1940’s Rolex Made Panerai Radiomir for Italian Navy

How about this for a rare gem in the chrono world? Back in the day, Rolex used to make the very in the now, thanks to Stallone, Panerai Radiomir, for the Italian Navy. We’re talking like in the 1940’s. It is clearly not as refined as what we see today from Panerai, but these were the days of, well, we’ll let Hodinkee tell it. "The brand Panerai, known now as the archetypal New Yorker watch, was once a lowly producer of boring technical equipment (compasses, depth gauges, and the like) until 1935 when they somehow landed a contract with the Italian navy to develop watches that could be read underwater. Being that Officine Panerai had never produced a time-telling device at all, you can imagine who they turned to….Rolex.  Released in 1938 only to the Italian Navy, Officine Panerai produced diving watches called the "Radiomir" with movements, cases, and crowns all made by Rolex."

More images of this fine timepiece after the jump.