Panerai Detonator

[TheHobbit]

additional advice: I know you'll probably feel a bit lost because your PAM would probably not have minute markers and you'll not be accustomed to this because you have been wearing a daytona all the while. But fret not, Donaldo, it's still considered a "tool watch" whatever that means and despite the absence of minute markers. Its primary function is to make you look invincible like Stallone or one of those famous Italian actors and gangsters; telling time (if at all) is purely secondary.....

Contrary to popular belief, there are Panerai models with the minute markers, PAM00249 and even the Mare Nostrum models. As for why Panerai watches that do not have the minute markers, the watches were used in part to time the activation of explosives. Since these explosives can only be set to the nearest half hour or hour, there was no need to have the minute markers.



Photograph: vintagepanerai

[Enkidu]

additional advice: I know you'll probably feel a bit lost because your PAM would probably not have minute markers and you'll not be accustomed to this because you have been wearing a daytona all the while. But fret not, Donaldo, it's still considered a "tool watch" whatever that means and despite the absence of minute markers. Its primary function is to make you look invincible like Stallone or one of those famous Italian actors and gangsters; telling time (if at all) is purely secondary.....

Contrary to popular belief, there are Panerai models with the minute markers, PAM00249 and even the Mare Nostrum models. As for why Panerai watches that do not have the minute markers, the watches were used in part to time the activation of explosives. Since these explosives can only be set to the nearest half hour or hour, there was no need to have the minute markers.



Photograph: vintagepanerai

Interesting info Hobbitt, but is that a watch or is that a detonator?

[TheHobbit]

BTW, the Royal Navy thought it was a pretty cool idea as well, just the design a tad off.......



Photograph: James Dowling

[TheHobbit]

Interesting info Hobbitt, but is that a watch or is that a detonator?

Detonator...

[Enkidu]

Interesting info Hobbitt, but is that a watch or is that a detonator?

Detonator...

Exactly, Hobbitt. The pic you posted is that of a detonator not a watch. There was some posting about this exact device a while back, you'll still find it at:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/638808/thread/1324304858/Tool+of+the+Week,,,,,,+week+2-+Timing+devices+and+detonators

or just google "panerai detonator".

In one of the pictures posted by ASIMUT, you'll see the box containing the detonator. On the box is written the words "9 GIORNI". In Italian that means "9 days". So the rotating disc in the pic you posted are graded in days, not hour and half an hour. Perhaps you can share with the members here where you got the information that ".....these explosives can only be set to the nearest half hour or hour" And what is the logical link that lead you to say there is no need to have minute markers on the watch??

By the way, the words on the cover of the detonator are not helpful, they merely say:

In order to avoid dangerous circuit closures you must take the following precautions:

(1) This counter should never be left graded to zero.....

(2) Make sure before graduation that the on/off switch on the top of outer casing is opened....

[dpkong]

Frankly, I'd rather it stir up the heat and give me a ha** on as I always believe melting is for ladies...

 

Ahem....ahem.....then I think I may have found the right PAM for you (after some googling the web for the best pic).......

  

I'll take 2 please. Charge my card now.

  

[dpkong]

Interesting info Hobbitt, but is that a watch or is that a detonator?

Detonator...

Exactly, Hobbitt. The pic you posted is that of a detonator not a watch. There was some posting about this exact device a while back, you'll still find it at:

...

In one of the pictures posted by ASIMUT, you'll see the box containing the detonator. On the box is written the words "9 GIORNI". In Italian that means "9 days". So the rotating disc in the pic you posted are graded in days, not hour and half an hour. Perhaps you can share with the members here where you got the information that ".....these explosives can only be set to the nearest half hour or hour" And what is the logical link that lead you to say there is no need to have minute markers on the watch??

...

Thanks for clarifying. I had thought that this was a Panerai watch with the dial off and was admiring how simple the movement was as it did say Vintage Panerai on the picture....

  

Anyway, I do observe dots between the digits and would that be the half-hour marks? And seeing that the best you could set up the detonator was in half-hour intervals, why did they not take out the 5 minute markers as well?

[TheHobbit]

Interesting info Hobbitt, but is that a watch or is that a detonator?

Detonator...

Exactly, Hobbitt. The pic you posted is that of a detonator not a watch. There was some posting about this exact device a while back, you'll still find it at:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/638808/thread/1324304858/Tool+of+the+Week,,,,,,+week+2-+Timing+devices+and+detonators

or just google "panerai detonator".

In one of the pictures posted by ASIMUT, you'll see the box containing the detonator. On the box is written the words "9 GIORNI". In Italian that means "9 days". So the rotating disc in the pic you posted are graded in days, not hour and half an hour. Perhaps you can share with the members here where you got the information that ".....these explosives can only be set to the nearest half hour or hour" And what is the logical link that lead you to say there is no need to have minute markers on the watch??

