122.
An extremely rare and interesting stainless steel cushion shaped diver’s wristwatch with California dial
Manufacturer
Panerai
Year
Circa 1944
Reference No.
3646
Case No.
260’850
Material
Stainless steel
Calibre
Manual, cal. Rolex 618 16’’’, 17 jewels
Bracelet/Strap
Leather
Clasp/Buckle
Stainless steel
Dimensions
47mm. Diameter
Estimate CHF 60,000-100,000 $62,000-103,000 €54,800-91,400 Literature Similar watches of the 3646 / Type E number group are featured in Vintage Panerai, The References by Ralf Ehlers and Volker Wiegmann (2016) pages 532-573 2016.
Until now scholarship showed us that 26 Panerai reference 3646 Type E models are known, 17 with a California dial like in the present model. We state “until now” as the present lot has been unknown and undocumented to scholars and collectors.
The earliest Panerai reference 3646 Type E known to date bears the case number 260’856 whereas the present lot is separated by only a few numbers as it bears case number 260’850. It is therefore the earliest example of the reference 3646 Type E known making it only the 27th Type E Reference 3646 to be discovered. Giovanni Panerai (1825-1897) founded Ofcine Panerai in 1860 in Florence on the Ponte alle Grazie. At the turn of the twentieth century, the watchmaker’s shop moved to its current location in Piazza San Giovanni. In the following years, Giovanni Panerai’s grandson Guido Panerai (1873-1934) expanded the business by specializing in the production of high precision instruments as well as watches becoming the ofcial supplier to the Regia Marina, the Royal Italian Navy. To meet the military needs of the Royal Italian Navy, which it had already been supplying with high precision instruments for a number of years, Ofcine Panerai created Radiomir, a radiumbased powder that gives luminosity to the dials of sighting instruments and devices. Reference to the name “Radiomir” is documented in the supplement to the patent fled in France on 23 March 1916. Around 1936, the Royal Italian Navy approached Panerai with the request of designing a watch resistant to extreme underwater conditions while at the same time keeping exact
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