Dr. Crott Auctioneers will feature a Ref. 3646 / Type D “Kampfschwimmer” with anonymous Sandwich dial in their upcoming 97th Auction on 12 May, 2018. 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 (see photo below). 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.

The inner caseback (with full polish decoration, partially visible on the photo below) bears the typical Rolex SA hallmark, reference and case number known for 3646 / Type D watches. This watch marks the first new recorded specimen in our database for the year 2018 inside the Ref. 3646 / Type D number group… one more piece of the puzzle added!

The original strap and buckle of the watch have not survived the last seven decades, like many other watches of this era and age appear in these days. For the presentation of the watch at the auction house, a new brown leather strap was mounted when we took the photos. 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 other than that, the watch comes with its original onion shaped “Brevet +” winding crown (Type 11, see photo below).

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

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 with additional information of an existing portrait photo, showing the first owner in his navy uniform, which was taken in Venice/Italy (where he was exercised to become a “Kampfschwimmer”). This portrait photo is dated to November 1944 on the backside, handwritten with a dedication to his family at home. However, this photo belongs to the family today and is not part of the current lot ( = watch only).

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]

wornandwound.com published a Ref. 3646 / Type C  watch and its interesting history behind earlier this week. The Vintage Panerai watch with “Radiomir Panerai” dial and Rolex 618 / Type 1 movement marks the first “new entry” in our database in 2018, being another piece of the puzzle added into our records of today known Ref. 3646 / Type C watches. The “Radiomir Panerai” with deep red numbers and markers, blued hands, remaining original strap and nickel-plated brass pin buckle will be auctioned at Birmingham (UK) based Fellows on 30 January, 2018 (lot 188). Read more in their blog here. Revolution also reported about the watch in January here.

In our book “The References” 1930’s-1940’s the watches of the entire reference 3646 are featured in chapter II with more than six hundred pages in the chapters II.I-II.VII. The seven different variations (including the number group 3646 / Type C – page 248-397 – to which this watch belongs) can be found in our reference quickfinder on page 14-20. Pin buckles like the remaining one which comes with this watch are featured in chapter V (page 677-691).

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

Sotheby’s will auction a Ref. 3646 / Type B with “Radiomir Panerai” sandwich dial, Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 movement and engraved caseback (lot 946) in their New York auction Important Watches on 6 December 2017. Read more about the history behind this 3646, which carries you back to the last days of the Second World War at the river Elbe, here in our watch point.

[Photo of the Ref. 3646 / Type B watch with kindly permission / courtesy of www.sothebys.com]

Sotheby’s will auction a Ref. 3646 / Type B “Radiomir Panerai” with engraved caseback in their New York auction Important Watches on 6 December 2017. The watch (lot 946) has been recorded in our database in 2016, along with information which we have received from the descendants of a British Army veteran who brought this watch back home as a souvenir from the Second World War.

Featuring the small Oyster Watch Co hallmark on its inner caseback, an onion shaped “Brevet +” crown (Type 11) and Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 movement, the watch with a “Radiomir Panerai” sandwich dial stands in our database as another surfaced Ref. 3646 / Type B with an engraved caseback, providing a very interesting story in terms of how these watches changed ownership at the end of the war.

The history behind the engraving on the caseback of the watch in auction at Sotheby’s has been provided to us by the family of Captain Coltart.

Here is a little information on the watch since it came into the Coltart’s possession in 1945: Captain John Maxted Coltart, initially a member of the Black Watch Regiment (RHR) was transferred to the Gordon Highlanders of the 15th Scottish Regiment for the balance of the war.  After his marriage on March 17, 1945 he returned to duty in Germany to do his part in the crossing of the Elbe. He had tales of the struggle to build and maintain the bridge across the Elbe between Tespe on the South shore and the bridgehead at Tesperhude on the North bank. The bridge was under continuing assault by artillery fire, swimmers in the water and terrifyingly fast jet planes which had just entered the war. Captain Coltart brought a number of war souvenirs back to Scotland, including a Luger pistol, the Panerai divers watch and a dagger. He brought them to Canada when he and his family immigrated in 1955. His daughter inherited the watch upon his death in 1984. She had no idea the watch had value other than a keepsake until a Scottish cousin with a good memory emailed a clipping describing the sale of a similar Panerai watch. Captain Coltart had the back of the watch engraved to commemorate the last battle he took part in and the location where he obtained the watch. At this point it is unclear exactly how he managed to collect these mementos but it is clear that they were obtained while on active duty in Germany during the Second World War and have been in the family ever since.

On “Operation Enterprise” (source: wikipedia):
The particular distinction for the 15th Scottish was to be selected to lead the last set piece river crossing of the war, the assault across the River Elbe (“Operation Enterprise”) on 29 April 1945 spearheaded by the 1st Commando Brigade (commanded by Brigadier Derek Mills-Roberts), after which they fought on to the Baltic occupying both Lübeck and Kiel. The 15th (Scottish) was the only division of the British Army during the Second World War to be involved in three of the six major European river assault crossings; the Seine, the Rhine and the Elbe.

