Sotheby’s New York will auction a Ref. 3646 / Type B with riveted plastic dial in their Important Watches sale on 7 December 2023.

This 3646 is well known in the paneristi community and has been consigned by our dear friend Hammer along with other watches from his personal collection. You can read more on this rare Ref. 3646 / Type B “Radiomir Panerai” from 1941 here in our watch point.

[Photo courtesy of Martin Wilmsen]

Sotheby’s New York will auction a rare Ref. 3646 / Type B with riveted plastic dial – read more at their website here.

This specimen is one of only 21 Ref. 3646 / Type B watches known in our database until today. It has been recorded in 2013 and still remains the watch with the lowest case number within all known Ref. 3646 / Type B watches, bearing the small Oyster Watch Co hallmark on the inside of the caseback (“full polish” decoration) with its seven-digit casing reference number and the reference number 3646. You can read more on our 3646 caseback classification here.

The watch is fitted with a riveted plastic dial, which has a smaller diameter than the sandwich dials, visible by the little gap between dial and (high) bezel. It bears the famous “Radiomir Panerai” writing below 12 o’clock. The surface of the plastic dial has become distorted over time. The luminous material under the surface in the numerals and indices appears lightly raised, while the other areas have become recessed (see also photo here).

The watch is fitted with a Rolex crown (Type 13) with “Oyster Patent +” lettering. The steel hands on this watch have become competely skeletonized. The dodecagonal caseback of the watch does not have an outer engraving. The 47 mm steel case has the typical breadth of the curved strap loop, a common feature on watches from the early series (Type A to Type C) visible in the photo below.

Features of the watch:
Reference: 3646 / Type B
Dial: “Radiomir Panerai” (sandwich, riveted plastic dial)
Case number: 1009XXX
Movement: Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1

We have featured this watch in our book “The References” 1930’s-1940’s in chapter II.II on page 173-189. It was one of several historic Panerai watches Hammer provided to us in 2014 to be featured in our books. We hope our friend’s beloved 3646 will find a good new home and that it remain surfaced in the Vintage Panerai collectors world. [Ralf Ehlers & Volker Wiegmann]

[Photos courtesy of Martin Wilmsen]

Sotheby’s will auction a Ref. 6152/1 with “Radiomir Panerai” dial and Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 4 movement in their upcoming auction Important Watches in Hong Kong on 8 October, 2019 (lot 2311). The watch is recorded in our database since November 2007, when it was auctioned at Sotheby’s Geneva (lot 60).

Until today, we know 23 watches of the Ref. 6152/1 with 8 mm Rolex crown and Rolex movement. This specimen is one of ten registered watches with a “Radiomir Panerai” dial. The original hands of this watch appear to be replaced after the watch was no longer in military duty.

The watch is accompanied by a Marina Militare divers logbook and letter, stating the purchase of the watch by Giuseppe Rasenti from the Centro Subacqueo ed Incursori “Teseo Tesei” in La Spezia (photos shown in the lot description at Sotheby’s / link above).

Watches of the Reference 6152/1 with 8 mm Rolex crown are featured in our book “The References” 1950’s-1960’s in chapter VIII.I (page 878-921).

Features of the watch:
Reference: 6152/1
Dial: “Radiomir Panerai”
Case number: 1245XX
Movement: Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 4

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 of the Ref. 6152/1 watch courtesy of www.sothebys.com]

Sotheby’s will auction a Ref. 3646 / Type E with “California Dial” and Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 mod. movement in their upcoming auction Important Watches in Hong Kong on 8 October, 2019 (lot 2310). The watch is recorded in our database since May 2013.

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). The “Error-Proof Radium Dial” by Rolex, with its railroad track minute markers and “SWISS MADE” signature at six o’clock, features half arabic and half roman numbers with luminous material applied from above. The onion shaped winding crown (“BREVET +” Type 11) is screwed down onto the collar of the 47 mm cushion shaped case with soldered lugs.

Noteworthy, this watch is one of only three known pieces within the number group Ref. 3646 / Type E which show a Rolex hallmark and reference number on its inner caseback. Usually, known watches of the number group Ref. 3646 / Type E only bear their case number on the inner caseback as typical feature. We have pointed this out in our book “The References” 1930’s-1940’s in chapter II.V (page 537) and II.VI (page 579-581), where this watch is mentioned by its case number several times.

Since 2016, three new watches of the number group Ref. 3646 / Type E surfaced, two of them expanded the number group from 260856 – 261097 (1.1.2016) to 260850 – 260111 (29 watches recorded as of today).

