Mama said you won't get hurt

 

Luckily for them, Rolex had perfected the waterproof wristwatch in the previous decade with the immortal Rolex Oyster. It was a relatively simple matter to up-size the Rolex Oyster (the Rolex Reference 2081 of 1928-30 has the same square case shape of later Panerai watches) to the large 47mm case preferred by the Italian divers. The frogmen evidently requested a large watch to make the dial easily readable under all conditions. At the time most men’s watches were around 30-35mm in size, so a 47mm case was clearly intended for for serious combat use—not a fashion statement. It was a perfect example of “function over form.” Watchbuyersgroup

But, I can already hear the question rising up from my readers: “What’s the relationship between this mythical plantation manager and Italian WWII frogmen?” Bear with me, please. It didn’t take long for Rolex to realise that the Oyster Pocket watch was a commercial disaster, but Wilsdorf wasn’t going to let the watches go to waste. He had the attachments for a watch chain removed, along with the dials, had the watch rotated through 90° clockwise, attached a new dial with the subsidiary seconds now at the 9 position and to finish off he had wide wire strap attachments soldered at their 12 and 6 positions. These revised models entered the 1934 catalogue as Oyster wristwatches, reference 2533. Even at this early stage you can begin to see how Rolex might be responsible for the creation of the Panerai Radiomir. Oracleoftime

Emerge dalla documentazione del National Archives Telegraph 9 August la disparità di valutazioni finali tra diplomazia e intelligence.

L' attenzione del Console era centrata su fervore e attivismo dei fratelli Wilsdorf nel contesto.

MI5 dopo attenta considerazione dei fatti, tra i quali anche la fornitura alla decima mas, ha concluso che non c'erano evidenze concrete per procedere con iniziative che avrebbero potuto anche causare danni all' economia britannica.

Probabilmente come ogni scaltro imprenditore Wilsdorf ha unito l' utile al dilettevole.

La pubblicazione delle carte ha provocato non poco imbarazzo alla Rolex che ha assicurato approfondimenti.