after 60+ years…!

Overview of various Panerai compasses, produced from the late 1930’s to the 1980’s. Interesting to see how sizes, materials and design changed over decades.

In the center of the photo are four pieces of the famous GPF 4/55 model, surrounded by BSP 851 and BSP 852 (with black hood) models. BSP stands for “bussola subacquea da polso” (wrist compass).

On the left of the photo and in the upper right, three “white spirit” models are placed, which have a cylindric, non-metallic case. Some of them are fitted with a sticker, signed “Officine Panerai Firenze”, others have a “white spirit” sticker on, placed on the side or base of the plexi case. Extremely rare is the small compass in the base of the photo, which is the oldest version, used during WW2.

One of the unreleased photos from our 2nd shooting in 2009, showing two Luminor Trittico sets. Similar photos have been used for the first and last inside pages of our 2nd book “Vintage Panerai – The References” in darkness and daylight conditions. 

Two Luminor compasses, two Luminor depth gauges (15 and 16 meters), a 6152/1 “Luminor Panerai” watch with Rolex Type 4 movement (cal. 618 Cortebert, 17 Rubis, Incabloc shock protection) and a 6152/1 “Luminor Panerai” watch with Angelus 240 SF movement (signed june 1961, 15 Rubis, Incabloc shock protection).

An electro-mechanical device with 9 days power reserve for controlling and activating explosives (delay mechanism). Swiss “Reform” movement with 15 Rubis, 1a quality level, signed “Panerai Firenze”. 

The following text is engraved on the lid (upper left photo):
important
avoid dangerous circuit closures should observe the following precautions.
1) make sure before starting the graduation of the external switch on the lid is in open position.
2) meter should never be left calibrated to zero.

Photo credits to Assaf Burstein from Israel

Movement view of two vintage Panerai watches: Rolex inside…! 
The differences in decoration and engraving of the bridges are clearly visible on Rolex Cal. 618 Type 1 and Type 4 movements.

During our research work we created for a better understanding a subdivision of 4 movement types, which is an important feature of our database of today’s existing vintage Panerai watches. Basically they are all Cal. 618, but they show differences in many details.

Beside the engravings and different decoration, the main identifying features are:
Type 1 = 17 Rubis, no Incabloc (used in Ref. 3646 Type A – G and in Ref. 6154)
Type 2 = 15 Rubis, no Incabloc (used in Ref. 6152)
Type 3 = 15 Rubis, Incabloc shock protection (used in Ref. 6152/1)
Type 4 = 17 Rubis, Incabloc shock protection (used in Ref. 6152/1)

Left watch: Ref. 3646 / Type D
Rolex Calibre 618 Cortebert Type 1.
16 Lines, power reserve approx. 36 hours, 18.000 half-oscillations per hour.
17 Rubis, no Incabloc.

Right watch: Ref. 6152/1
Rolex Calibre 618 Cortebert Type 4.
16 Lines, power reserve approx. 36 hours, 18.000 half-oscillations per hour.
17 Rubis, Incabloc shock protection.

You can read and see more about the different versions of Rolex Cal. 618 movements in Panerai watches in our 2nd book “Vintage Panerai – The References”.