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SkinnyPupp · 05-23-2023, 01:03 AM

Speaking of homage watches.. When is an homage actually more genuine than the genuine brand?

How about Ennebi watches?

Founded by two Panerai employees during pre-Vendome days, including their chief of engineering Alessandro Bettarini, their designs harken back to the pre-V designs that were not Bettarini's Rolex homages. Nope, he is making homages of his own Panerai prototypes. The actual Panerai watches!

Ennebi = Nincheri & Bettarini

They all seem to be limited runs or something, but here's a look at one:

Which looks very similar to Bettarini's "Mille Metre" prototype, designed in 1982. This means "1 Thousand Meters" a very ambitious goal for a company not known for designing their own dive watches. Two 60mm prototypes (more like mock ups) were made at this time, in aluminum due to ease of use. The prototypes used the 1950's locking crown guard at 3 o'clock, but the second one had an additional locking device at 9 o'clock to, lock down the rotating bezel. The CEO decided that was just too much, and canceled the project. AFAIK neither of these prototypes have ever appeared.

A couple years later, they gave it another shot, this time at 47mm. This time 8 prototypes were made between 1985 and 1997, 4 in bronze, 4 in titanium, due to anti magnetic properties of these alloys. You can see the titanium one here looks very familiar:

You can see many more photos of a bronze prototype here.

Bettarini clearly loved this design, as Ennebi have made a ton of designs based on this general case, but unfortunately they can't use the patented locking crown guard. Instead they just use a big chunky one, and a screw down crown. They have several different dial types, including the Rolex "error proof" watch sold to Panerai to provide to the Nazis during occupation of Italy.

They also made a design that looks very much like the GPF 2/56 made for the Egyptian Navy in 1956. I think this was a one-off deal.. It looks like the crown guard is permanently covering the crown? I dunno

This monster is 64mm, even bigger than the GPF 2/56!

Here's the Panerai, which I also posted a few weeks ago

05-23-2023, 01:03 AM	#4613
SkinnyPupp Hacked RS to become a mod Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Sunny Hong Kong Posts: 55,107 Thanked 25,916 Times in 9,108 Posts Failed 1,574 Times in 720 Posts Member's Picture Albums	Speaking of homage watches.. When is an homage actually more genuine than the genuine brand? How about Ennebi watches? Founded by two Panerai employees during pre-Vendome days, including their chief of engineering Alessandro Bettarini, their designs harken back to the pre-V designs that were not Bettarini's Rolex homages. Nope, he is making homages of his own Panerai prototypes. The actual Panerai watches! Ennebi = Nincheri & Bettarini They all seem to be limited runs or something, but here's a look at one: Which looks very similar to Bettarini's "Mille Metre" prototype, designed in 1982. This means "1 Thousand Meters" a very ambitious goal for a company not known for designing their own dive watches. Two 60mm prototypes (more like mock ups) were made at this time, in aluminum due to ease of use. The prototypes used the 1950's locking crown guard at 3 o'clock, but the second one had an additional locking device at 9 o'clock to, lock down the rotating bezel. The CEO decided that was just too much, and canceled the project. AFAIK neither of these prototypes have ever appeared. A couple years later, they gave it another shot, this time at 47mm. This time 8 prototypes were made between 1985 and 1997, 4 in bronze, 4 in titanium, due to anti magnetic properties of these alloys. You can see the titanium one here looks very familiar: You can see many more photos of a bronze prototype here. Bettarini clearly loved this design, as Ennebi have made a ton of designs based on this general case, but unfortunately they can't use the patented locking crown guard. Instead they just use a big chunky one, and a screw down crown. They have several different dial types, including the Rolex "error proof" watch sold to Panerai to provide to the Nazis during occupation of Italy. They also made a design that looks very much like the GPF 2/56 made for the Egyptian Navy in 1956. I think this was a one-off deal.. It looks like the crown guard is permanently covering the crown? I dunno This monster is 64mm, even bigger than the GPF 2/56! Here's the Panerai, which I also posted a few weeks ago