The crossing of the river Elbe at Lauenburg has been part of our research for our book “History2”, chapter IX (page 825-845 with historic maps and photos taken during “Operation Enterprise” in the river Elbe area at Tespe – Artlenburg – Lauenburg) in which a surviving frogmen particularly mentioned the railway bridge of Lauenburg (see photo above, page 824-825) being one of their mission targets in the last days of the Second World War (19 April 1945), followed by the attemp to destroy the 946 ft. “Class 40 Bailey Pontoon Bridge” at Artlenburg (west of Lauenburg, 28/29 April 1945) by a group of German frogmen (see photos on page 842 and 843).

Photo left: view onto the Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 movement of the watch in auction. Similar watches of the Ref. 3646 / Type B with “Radiomir Panerai” sandwich dials have been published earlier here and here.

A special thanks to the descendants of Captain Coltart who provided us information on the Ref. 3646 / Type B and its story behind. We hope that this watch will find a good new home and remains surfaced in the Vintage Panerai collectors world.
[Ralf Ehlers & Volker Wiegmann]

[Photos of the Ref. 3646 / Type B watch with kindly permission / courtesy of www.sothebys.com]

Phillips will feature a rare Ref. 3646 / Type C with anonymous “Kampfschwimmer” dial in their Geneva Watch Auction: SIX, which will be held on Sunday, 12 November 2017. The watch comes with a tubular shaped Rolex Oyster crown (Type 13) and Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 movement.

Further info on this watch (lot 210) can be found here.

What makes this watch special for us:
The collectible items of the former combat swimmer Helmut Rösel, which was submitted for auction at Dr. Crott in November 2012 for the first time, contains not only his “Kampfschwimmer” watch but also several documents from his time as a combat swimmer, some of which are extremely rare in this day and age. Additional letters written personally by the first owner and a 1994 jewellery certificate for his 3646 are precious pieces of evidence which makes this a “full set” of which not many exist.

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. 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.phillips.com]

More than two hundred watches of the Reference 3646 are registered in our database today. Among all different Vintage Panerai models, the 3646 marks the reference with the most known specimen in our records. In 2009, eight years ago, 143 recorded watches were featured in the first (sold out) edition of our book “The References”. Within the entire serial number sequence of the reference 3646, we differentiate between seven different variations (3646 / Type A – Type G). The photo on the left shows a Ref. 3646 / Type C with “Radiomir Panerai” dial, which is featured in chapter II.III (page 306-321).

In our book “The References” 1930’s-1940’s the watches of the entire reference 3646 are featured in chapter II with more than six hundred pages in the chapters II.I-II.VII following an intro on page 40-49. The seven different variations can be found in our reference quickfinder on page 14-20.

Chapter II.I = Reference 3646 / Type A
(featuring two different watches on page 50-169).

Chapter II.II = Reference 3646 / Type B
(featuring four different watches on page 170-247).

Chapter II.III = Reference 3646 / Type C
(featuring seven different watches on page 248-397).

Chapter II.IV = Reference 3646 / Type D
(featuring nine different watches on page 398-531).

Chapter II.V = Reference 3646 / Type E
(featuring four different watches on page 532-573).

Chapter II.VI = Reference 3646 / Type F
(featuring two different watches on page 574-607).

Chapter II.VII = Reference 3646 / Type G
(featuring two different watches on page 608-645).

See the different inner casebacks of Ref. 3646 / Type A – Type C watches here, as well as the inner casebacks of Ref. 3646 / Type D – Type G watches here. Enjoy reading!

Our “The Reference” books are available in our bookstore.

Introducing another piece of the puzzle – and one more surfaced in Germany: a Ref. 3646 / Type D with anonymous sandwich dial and rare “Kampfschwimmer” engraving with initials of the first owner and year of service (1945) on its outer caseback. The watch is accompanied with matching paperwork of the first owner, dating back to 1944, as well as a small compass.

The watch has been added into our database in early May 2017 and appears with high bezel (a typical feature of the watches with sandwich dials), onion shaped “Brevet +” crown (Type 11) and Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 movement. The watch has never been polished and still has its original “volcano dome” plexi as well as the original leather strap and large, nickel-plated brass pin buckle. The blued steel hands still hold their complete luminous material. The inner caseback is signed with the Rolex SA hallmark, reference and case number.

Watches of the Reference 3646 / Type D are featured in our book “The References” 1930’s-1940’s in chapter II.IV (page 398-531). Small compasses are featured in chapter IV (where a similar version is shown on page 672-675). Chapter V holds information on straps and buckles (page 679-685 featuring the “bottle opener” shaped pin buckles).

Thanks to the owner who provided information for our database.
[Ralf Ehlers & Volker Wiegmann]

Another Ref. 3646 / Type B watch with “Radiomir Panerai” sandwich dial has been added into our database. The actual owner of the watch provided us further information on the first owner with the very rare ID of the german frogman Robert E., dating back to the last months of the Second World War.

