Bonhams Auction House in London has a Ref. 3646 / Type D “Kampfschwimmer” in their Fine Watches & Wristwatches auction (LOT273) on december 4th, 2013.

Features of the watch:
Reference: 3646 / Type D
Dial: “Kampfschwimmer” (sandwich, anonymous)
Case number: 260505
Movement: Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1

The Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 movement, typical for 3646 watches of this type, is matching our database criteria. A tubular crown (“Oyster Patent” inscription / Type 13) is screwed down on the neck of the 47 mm cushion shaped case.

The outer caseback of the watch bears the initials of its first owner, a german frogmen (H Sch), which leads the traces back to the end of the 2nd world war, when the watch changed ownership to a servicemen of the United Kingdom. Here it has been kept for the following 68 years as a memorable piece.

It is fantastic to see such a rare watch surfacing in “untouched condition” after so many years, which makes it also a new entry into our database. Further informations on rare Ref. 3646 watches with similar engraved casebacks can be found in our two books History1 and History2.

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

[Photos with kindly permission / courtesy of www.bonhams.com]

Christie’s New York has a Ref. 3646 / Type C “Radiomir Panerai” in their Important Watches auction (LOT 343) on december 17th, 2013. The watch is recorded in our database since 2006.

Features of the watch:
Reference: 3646 / Type C
Dial: “Radiomir Panerai”  (sandwich, engraved)
Case number: 1010091

Inside the watch works the typical Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 movement. The inner caseback engravings, in combination with the Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 movement, are matching our database criteria.

The outer caseback of the watch is engraved with a matriculation number of the italian Decima Flottiglia MAS – short “Xa FLOTMAS No. 048”. A similar 3646 / Type C watch (“Xa FLOTMAS No. 040”) has been published here.

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

[Photos with kindly permission / courtesy of www.christies.com]

Additional photos reached us “just in time” before the auction at Christie’s Geneva is about to start (November 11th).

As we published info and an excerpt of our database earlier, we can provide here a couple of interesting photos, showing the condition of this Ref. 3646 / Type D “Kampfschwimmer” with two engraved initials on its caseback.

The watch comes with original strap and buckle, both case and plexi appear to be unpolished with heaps of patina “built” over the past decades. The movement shows the typical features of a Rolex Cal.618 / Type 1 movement. A tubular crown (“Oyster Patent” inscription / Type 13) is screwed down on the neck of the 47 mm cushion shaped case.

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

[Photos with kindly permission / courtesy of www.christies.com]

We recently received a few more photos of the Ref. 3646 / Type D “Kampfschwimmer” watch, which will be auctioned next week in Geneva.

In Addition to the previously published info on this watch, we can see on these photos interesting details: the “volcano dome” plexi (top left), the non-engraved caseback (top right), the typical 3646 / Type D cushion shaped case with short looped lugs (low left) and a close look at the sewn-in buckle (low right).

For further info on the different shape of soldered lugs on Ref. 3646 watches, you can see comparing photos on page 769 in chapter VIII.I of our book “History2”.

[Photos with kindly permission / courtesy of www.sothebys.com]

Sotheby’s has a Ref. 3646 / Type D “Kampfschwimmer” watch in their upcoming Important Watches auction in Geneva, november 12th (LOT 293).

This watch is one of the lowest case numbers known today in the number group of Ref. 3646 / Type D. It is accompanied with a compass and comes with its original domed plexiglass. The tongue part of the leather strap is missing, while the buckle part is still present.

The inner caseback engravings, in combination with the Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 movement, are matching our database criteria (see photo below).

Features of the watch:
Reference: 3646 / Type D
Dial: “Kampfschwimmer” (sandwich, anonymous)
Case number: 260429
Movement: Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1

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

[Photos with kindly permission / courtesy of www.sothebys.com]

Christie’s has a Ref. 3646 / Type E “California Dial” in their next auction (LOT 219) in Geneva, november 11th. Great to see another surfaced watch matching the criteria of our database work.

