Artcurial will feature “The Rösel Radiomir” – a Ref. 3646 / Type C with anonymous sandwich dial – in their upcoming auction on 18 July, 2019 (Lot 705) in Monaco.

Features of the watch:
Reference: 3646 / Type C
Dial: “Kampfschwimmer”  (sandwich, anonymous)
Case number: 1010351
Movement: Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1

This Ref. 3646 / Type C “Kampfschwimmer” is recorded in our database since 2012. The watch has been auctioned in the same year for the first time at Dr. Crott and for the second time, five years later, in 2017 at Phillips GWA6.

The Ref. 3646 / Type C “Kampfschwimmer” and the history behind is featured in our book “History2” in chapter IX with 98 pages, 63 photos and 4 technical illustrations (see photo below). Furthermore it is published in our book “The References” 1930’s-1940’s in chapter II.III on page 322-349. Read more about “The Rösel Radiomir” here.

We hope that this rare 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.artcurial.com]

Antiquorum will auction a Ref. 3646 / Type D with anonymous “Kampfschwimmer” sandwich dial, Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 movement (lot 727) in their auction Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces on 12 May 2019 in Geneva.

Features of the watch:
Reference: 3646 / Type D
Dial: “Kampfschwimmer”  (sandwich, anonymous)
Case number: 2606XX
Movement: Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1

The inner caseback (full polished, read more in “The References” 1930’s-1940’s on page 486-487) bears the typical Rolex SA hallmark, reference and case number known for 3646 / Type D watches. Inside the watch is working a Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 movement with typical decorations and engravings on the bridges. The blued steel hands appear untouched, with the original luminous material. The 3646 / Type D comes with a replacement winding crown (Rolex).

The watch is recorded in our database since 2007 when it was auctioned at Dr. Crott. It is known to be featured in a letter from the Rolex service center in Cologne, dating back to January 1984, in correspondence with Wempe.

Watches of the Ref. 3646 / Type D with anonymous “Kampfschwimmer” dials are featured in our book “The References” 1930’s-1940’s on page 398-531 in chapter II.IV.

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 courtesy of www.antiquorum.com]

Sotheby’s will auction a Ref. 3646 / Type C with “Radiomir Panerai” sandwich dial, Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 movement (lot 2276) in their auction Important Watches on 3 April 2019 in Hong Kong.

The watch is recorded in our database since March 2007. In 2015 the watch was auctioned at Christie’s Geneva (Important Watches Sale 1410).

The Ref. 3646 / Type C “Radiomir Panerai” with deep red numerals and indices is featured in our book “The References” 1930’s-1940’s on page 292-297 in chapter II.III.

(Photo of the Ref. 3646 / Type C courtesy of Jared Platt)

Lockdales (Ipswitch, Suffolk, United Kingdom) is featuring a Ref. 3646 / Type D “Kampfschwimmer” with painted brass dial in their upcoming auction The Fine Sale #163 on 20 February, 2019 (Lot 307).

The watch comes with a rare engraved caseback, bearing the initials of the first owner “HK” surrounded by “L.K. 700 Marine-Kampfschwimmer 1945”. L.K. 700 is a short of Lehrkommando 700. Read more about this special unit in our book “History1”, chapter I, page 28-53.

Noteworthy, this watch is another specimen surfaced in the United Kingdom, where some watches were brought to as souvenirs from the Second World War by allied servicemen. After more than 70 years they re-emerge in different conditions, such as the watch up for auction at Lockdales.

Read more in our Watch Point.

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

Lockdales (Ipswitch, Suffolk, United Kingdom) is featuring a Ref. 3646 / Type D “Kampfschwimmer” with painted brass dial in their upcoming auction The Fine Sale #163 on 20 February, 2019 (Lot 307).

The watch appears from the provided photos with a replacement crown, original nickel-plated brass pin buckle and rare engraved caseback, bearing the initials of the first owner “HK” surrounded by “L.K. 700 Marine-Kampfschwimmer 1945”.

The inner caseback bears the typical Rolex SA hallmark, reference and case number known for 3646 / Type D watches. Inside the watch is working a Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 movement with typical decorations and engravings on the bridges.

Features of the watch:
Reference: 3646 / Type D
Dial: “Kampfschwimmer” (painted brass, anonymous)
Case number: 2605XX
Movement: Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1

Watches of the Reference 3646 / Type D are featured in our new “The References” 1930’s-1940’s in chapter II.IV (page 398-531) including a historic photo of a German “Kampfschwimmer” wearing a 3646 with brass dial on page 475. Similar nickel-plated brass pin buckles of the WW2 era are featured in chapter V Straps and Buckles (page 677-685).

Noteworthy, this watch is another specimen surfaced in the United Kingdom, where some watches were brought to as souvenirs from the Second World War by allied servicemen. After more than 70 years they re-emerge in different conditions, such as the watch up for auction at Lockdales.