The watch appears with its original leather strap and nickel-plated brass pin buckle. The inner caseback bears the typical Rolex hallmark, case and reference number, known in watches of the Ref. 3646 / Type B as well as the Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 movement. The initial Rolex screw-down crown has been replaced with the crown mounted on the watch, shown in the actual photos.

At the age of 17, Robert E. posted to the Kommando der Kleinkampfverbände in February 1945. He took part at a special training course for frogmen and divers, held at a small Danish Island (see page 203 of our book “History1”) documented in his ID by the stamp “Kampfschwimmer- und Tauchlehrgang”.
Another signature in his ID is showing a stamp of the Kampfschwimmergruppe Ost (eastern combat swimmer group), to which he was posted after the training, dating back to April 1945.

A very interesting supplementary note can be found in his ID, hand written below the field post number: Ausgabe einer Dienstarmbanduhr Modell “Radiomir” confirming that a diving watch was issued to him for duty, even more mentioning the particular model being a “Radiomir”.

Rare documentation, such as an ID of a frogman, providing interesting information about which ways these watches took many years ago. Thanks to the owner for providing the additional info aside the details of the watch, being a new entry in our Vintage Panerai database!

You never know how long it takes until a “new”, yet unknown watch surface after many years. This happened quickly twice in the last weeks, with another addition into our database in shape of a Ref. 3646 / Type B with “Radiomir Panerai” sandwich dial and completely engraved “Kampfschwimmer” caseback.

Different to the Ref. 3646 / Type C with riveted plastic dial introduced earlier here (which included a month-lasting research for the family of the frogman), this rare Ref. 3646 / Type B “Radiomir Panerai” watch was introduced to us by the grandson of the frogman. Complete with the original strap and nickel-plated brass buckle, the watch with the small Oyster Watch Co hallmark on its inner caseback appears after 72 years with the original domed plexiglas, onion shaped “Brevet +” crown (Type 11) and Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 movement.

The caseback of the watch bears the initials “HE” of the first owner. The frogman belonged to the “Einsatzgruppe Heyden” which is engraved around the word “Kampfschwimmer” and the year of service, 1945. Lieutenant-Commander Günter Heyden was a founding member of the newly formed German commando frogmen (Kommando Spezialkräfte Marine) in the 1950’s.

The watch is accompanied with historic photos of the veteran as well as a very rare pay book (silmiar to only two others known which are made of the same material, see page 138 in our book “History1”) and which was issued to the members of the “Lehrkommando 700″ in the last months of the Second World War. Not enough rarity, there is a swordfish probation insignia (see page 802-804 in our book “History2”) and a nose clip which was used by the frogmen during the use of a small breathing apparatus (without face mask, see page 671 of our book “The References” 1930’s-1940’s and page 718 of our book “History2”).

Watches of the Ref. 3646 / Type B are featured in our book “The References” (first volume / 1930’s-1940’s) in chapter II.II on page 170-247.

When we started to search for the veteran at the beginning of 2017, we could not know wether the search would be successful or not (like many times before). We knew the frogman only by his name, featured in battlefield reports since the mid 1950’s several times, and we knew the city in Germany where he lived after the end of the Second World War.

When we virtually knocked at his door, nobody was there to open anymore. With a big portion of luck and the cooperation of his family, we connected a few months later to finally ask his family some questions, which the veteran himself was sadly not able to answer anymore. We provided some photos of the German “Kampfschwimmer” from 1944 and 1945 to the family, which they had never seen before, but which were part of our records since several years.

Recently we got photos of the Vintage Panerai watch, which the frogman stored in a safe place before the war was over and before he became a POW of the British. Before we saw the first photos, our “wild guess” was, that it could be a Ref. 3646 / Type D. But the soon later arrived photos of the dial let us think it might be an earlier version: a 3646 with riveted plastic dial. Maybe it would be a Ref. 3646 / Type B like most of the watches with such dials are recorded? The final proof to which number group it belongs to, was the look onto the inner caseback of the watch: a Ref. 3646 / Type C with Rolex SA hallmark in the center and a seven digit number underneath the reference number 3646. So, one more piece of the Vintage Panerai puzzle added in shape of a Ref. 3646 / Type C with riveted plastic dial.

The remarkable “untouched” condition, since it was keepsake for the veteran and has remained in the possession of the frogman’s family during all these years (72 years, to be exactly), can be pointed out by the fact that the watch has still the original leather strap sewn onto the soldered lugs of the cushion shaped case and the nickel-plated brass buckle (in the typical “bottle opener” shape with sharp edges) as well as a Rolex 618 / Type 1 movement with details known in more than 90% of all recorded watches of the Ref. 3646 / Type C in our database. The still complete luminous material on the blued steel hands can be rarely found on watches of this age, as well as the original domed plexi and the onion shaped crown (“Brevet +” / Type 11). More about watches of the Ref. 3646 / Type C can be found in our book “The References” 1930’s-1940’s on page 248-397 in chapter II.III.

We hope that the watch remains as a keepsake for the family and maybe the veteran’s grandchildren enjoy wearing it in the future. [Ralf Ehlers & Volker Wiegmann]