By the way, the words on the cover of the detonator are not helpful, they merely say:

In order to avoid dangerous circuit closures you must take the following precautions:

(1) This counter should never be left graded to zero.....

(2) Make sure before graduation that the on/off switch on the top of outer casing is opened....

Cool info. We learn something new everyday. Strangely enough the info I got with regards to why there is no minute markers is from the same source. I guess we now know better. The quest to find out more about the design of the dial continues.

[dpkong]

oppps!

days not hours. how did i miss that?? 

Enkidu must have spent a lot of time in Italy or eating too much pasta... that was what you ordered at the GTG too.. 

That or he's got an Italian version of the Pam 36DD... 

[TheHobbit]

Anyway, I do observe dots between the digits and would that be the half-hour marks? And seeing that the best you could set up the detonator was in half-hour intervals, why did they not take out the 5 minute markers as well?

They could, but then they would have to install the hour markers.

[terrenceterrence]

Of course they design it in such a way that you can only set half or hour detonations.

Seriously have you seen the way the Italians work? 

This is not exactly German speed and efficiency we are talking about 

[kenixck]

Frankly, I'd rather it stir up the heat and give me a ha** on as I always believe melting is for ladies...

 

Ahem....ahem.....then I think I may have found the right PAM for you (after some googling the web for the best pic).......

Is that the Special Edition 1 of 1 PAM 36DD? 

still prefer the original 38DD   

[STT1987]

Why don't we shift this talk to the "fashion" and "discussion" thread?
 

[Enkidu]

oppps!

days not hours. how did i miss that?? 

Enkidu must have spent a lot of time in Italy or eating too much pasta... that was what you ordered at the GTG too.. 

That or he's got an Italian version of the Pam 36DD... 

OK lah, I am fat, no need to stress the fact that I eat "too much pasta". In fact, I don't really remember what I ate that night at Kuching's The Den. Too busy bashing PAM and drank a little more than my aged bladder with limited liquid retention capacity can handle........

And not all Italians wear PAMs. One who was born in Scaffhausen Switzerland and started his soccer career there seems to like his IWC chrono....

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Rl2yWtMozSxvm9gsy1k6ItMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0

[Enkidu]

Why don't we shift this talk to the "fashion" and "discussion" thread?
 

Yes, you are right. This is intended to be a PAM glorifying thread. Sorry.

We should have been more sensitive. OT, so Takashi Pete (a.k.a the Vigilant Mod) should be swooping in on us soon.....

[terrenceterrence]

Now I know why there's only '1' successful raid by the infamous Decima X. Seriously it takes so long for detonation, you'll think the enemies would get smart by doing more frequent sweeps.

The Italians really deserve the bad and incompetent rep they get in WWII history.

[dpkong]

now that I'm sober, it makes me wonder why they made a detonator for NINE DAYS? in Stallone's movies, his timers are set for 30 seconds or thereabouts. i mean, seriously, 9 DAYS ??

it takes them that long to sneak out after planting the bomb?

[dpkong]

oppps!

days not hours. how did i miss that?? 

Enkidu must have spent a lot of time in Italy or eating too much pasta... that was what you ordered at the GTG too.. 

That or he's got an Italian version of the Pam 36DD... 

OK lah, I am fat, no need to stress the fact that I eat "too much pasta". In fact, I don't really remember what I ate that night at Kuching's The Den. Too busy bashing PAM and drank a little more than my aged bladder with limited liquid retention capacity can handle........

And not all Italians wear PAMs. One who was born in Scaffhausen Switzerland and started his soccer career there seems to like his IWC chrono....

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Rl2yWtMozSxvm9gsy1k6ItMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0

well.. i didn't state that you're fat. self-conscious are we?      

pasta was only brought up since you seem to be able to read Italian..      

but it's nice to have a wrist that could pull off the AP ROOs.. i'd love to have the wrist size but not the rest of the fat...

OOPPPSS!!! I used the fat word...  OK.. my bad, next time in Kuching, beers and pasta on me again..

 

[TheHobbit]

Interesting detonator. Still finding out more about it. Evidently it is an electrical detonator with a 9 days mechanical backup. Trying to find out more, ie how it works and such.

[Enkidu]

now that I'm sober, it makes me wonder why they made a detonator for NINE DAYS? in Stallone's movies, his timers are set for 30 seconds or thereabouts. i mean, seriously, 9 DAYS ??

it takes them that long to sneak out after planting the bomb?

I am not an ordnance buff so I am not 100% sure if other WWII detonators had similar features. In the web-site I posted yesterday,  there's another Panerai timer with PROBABLY a 20-minute counter. From the box, looks like a prototype only.

