First build- Shayetet 13 Almog

[jrlmsla 0]

Here is my first watch build.

6154 PVD River case aged

Ross dial and hands lumped by Pratt

Asian 6497 movement

Case back engraved to say:

Shayetet 13

Almog

 

It is a tribute to the Israeli Navy Special Forces Divers the Shayetet 13 or Flotilla 13.

These special forces were formed in the '40s and adopted the tactics of and were trained by the Italian Navy special divers (Decima Flottiglia MAS).

 

 

 

 

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[Stewart 0]

Nice combination!

[RUSH2112 11]

Unique piece to say the least. Congrats

[BenjaminButton 149]

Interesting watch..... and set me off on some history research because I doubted, have never read about, the connection to the short lived fascist Decima Flottiglia MAS. But indeed Fiorenzo Capriotti did help train them. Interesting stuff. The watch and the inscription are based on what? Historical images/ references or simply imagination?

[jrlmsla 0]

Interesting watch..... and set me off on some history research because I doubted, have never read about, the connection to the short lived fascist Decima Flottiglia MAS. But indeed Fiorenzo Capriotti did help train them. Interesting stuff. The watch and the inscription are based on what? Historical images/ references or simply imagination?

 

Historical fantasy mostly.

 

It is interesting that the vintage watches I really like are associated with ideals I don't prescribe to:

B-uhr: Nazi Germany

Panerai- fascist Italy, Nazi Germany and anti-Semite Egypt.

 

I love the idea of the connection of a story with a watch. So I decided to find alternative stories I could associate with my watches.

My pilot watch for example came into my possession by a relative who was a p51 mustang pilot that exchanged his Hamilton with a German pilot after the war. (Didn't happen)

 

So I wanted to do a Kampfschwimmers style build, but with a different twist.

While researching 6154 watches I came across the following:

vintagep*ner*i.com

 

"The Red Sea, the Straits of Tiran, the Gulf of Aqaba, even the shores of Dakar (Senegal) and Abidjan (Ivory Coast) – target zones of the Egypt frogmen during the Suez Crisis, the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War.

Not very much has been ever published before about missions against enemy ports, ships and oil platforms during the conflicts between Egypt and Israel. In the mid-50’s, both Egyptian and Israeli special forces attended separate training courses in Italy to learn the skills for underwater missions from their Italian instructors. After our search for historical documents and with the support of a high decorated Egypt frogmen veteran we were able to put a spotlight on some of the missions carried out decades ago."

 

...wait, Isreal trained with the the Marina Militar in Italy in the mid '50s?

They adopted the combat style of the Decima Flottiglia MAS, even made their own pigs:

 

So if they adopted so much, why not their precision diving instruments?

The reference 6154 was produced in the early 50's, so when the Shayetet 13 arrived in Italy their instructors had them and used them so:

 

Hypothesis #1-

S13 combat swimmers would have picked up some 6154s and made them an essential piece of their dive equipment, commissioned or not. And the engraving would have naturally taken place to identify ownership. Ze'ev Almog was a young man in the S13 in the mid fifties and later Commandet in Cheif of the Israeli Navy.

 

Hypothesis #2-

One Panerai timepiece was documented as commissioned by the S13:

The S13 could have certainly commissioned others, including the 6154.

 

Hypothesis #3-

This is actually not of my invention but a story told on a military watch forum by an Israeli member:

 

"This is a story of the Italian submarine Scire'. Sciré, which was modified to carry the new secret Italian weapon, the human torpedo. Known as "slow speed torpedoes" (siluri a lenta corsa, or SLC), and nicknamed "pigs" (maiali) for their poor maneuverability, these were small underwater assault vehicles with a crew of two. These were part of the 1ª Flottiglia Mezzi d'Assalto (MAS), the "First Assault Vehicle Flotilla", (later called Decima Flottiglia MAS) an elite naval sabotage unit of the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina Italiana).

The combat doctrine of 1ª Flottiglia Mezzi d'Assalto (MAS) was the basis for combat doctrine of Israeli Shaytet 13 when it was established, and I even received a book translates to Hebrew by the Israeli ministry of defiance publication that was wrighten by Junio Valerio Scipione Borghese the legendary commander of 1ª Flottiglia Mezzi d'Assalto (MAS), the "First Assault Vehicle Flotilla.

