293 - Panerai - California Dial

Panerai - California Dial A significant Italian Navy combat swimmer’s watch—to date, only 33 watches of this “Type E” model have been documented Ref. 3646 / Type E, Cal. 618 / Type 1, Case No. 260882, Dimensions 47 x 47 mm, circa 1944, Origin: Switzerland Case: Steel, screw-back, screwed “Brevet” winding crown with Swiss cross. Dial: Black, luminous Arabic and Roman numerals and hour markers, blued luminous baton hands. Movement: Manual winding. The Panerai with a California dial was the first dial configuration of reference 3646 delivered to the Italian Navy. The flatter bezel is a defining feature of the California-dial series and underscores both the functional intent and the distinctive aesthetics of this timepiece. The “error-proof radium dial” supplied by Rolex features a railway-track minute scale that requires no luminous material, along with the “SWISS MADE” signature at 6 o’clock. The upper half of the dial displays Roman numerals, while the lower half uses Arabic numerals. This unusual division was developed to ensure optimal legibility in darkness and under poor underwater visibility, allowing the time to be read from any angle and in any orientation during a mission. The hour markers are recessed indentations designed to hold a greater volume of luminous material. The hands are made of blued steel and filled with luminous material; the hour hand features the characteristic break line. The outer caseback is unmarked, and the inner caseback lacks both the Rolex hallmark and the reference number—another typical feature of Ref. 3646 / Type E. The Brevet crown with the Swiss cross is screwed onto the collar of the 47-mm cushion-shaped case with soldered lugs. The movement does not bear the Rolex signature; its engravings are filled in red. According to Volker Wiegmann, who co-authored the standard reference work *Vintage Panerai* with Ralf Ehlers, six new watches from the 3646/Type E reference group have surfaced since 2016. Currently, 33 examples of reference 3646/Type E are known, including this specimen from Germany. Additional watches of reference 3646/Type E are documented on pages 544–551 in *Vintage Panerai – The References 1930s–1940s, Volume 1* by Ralf Ehlers & Volker Wiegmann. With the kind support of Ralf Ehlers & Volker Wiegmann, www.vintagepanerai.com, the highly recommended website for vintage Panerai watches. Radiomir Panerai Thanks to the 1914 invention of the luminous material “Radiomir”—a mixture of zinc sulfide and radium bromide—Panerai dials could be easily read at night and in deep water. Panerai capitalized on this advantage in its watches and was commissioned to produce the first diver’s wristwatches, called “Radiomir.” The first prototypes were still manufactured at Rolex, while later models and their cases were produced at Panerai according to Oyster standards. In 1936, the Panerai Radiomir became part of the secret naval equipment. Source: “Armbanduhren Klassik Katalog,” Koenigswinter 2005, page 146. Case: very good, slightly worn. Dial: very good. Movement: very good, in working order, cleaning recommended. Please note that leather straps made from endangered or protected species—such as alligator, crocodile, or lizard—are used in our catalog or on our website for illustrative purposes only. For customs-related reasons, such straps cannot be shipped outside the EU.