Once you search, you'll find all sorts of stories, pics, docs etc claiming and trying to build a connection between Panerai and the Italian Navy and the Kampfschwimmer. How much is true? How much is legend, myth and pure nonsense? If you are a hard core risti, all that is good and glorious are real, if you are hard core sceptic like me, everything will be taken with a very unhealthy pinch of salt and cynicism. Even if you produce a WWII Italian navy frogman in front of me and he claims he wore a panerai in one of his missions, "yea sure" I'll say and I'll first ask him to produce his birth cert and bring another Italian frogman to verify his story. No end, believe me.

9 days?? Well, I am sure Benito can set the timer to half a day also. Nine days is the max. With so much time (measured in days) from activation to detonation, it explains why these Italians did not need a watch with minute markers. In fact, they didn't actually need a watch. They should be issued with a table top calendar and a pencil.........goes something like this:

Hey Luca, you still remember when we planted that explosive with that 9-day Panerai detonator on that English ship?? What??.... on the 2nd of May, just before dinner?? And you set it for a full 9 days?? OK, then it should go off just before dinner time on 11 of May. Hahaha...those English pirates will be sent swimming back to their filthy island of shopkeepers to have their afternoon tea......let me write that down on my Panerai Monthly Table Top Calendar less I forget again...the Duce will be proud of us, ....hey, where is my pencil......



 

[TheHobbit]

Thanks to enkidu for the link. So far what I manage to find out is that the detonator/ timer is a stainless steel detonator/ timer device from the 1940s. It is a electro-mechanical device with a 9 day back up and is a 10 hour detonator/ timer. Will update once I find out more.

As for Panerai history, well, take it with a pinch of salt if you must, but if you do, do the same for any other brands, climbing Mount Everest, timing the Apollo 13 burn sequence, failing the NASA test to qualify for the moon, being the first diver watch, etc.

As for the Italian diver, Mr. Emilio Bianchi just celebrated his 100 birthday. Likely candidate for an interview I guess?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Alexandria_(1941)

[TheHobbit]

Some light reading....

http://www.watchtime.at/archive/wt_2008_02/WT_2008_02_208.pdf

[Enkidu]

As for Panerai history, well, take it with a pinch of salt if you must, but if you do, do the same for any other brands, climbing Mount Everest, timing the Apollo 13 burn sequence, failing the NASA test to qualify for the moon, being the first diver watch, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Alexandria_(1941)

Of course, one needs to exercise much discretion when dealing with all these claims. The more fantastic the claim, the more we need to check. This applies to all brands. Never believe everything that is nice, never disbelieve everything that is bad. The truth often lies somewhere in the middle. Where in the middle? Do some research with an open mind and from independent sources. Easy example is the claim "First Watch Worn on the Moon". The watch that went to the moon had the Cal.321 movement. The present moonwatch ref:3570, 3590 etc are powered by different movements, not the Cal 321. None of the watches produced by Omega since the 1980's have gotten any where near the moon. Omega will never openly tell you that.

[dpkong]

As for Panerai history, well, take it with a pinch of salt if you must, but if you do, do the same for any other brands, climbing Mount Everest, timing the Apollo 13 burn sequence, failing the NASA test to qualify for the moon, being the first diver watch, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Alexandria_(1941)

Of course, one needs to exercise much discretion when dealing with all these claims. The more fantastic the claim, the more we need to check. This applies to all brands. Never believe everything that is nice, never disbelieve everything that is bad. The truth often lies somewhere in the middle. Where in the middle? Do some research with an open mind and from independent sources. Easy example is the claim "First Watch Worn on the Moon". The watch that went to the moon had the Cal.321 movement. The present moonwatch ref:3570, 3590 etc are powered by different movements, not the Cal 321. None of the watches produced by Omega since the 1980's have gotten any where near the moon. Omega will never openly tell you that.

The KEY words... something sorely lacking these days...

[TheHobbit]

As for Panerai history, well, take it with a pinch of salt if you must, but if you do, do the same for any other brands, climbing Mount Everest, timing the Apollo 13 burn sequence, failing the NASA test to qualify for the moon, being the first diver watch, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Alexandria_(1941)

Of course, one needs to exercise much discretion when dealing with all these claims. The more fantastic the claim, the more we need to check. This applies to all brands. Never believe everything that is nice, never disbelieve everything that is bad. The truth often lies somewhere in the middle. Where in the middle? Do some research with an open mind and from independent sources. Easy example is the claim "First Watch Worn on the Moon". The watch that went to the moon had the Cal.321 movement. The present moonwatch ref:3570, 3590 etc are powered by different movements, not the Cal 321. None of the watches produced by Omega since the 1980's have gotten any where near the moon. Omega will never openly tell you that.

The KEY words... something sorely lacking these days...

Yes, very true. Very lacking indeed.

Judgement cast in stone, based on past experience, society norm, what you read, what you believe, what they want you to believe, etc.....

An open mind...... Indeed a much required characteristics.