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| Parnis Watch with Custom Strap and Swiss ETA 6497 Movement |
Parnis and others no longer offer Marina Militare watches online. You can read the story here.
The following information remains relevant.
If you shop for watches on eBay, you may see a number with the Marina Militare designation. Parnis used to list about 500 watches a month with this designation. You just won't see them any more. You can possibly find a few on-line.
Marinamiliatre Store
360Sportswatches
and occasionally
eBay
Amazon also has a few listed:
Marina Militare Italia is the official name of the Italian Navy. One can legally purchase a watch with the Marina Militare logo without worry. While Parnis makes and sells the majority of watches with this designation, many wonder how they do it.
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| Umberto Panzeri |
(Excerpt) A company named Umberto Panzeri maintains a website that sells Marina Militare watches. Read more about the supplier of Italian Navy Watches below.
Christie's the famous auction house wrote the following description about a Marina Militare watch (somewhat similar to the image below) they offered in its catalog on 11 November 2013:
Rolex made for Officine Panerai. A very fine, rare and large stainless steel cushion-shaped diver's wristwatch.
Signed Rolex, Marina Militare, Ref. 6152-1, case no. 124'516, circa 1955
Rolex cal. 15''' mechanical movement, 15 jewels, metal protective cap, the dial consisting of two discs, the lower one coated with "Luminor" luminous substance visible through the cut-out baton and Arabic numerals in the black matte upper disc, luminous hands, large cushion-shaped water-resistant-type case, screw back, large stainless steel buckle, case and movement signed Rolex
47 mm. wide & 56 mm. overall length
Prospective buyers should be aware that the importation of Rolex watches into the United States is highly restricted. Rolex watches may not be shipped into the USA and can only be imported personally. Generally a buyer may import only one watch into the USA. For further information please contact our specialists in charge of the sale. Please note other countries may have comparable import restrictions for luxury watches.
The Italian Navy's Official Marina Militare Watch
A company named Umberto Panzeri maintains a website that sells Marina Militare watches. The website sports this designation:
Official watch of divers departments and the raiders Italian Navy - "Teseo Tesei"
They cite authorization to make the watch as such:
(We are) the Supplier of the official watch of the Scuba Divers and of the Commandos of the Marina Militare Italiana (as it is possible to read in the agreement act n. 538 of 16/12/2008).
They refer to their watch as the MMT500. According to the company, it is the only watch which passed the hard tests of the competition announced by Marina Militare Italiana, which ended on 2 December 2005. For this reason MMT500 became part of the official and individual equipment of the Marina Militare Italiana Scuba Divers and Commandos.
They also offer an unofficial watch for the civilian market, which lacks the skin-diver patent number engraved on the caseback. They purport to only produce 200 units per year.
Various opinions exist about the design, patents, trademarks, and so forth related to watches with the designation Marina Militare. It's difficult to determine if one can trademark the name of a military branch of any country. A question remains: does it matter?
In my opinion, trademarks and patents on designs appear hard to prove up. If you want to find a plethora of conflicting opinions, Google Marina Militare and read the hundreds of opinions expressed by watch collectors.
My Take:
I make a few watches every month for myself and a few clients - about ten. I'm not suggesting you look me up and buy watches from me. That's not the purpose of this article. (My background is in journalism. I'm also an author. If you have read my work before, you know I like to share information.)
I like the design of the Parnis Marina Militare watch models. Finding cases as well made as the Parnis have proved difficult for me. I don't like Parnis straps and worry about the longevity of Seagull movements.
It's taken several years to nail down the parts I use to assemble, test and retrofit components. Use my experience if you wish to find a watch that meets a quality criteria. Here's how I go about putting my Militare Marina watches together:
I purchase cases and dials from Parnis sellers. My hands come from a US seller. I buy straps from companies that hand stitch good quality leather (either one piece of leather folded over or padded and double stitched.) I either purchase new ETA 6497-1 or I refurbish Unitas 6498 movements. My suppliers ship from Germany, Switzerland, Hong Kong and the US.
I use Bergeon tools when I can find them otherwise AF. My timing machine is a Weishi Timegrapher from China. I use chemicals made in the US.
I suggest you look for watches similar to the ones made with components similar to mine. If you have budget concerns, consider Parnis. I consider their products undervalued. I've never owned a Seagull movement for more than two years, but they test out well. Some of my ETA/Unitas movements have run for almost 50 years. That's correct.
That's all I have to share for now. I hope you walk away with more useful information to consider before you make your purchase.