The Watch & The War – The Story of a Rare Panerai Ref. 3646

The other day I was doing some typical web surfing and I stumbled upon an interesting Panerai video. Of course being the Panerai nut that I am,  I had to take a few minutes to watch it and see what this was all about. I have watched countless hours of reviews on every piece in the Panerai collection, but this was different. This video drew me in and captured me for the full 6+ minutes run time, not because it was about a Panerai, but because the story behind the watch was just amazing. It is truly a story that has all the right pieces; history, family, and a war. I won’t spoil it for you because words just wouldn’t do this justice. But the main star of this production is a very rare Panerai Ref.3646 from 1938, one of the early production units created by Panerai for the Italian Navy. This documentary is something that any watch fan can really appreciate and relate to.

Thank you to the filmmaker Benedict Campbell – You can get more information here – http://blackauk.com/film

Panerai Ref. 3646 Type C – 1938

Rolex, made for Panerai. A rare and large stainless steel cushion-shaped diver’s wristwatch with colour-change dial Signed Panerai Radiomir, case and movement signed Rolex S.A., ref. 3646, Type C model, case no. 1’010’222, circa 1942 Rolex cal. 618 15 3/4”’ mechanical movement, 17 jewels, the dial consisting of two discs, the lower one coated with “Radiomir” luminous substance visible through the cut-out baton and Arabic numerals in the black matte upper disc, blued steel luminous hands, large cushion-shaped water resistant-type case, wire lugs, screw back, original knife-edged steel buckle, dial signed Panerai, case and movement signed Rolex 47 mm. wide

A model exactly like the one in the video was sold at Christie’s Auction for around $75,000 USD.