Features of the watch:
Reference: 3646 / Type E
Dial: “California Dial”
Case number: 261078
Movement: Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 mod.

Typical features of Ref. 3646 / Type E watches are the removed / not existing Rolex stamp in the inner caseback and the Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 mod. movement. You can compare the different inner caseback engravings in Ref. 3646 watches here. Also the “California Dial” is corresponding with the flat bezel of the watch – a typical combination of dial version and bezel. A Panerai dial with its sandwich construction would need a higher bezel due to its height. You can read more about 3646 / Type E watches in our book “Vintage Panerai – The References”.

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

[Photos with kindly permission / courtesy of www.christies.com]

Christie’s has a Ref. 3646 / Type D “Kampfschwimmer” in their next auction (LOT 337) in Geneva, november 11th. The watch was auctioned in 2011 at Christie’s and was introduced back then in our blog with an excerpt of our database.

Features of the watch:
Reference: 3646 / Type D
Dial: “Kampfschwimmer”  (sandwich, anonymous)
Case number: 260628
Movement: Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1

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

Close look onto the sandwich dial of a Vintage Panerai. The “Open Six” carries the DNA of the brand from the 1930s until today.

The milled numbers and markers of the sandwich dial construction aged different in many ways – some changed their colors in different intensity and got cracks in the luminous “Radiomir” substance during the past decades. The self-iluminating substance was patented by Guido Panerai in 1915, which enabled the use of instruments and watches made by Panerai even in complete darkness.

Different to the “Luminor” substance used in later produced watches and instruments, “Radiomir” does not react instantly under the impact of light anymore. To see how a “Luminor Panerai” dial glows under impact of intensive light, click here. Once the human eye has been in todal darkness for a couple of hours, the remaining glow of the “Radiomir” substance becomes visible. That said, the still existing radioactivity of the substance in the dial can be measured with a Geiger counter easily.

Interesting to see the profile of a Ref. 3646 watch in this photo, showing the pillow shaped case with the onion shaped crown (“Brevet +”) and its soldered to the case lugs in the middle of the photo. Bezel and caseback are both screwed down to the brass holding ring inside the watch, using lead seals to make the watch waterproof. The lead seals are sitting on the flat areas of the cushioned shaped case. This watch is using the high version of the bezel made for watches with a sandwich dial from Panerai.

In our new book “History2” we put a spotlight onto the construction of the Ref. 3646 in Chapter VIII.I with a technical illustration (page 771 – 775) and several photos, explaining the waterproof construction of the Reference 3646.

We have added another unknown watch into our database – yet another piece of the puzzle surfaced. The “Kampfschwimmer” watch with the case number 260739 will be up for auction on june, 11th at auctioneer Bonhams in London (LOT 357).

Aside the flat brass dial and the corresponding flat bezel it is bearing typical features of watches of the Reference 3646 / Type D. The original plexiglas and the winding crown have been replaced. Typical feature of the brass dial is the closed 6 and 9 digit because the numbers and markers are embossed into the brass dial and not engraved into the dial (like the sandwich dials from Panerai are made).

Features of the watch:
Reference: 3646 / Type D
Dial: “Kampfschwimmer” (painted brass, anonymous)
Case number: 260739
Movement: Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1

Auctioneer Bonhams features the following provenance under this LOT:  Provenance: This watch was given to the current vendor’s father by a German prisoner of war in Italy in 1944, while serving in the Royal Engineers bomb disposal unit.

It underlines our theory that in the future such watches will surface in allied countries which fought against german and italian forces in the 2nd world war. Ownership changed quite often and watches were sought after pieces for allied servicemen. From interviews we took with veterans, this has been confirmed several times (read also “History1”, Chapter III, page 207, which features a simliar Ref. 3646 / Type D watch with brass dial).

Special thanks to Mike Wood for providing additional info on this watch for our database. [Ralf Ehlers & Volker Wiegmann]