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 Officine 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 official 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, Officine Panerai created Radiomir, a radium-based 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 filed 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 time. The prototype (now known as “Radiomir”) was submitted to the First Submarine Group Command. A further order was made and watches were supplied to the Italian naval forces as of 1938 (Marina Militare) and later on to the German Navy (Kriegsmarine). The reference 2533, the first prototype for the Radiomir was produced in an extremely small numbers. The second to be produced was reference 3646, in production from 1938 until the 1950’s and produced in various versions classified Type A to Type G, each bearing unique aesthetics.
The present lot is absolutely fresh to the market, and is part of the Type E classification (made around 1944). Reference 3646 was made by Rolex for Panerai following strict technical requirements, notably a 47 mm. wide (for underwater legibility) cushion-shaped case with soldered curved wire lugs, screw down "onion" crown, 12-sided case back and a Perspex crystal. The black dials were coated with half Arabic and half Roman luminous numerals on a black lacquer background known as California dial (patented by Rolex on May 30, 1941). The dial of the present example is completely unrestored and in immaculate condition, still retaining its shiny surface, and its correct, original blued steel luminous hands. The case has never been polished before, and shows very few signs of having been worn over the course of its 70 some years of age. Even what we believe to be the original strap is still fitted to the watch. Similarly, the Rolex-finished Cortébert caliber 618 movement is in absolutely mint condition, without even a trace of a watchmaker having ever worked on it.
The case back of the present lot is engraved with what would seem as a knife or razorblade with the following: "Hauenstein Heinrich, 8.8.21 Solnhofen Bay". Solnhofen being a municipality of Bavaria known for its limestone. The condition of the present lot is amongst the best preserved we’ve ever seen, adding significantly to its desirability. It was until now, undocumented and unknown, and Phillips Watches is extremely proud and delighted to offer this outstanding and highly desirable reference for the first time.