Phillips will feature a Ref. 6152/1 “Luminor Panerai” in their Geneva Watch Auction: FOUR. The watch is recorded in our database since 2010 and appears to be a perfect example for a 6152/1 with Rolex 618 / Type 4 movement in excellent condition.

The “Luminor Panerai” dial is the most used in all Ref. 6152/1 watches recorded in our database, as well as the Rolex 618 / Type 4 movement is working in more than 80 % of all recorded watches of the Reference 6152/1. The crown-protecting device of this watch is signed “BREV. ITAL.” and additionally numbered “10” on the underside.

Chapter VIII.II of our book “The References” 1950’s-1960’s is featuring similar watches like this specimen on auction at Phillips, with Rolex movement and Panerai crown-protecting device, on page 922-1057. An overview about the “BREV. ITAL.” signatures on watches with crown-protecting device can be found on page 975.

Further info on this watch (lot 82) can be found 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]

[Photo with kindly permission / courtesy of www.phillips.com]

Find information about the content of our new book “The References” 1950’s-1960’s by using the “browse by tag” function. The tag 1392 is connected with all stories published about the second volume: watches, history, instruments and straps of the 1950’s-1960’s.

The second volume (page 697-1392) of the two-book-set “The References” is bearing the embossed “8 Giorni Brevettato” on the green canvas hardback jacket.

Our new “The References” books are in stock and ready for shipping – just visit our bookstore and enjoy reading soon!  [Ralf Ehlers & Volker Wiegmann]

How about taking a seat in your frontyard, backyard or in a quiet corner of your garden? If your coffee table has a free corner for one of our four books, it could be a cozy time for a summer read:

“History1” – four chapters, 420 pages
“History2” – five chapters, 480 pages
“The References” 1930’s-1940’s – five chapters, 696 pages
“The References” 1950’s-1960’s – seven chapters, 696 pages

The coffee table shot shows the book “The References” 1950’s-1960’s, with the famous “Destro” Ref. 6152/1 with “Marina Militare” dial (page 1054-1055) and Rolex 618 / Type 3 mod. movement. The 696 pages of this book feature watches from Guido Panerai & Figlio made in the 1950’s and 1960’s: Reference 6152, 6154, 6152/1, GPF 2/56 and modified References. Furthermore this book holds a chapter about compasses and depth gauges, as well as straps and buckles of this era.

All books are in stock and can be shipped soon – just visit our bookstore. Use the browse by tags function to read information about the content in each of the four books. Read how to place your order here.

Take a seat and enjoy reading!
[Ralf Ehlers & Volker Wiegmann]

More than one hundred watches of the Reference 6152/1 are registered in our database today. Since 2009 the number of registered 6152/1 watches has more than doubled – seven years ago, 49 recorded watches were featured in our first edition book “The References” (sold out). Within the entire serial number sequence of the Reference 6152/1, we differentiate between watches with Rolex movements and the much rarer variations with Angelus movements.

How do we explain four different versions in our new book “The References” 1950’s-1960’s? Watches of the Reference 6152/1 are presented in four chapters, in order of the movement, the type of winding crown used and sorted chronological by their casing reference number, as follows:

Chapter VIII.I = Reference 6152/1
with Rolex movement and 8 mm Rolex crown
(featuring four different watches on page 878-921).

Chapter VIII.II = Reference 6152/1
with Rolex movement and Panerai crown-protecting device
(featuring ten different watches on page 922-1057).

Chapter X.III = Modified Reference 6152/1
with Angelus movement and 8 mm Rolex crown
(featuring three different watches on page 1212-1259).

Chapter X.IV = Modified Reference 6152/1
with Angelus movement and Panerai crown-protecting device
(featuring four different watches on page 1260-1313).

Each of the four chapters shows the different movement and dial versions recorded in our database with charts as can be seen on the coffee table shot of page 874-875, illustrating the relationship between registered watches with 8 mm Rolex crown and Panerai crown-protecting device of the Reference 6152/1.

Additional information on different hands, caseback engravings for different forces which used the watches as well as historical background on two 6152/1 watches first owners can be found, too. The overview of the four different chapters about Reference 6152/1 watches can be found in the first volume of “The References” 1930’s-1940’s on page 25-26 and 30-31 (chronological classification / reference quickfinder).

The new “The References” books can be ordered only in our bookstore. Enjoy reading!

One of the unique technical features of the GPF 2/56 compared to other watches from Guido Panerai & Figlio is the rubber sealing ring of the winding crown.

The famous patent 545668 from November 1955 can be seen right next to its realization on page 1148-1149 in chapter IX.II, showing the side of a GPF 2/56 “Luminor Panerai” with removed crown-protecting device and crown with its rubber sealing ring, making this area of the watch watertight when the lever is closed by axial pressure to the case.

Vintage Panerai watches with the legendary crown-protecting device are featured in the second volume of our book “The References” 1950’s-1960’s in chapters VIII (Ref. 6152/1 with Rolex movements), IX (GPF 2/56) and X.IV (Modified Reference 6152/1 with Angelus movements).

We would like to express our sincere words of thanks to Officine Panerai for making the famous patent 545668 available for the effective comparing view on the double page in our book, shown above. [Ralf Ehlers & Volker Wiegmann]

Phillips features a very rare Transitional 3646 on May, 15th (lot 123, The Geneva Watch Auction: THREE). Added into our database in 2010, this is one of only five examples which are recorded until today. The rare casing design is based on the pillow-shaped casing of the Reference 3646, on which stronger lugs have been soldered. According to our database it is the only recorded Transitional 3646 with two-lined “Luminor Panerai” dial and Angelus 240 SF movement with date engraving “JUIN.61”.