Features of the watch:
Reference: 3646 / Type E
Dial: “California Dial”
Case number: 260918
Movement: Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 mod.

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 of the Ref. 3646 / Type E watch courtesy of www.sothebys.com]

Sotheby’s will auction a Ref. 3646 / Type D with anonymous “Kampfschwimmer” dial in their upcoming auction Watches Online on 8 July, 2019 (lot 8).

Features of the watch:
Reference: 3646 / Type D
Dial: “Kampfschwimmer”  (sandwich, anonymous)
Case number: 260579
Movement: Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1

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]

[Photos of the Ref. 3646 / Type D watch courtesy of www.sothebys.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)

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]

Sotheby’s New York features a Ref. 3646 / Type E in their Important Watches auction on June 8th, in New York (Lot 166). The watch has been added into our database back in 2007 with painted brass dial, Rolex 618 / Type 1 mod. movement and caseback without Rolex SA hallmark – features of a Ref. 3646 / Type E watch. In its actual condition, the watch is equipped with a re-manufatured dial (a sandwich construction of two brass discs and transparent plastic disc in the middle) with “Radiomir Panerai” lettering, made during restoration at the Officine Panerai customer service, dated March 2016.

Extract of Sotheby’s lot description about the re-manufactured dial:
The present 3646 recently underwent restoration at Officine Panerai, which included a re-manufactured dial with Superluminova and a complete service with extreme care made to retain original components and finishes, including remarkably retaining its original crystal.

The watch is mentioned together with other known Ref. 3646 watches with brass dials in our book “The References” in chapter II.IV on page 471 and in chapter II.V on page 565. Further information on painted brass dials in combination with the flat version of the bezel can be found in the chapter II.IV on page 472-479.

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

Lets face it: Vintage Panerai watches can be considered “rare” among thousands of vintage timekeepers from many different brands. Our new book “The References” features a “Luminor Panerai” watch which deserves the attribute “exceptional”: Admiral Gino Birindelli’s Ref. 6152/1 “Luminor Panerai”. Less than 90 watches of the Reference 6152/1 with Rolex movements are recorded in our database today, around 2/3 of them have a Panerai crown-protecting device.

What makes a rare Vintage Panerai watch an exceptional Vintage Panerai watch? For us, its the summary of interesting details of the watch and the historical background of the previous owner. In this case, its a very famous owner: Gino Birindelli M.O.V.M. (1911-2008) was in fact the first SLC pilot who entered an enemy harbor with his device in the night of 30 October 1940. At a time when the secret weapon of the Royal Italian Navy had to deliver its ultimate proof to be successful. At a time when months of intensive training under the highest level of secrecy was about to turn the “Spirito del Serchio” from a military secret into a legend. At a time when two transport submarines and their crews were already lost before an attack was even carried out… not an easy task at all. But Birindelli made it.

Chapter II.I (first volume / 1930’s-1940’s) features a chronological line-up of the missions carried out by the Decima MAS until 8 September 1943, in which the mission B.G.2 against Gibraltar is listed. Birindelli survived being a prisoner of war from October 1940 to March 1944 (first sent from Gibraltar at the end of 1940 to a camp near London – almost 3 months isolated – followed by camps in Edinburgh, Tennessee, Casablanca, Algiers and finally back to Taranto in Italy.

After this torture with a lucky end, his career in the Italian Navy continued. Birindelli was commander of the Incursori (COMSUBIN) from 26 September 1948 to 30 April 1950, once again from 1 May 1954 to 5 June 1956. What better officer could lead these special units than one of the famous SLC pilots who invented the secreat weapon years ago? Gino Birindelli circumnavigated the globe between 1 September 1956 and 1 March 1957, stopped at 34 ports on four continents and covered a distance of 33.170 nautical miles. Birindelli was promoted to rear admiral in 1959, headed the I Divisione Navale as well as the fleet command (Comandante in Capo della Squadra Navale) Gino Birindelli headed the Allied naval forces in southern Europe before he retired in December 1973 in the rank of Ammiraglio di Squadra.

Chapter VIII.II (second volume / 1950’s-1960’s) features Gino Birindelli’s 6152/1 watch with crown-protecting device, Rolex movement, “Luminor Panerai” dial and extremely rare rotating bezel, of which only a few are known to exist today. Thanks to the support of Sotheby’s Geneva by the provided photos for our book, the details of this watch are shown on page 1006-1013, followed by the impressive story of its famous owner on page 1014-1043.

Enjoy reading the history behind a truly “exceptional” Vintage Panerai watch in chapter VIII.II of “The References”.