A similar Ref. 3646 / Type D watch with painted brass dial is featured in our book “History1” in chapter III together with the history of its first owner, a German “Kampfschwimmer” who provided us very interesting information about his service, training and how some of these Panerai watches “changed ownership” during the time when he was a POW in the summer of 1945 (page 206-207).

Further information on the training commando 700 (L.K. 700 a short of Lehrkommando 700, which is part of the engraving on the caseback of the watch) can be found in our both books “History1” and “History2”.

The Ref. 3646 / Type D watch can be found online here at the salesroom.

We hope this Ref. 3646 / Type D “Kampfschwimmer” 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.lockdales.com]

Artcurial will feature a Ref. 3646 / Type D “Kampfschwimmer” with anonymous sandwich dial in their upcoming Auction on 23 January, 2019 (Lot 79) in Monaco. This Ref. 3646 / Type D watch marked the first new recorded specimen in our database in 2018 inside the Ref. 3646 / Type D number group.

Both, the 47 mm cushion shaped case and the plexi are unpolished. Typical for a Ref. 3646 with sandwich dial, the watch has the high version of the bezel. The blued steel hands appear untouched, with the original luminous material and show only a very small broken out area in the inner area of the hour hand and in the surface of the luminous material of the minute hand.

Features of the watch:
Reference: 3646 / Type D
Dial: “Kampfschwimmer”  (sandwich, anonymous)
Case number: 2604XX
Movement: Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1

The inner caseback bears the typical Rolex SA hallmark, reference and case number known for 3646 / Type D watches. Inside the watch is working a Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 movement with typical decorations and engravings on the bridges. The watch does not have the original seals between bezel, case and caseback anymore but the watch comes with its original onion shaped “Brevet +” winding crown.

Noteworthy:
The outer caseback of the watch has no personal engravings of the first owner. The family of the first owner has consigned the watch at Artcurial with an original portrait photo, dated November 1944, taken in Venice/Italy, showing him in his navy uniform during the time he was exercised to become a “Kampfschwimmer”.

We hope this Ref. 3646 / Type D “Kampfschwimmer” watch will find a good new home and that it remain surfaced in the Vintage Panerai collectors world. [Ralf Ehlers & Volker Wiegmann]

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

Artcurial will start into the auction year 2019 with two Vintage Panerai watches: A Ref. 3646 / Type D “Kampfschwimmer” from the Second World War (Lot 79) and a very rare Ref. 6152 / Type A from the 1950’s (Lot 116).

Less than one year after its first appearance at Dr. Crott Auctioneers in Germany (97th Auction May, 2018, Lot 114) the Ref. 3646 / Type D with anonymous “Kampfschwimmer” dial will be up for sale again at Artcurial in Monaco on 23 January, 2019. We featured this watch in our Watch Point here.

Furthermore, Artcurial will have another Vintage Panerai in the same auction: A very rare Ref. 6152 / Type A with “Radiomir Panerai” dial (photo). This watch has been featured in our book “The References” 1950’s-1960’s on page 756-759 in chapter VI.I and surfaced for the second time after 2008, where it was auctioned at Antiquorum in Hong Kong (Lot 406).

More information on both watches is published at our Watch Point.

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

Christie’s will auction a Ref. 3646 / Type C with “Radiomir Panerai” sandwich dial and Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 movement with onion shaped “Brevet +” crown (Type 11) in their Sale 16202 – An Evening of Exceptional Watches, December 6, in New York (Lot 22). Read more about this new addition in our database at our watch point. Christie’s online catalogue of Sale 16202 can be found here.

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

Christie’s will auction a Ref. 3646 / Type C with “Radiomir Panerai” sandwich dial and Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 movement with onion shaped “Brevet +” crown (Type 11) in their Sale 16202 – An Evening of Exceptional Watches, December 6, in New York (Lot 22). The watch is recorded in our database since October – the second Ref. 3646 / Type C for the year 2018.

According to Christie’s, this Ref. 3646 / Type C has been in the same family since the Second World War.

The inner caseback bears the typical engraving of Ref. 3646 / Type C watches – the Rolex SA hallmark, the reference number and the seven digit case number. The outer caseback of this watch is not engraved / plain. An overview of the caseback markings (different hallmarks inside) in Ref. 3646 watches can be found here: Type A-C and Type D-G.

Watches of the Ref. 3646 / Type C are featured in our book “The References” (first volume / 1930’s-1940’s) in chapter II.III (page 248-397). Earlier this year, Fellows auctioned a similar watch of the same number group with deep red numbers and markers, which marked the first new entry in our database in 2018. Read more here.

Christie’s online catalogue of Sale 16202 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.christies.com]

Another souvenir from the Second World War in shape of a Ref. 3646 / Type E “Kampfschwimmer” with painted brass dial recently surfaced in the United Kingdom.

Piers Motley Auctions will feature this watch in their September auction. Read more about this interesting new addition to our database in our watch point.

[Photo with kindly permission / courtesy of www.piersmotleyauctions.co.uk]