All known examples of the Transitional 3646 feature a grey anti-reflective coating on the center part of the case, as used on compasses, depth gauges and watches of the Reference GPF 2/56. The screwed-in bezel an caseback are not coated due to the construction of the casing. This example is one of two Transitional 3646 watches featuring a low, two-digit serial (matriculation) number on the display caseback.

Transitional 3646 watches are featured in our book “The References” 1950’s-1960’s in chapter X.II. One of the only five known examples, the Transitional 3646 from the Museo Panerai Collection, is shown on page 1196-1211. The coffee table shot shows page 1208-1209 with a side view of the Transitional 3646.

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

[Photo with kindly permission / courtesy of www.phillips.com]

The first edition of “The References” from 2009 (368 pages, sold out since January 2013) has been replaced by the new, second edition of “The References” – a book set of two volumes (1930’s-1940’s and 1950’s-1960’s), 696 pages each, with a total of 1392 pages.

The coffee table shot shows the 2009 (black, sold out) and 2016 (green, in stock) editions. Here is an overview on the content – the twelve chapters in two volumes – with 1392 pages:

“The References” 1930’s-1940’s (volume 1)
Vintage Panerai watches from 1930’s to 1940’s, featuring References 2533, 3646, the Mare Nostrum chronograph, compasses, straps and buckles.

The first volume of “The References” documents, in detail and with numerous images, 33 Vintage Panerai watches from the 1930’s to 1940’s and the database classification of more than 380 Vintage Panerai watches in existence today. The early References 2533 (chapter I) and 3646 (chapter II) are explained and with rich reference to several variants by their number groups. This overview is complimented by the legendary Mare Nostrum chronograph (chapter III), rare compasses (chapter IV) used in the Second World War and some of the few straps and buckles which rarely survived after more than 70 years (chapter V).

“The References” 1950’s-1960’s (volume 2)
Vintage Panerai watches from 1950’s to 1960’s, featuring References 6152, 6154, 6152/1, GPF 2/56, Modified References, compasses, depth gauges, straps and buckles.

The second volume of “The References” continues to document, with numerous images and historic information, 37 Vintage Panerai watches from the 1950’s to 1960’s. The References 6152 (chapter VI) and 6154 (chapter VII), followed by Reference 6152/1 with the famous crown-protecting device are explained in detail and many variations in chapter VIII. Followed by the Reference GPF 2/56 with Angelus movement (chapter IX), “The References” volume 2 features in chapter X the Modified References 3646, Transitional 3646 and Modified Reference 6152/1. Chapter XI is about compasses and depth gauges, followed by the last chapter XII, an overview of the straps and buckles used on Vintage Panerai of this era.

The new “The References” books can be ordered only in our bookstore.

Enjoy reading!
[Ralf Ehlers & Volker Wiegmann]

The Ref. 6152/1 “Destro” with “Marina Militare” dial and Rolex movement is one of the watches from the Archivio Storico Panerai which are featured in our book “The References”. Auctioned in New York at Antiquorum in 2005, it returned “home” to Italy and became a highlight addition in the historical archive of Panerai.

Read more on this unique watch on page 1054-1057 in chapter VIII.II of the second volume (1950’s-1960’s).

Fourteen different watches of the Reference 6152/1 are documented in chapter VIII of the second volume of our book „The References“. For a better overview, we divided the chapter about these watches in two parts: Watches of the Reference 6152/1 with Rolex 8 mm crown are introduced in chapter VIII.I (four examples) and watches with the legendary crown-protecting device from Guido Panerai & Figlio are introduced in chapter VIII.II (ten examples). Very few watches of the Reference 6152/1 bear a very interesting detail on their casebacks, no matter what type of crown or dial they are coming with: an engraved matriculation number. The coffee table shot shows page 914-915 of chapter VIII.I – a Ref. 6152/1 watch with 8 mm crown and engraved caseback.

In addition to the four different types of markings which are attributed to watches used by the Italian COMSUBIN special forces (read page 911-917), some watches of the Reference 6152/1 were marked with engravings of the Guardia di Finanza, Carabinieri, Polizia di Stato and the civil fire service Vigili del Fuoco (read page 965-1003).

It is worth to mention that the famous “Gamma” veteran Luigi Ferraro established a school for professional civil divers in 1952 with courses for the Vigili del Fuoco (1952) and in the following year also for the divers of the Carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza (read page 220-224 in chapter II.II of the first volume of “The References”).

Two very rare watches with these engraved casebacks are documented in chapter VIII.II, both with a “Luminor Panerai” dial, which most of the Ref. 6152/1 watches and crown-protecting device are recorded in our database today. The coffee table shot shows page 966-967 of chapter VIII.II – the engraved caseback of a Ref. 6152/1 watch with crown-protecting device and “Luminor Panerai” dial.

Further information on “The References” 1950’s-1960’s (second volume) can be found here. The new “The References” books can be ordered only in our bookstore.

Enjoy reading!
[Ralf Ehlers & Volker Wiegmann]

Featured in our new book Vintage Panerai “The References” 2nd edition (2016) on page 1328-1329 in chapter XI.I of the second volume: a Luminor compass. case 70 x 90 mm, 26 mm leather strap and brushed stainless steel GPF buckle. Made by Guido Panerai & Figlio for the Italian navy commandos of the COMSUBIN in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

Read more on Vintage Panerai instruments worn on the wrist in chapter XI (page 1314-1367).