In any case Scire' inflicting a lot of pain on the British Navy On 18 December 1941, in Alexandria the Sciré launched an attack by three SLCs and 6 frogman that heavily damaged the two Royal Navy battleships HMS Valiant and HMS Queen Elizabeth and two other ships in the harbor.

On 10 August 1942, Scirè sank, early in the morning she was spotted by navy aircraft in the shallow water on the bottom through the clear water of Haifa bay. The submarine most probably suffered already from a major mechanical malfunction that didn’t enable here to retreat and disappear in deep covering sea. She was damaged by depth charges dropped by the British aircraft. The British naval trawler Islay steamd out full speed ahead from Haifa port, at this time the submarine surfaced attempted to surrender herself but the British had an open account with Scire and EMS Islay opened fire from all canons Scire sunk to the bottom for the last time with all her man in Haifa bay, about 11 kilometers from the harbor.

The position of the sunken Sub was known to Israeli navy and kept in secrete, the Sub was loaded with explosives and those dangerous, The wreck of the Scirè, laying at a depth of 32 metres (105 ft), the sub became site and Shayetet 13 training location.

The story that I heard is that Paneri watches and compasses where taken from inside by Israeli navy divers in the sixties all were functional after more than 20 years submerged in sea water. This is to prove that Paneri produced true military watches!!!

In 1984 the position of the Scire was published (after cleaning all explosive) a joint Italian-Israeli Navy ceremony was performed, in which the forward section was removed from the submarine and sent to Italy to become part of a memorial. And the main section was sealed to prevent entrance to the sub since it is full of human remains. And today Scire is a popular diving site."

 

So the S13 recovered several Panerai watches and depth gauges from the wreckage of this submarine. A tad grizzly when you consider that those watches were still attached to their owners who had been entombed in the sub for 20 years.

 

 

As far as my watch in particular, I figured that the Israeli forces have always been advanced in the areas of tactical gear and stealth and, because PVD process didn't exist in the 50s, they hand painted their watches, maybe even using a japaning, technique similar to woodworking planes have, layers of black enamel that are heat finished.

The significant wear of the PVD case represents that less durable black finish that would have been applied but has worn off.

 

 

 

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Edited June 19, 2016 by jrlmsla

[Baldrick 1]

FFS...they're even making up 'fake' provenance for these fake watches now....

[RUSH2112 11]

I can't believe what I just read.

[Baldrick 1]

I presume that's not referring to my post !!!

[deju 1,894]

It's great that you take an interest in the history of certain watches.

 

But you sound like a complete fantasist making up bullshit stories about watches province!

 

My crap-o-meter would go though the roof with these stories... Simply trying too hard.

 

If I was to say nice watch say thanks and move on, I don't want a justification!

 

 

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[jrlmsla 0]

It's great that you take an interest in the history of certain watches.

 

But you sound like a complete fantasist making up bullshit stories about watches province!

 

My crap-o-meter would go though the roof with these stories... Simply trying too hard.

 

If I was to say nice watch say thanks and move on, I don't want a justification!

 

 

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I am simply having a little fun here.

Take your own advice... Say nice watch and move on.

Edited June 20, 2016 by jrlmsla

[elp 26]

Nice build, and as you say in your original post it's a tribute.

 

You like it, enjoy it. And yes, better such a reference IMO than a Kampfschwimmer 3646 or XMas Flottiglia.

 

Not sure about the haughty comments when jrlmsla was answering Ben's query if the engraving was factual or not?

 

So it's not a real fake rolex, get over it

[jrlmsla 0]

Nice build, and as you say in your original post it's a tribute.

 

You like it, enjoy it. And yes, better such a reference IMO than a Kampfschwimmer 3646 or XMas Flottiglia.

 

Not sure about the haughty comments when jrlmsla was answering Ben's query if the engraving was factual or not?

 

So it's not a real fake rolex, get over it

 

My haughty comments?

 

 

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[elp 26]

Nice build, and as you say in your original post it's a tribute.

 

You like it, enjoy it. And yes, better such a reference IMO than a Kampfschwimmer 3646 or XMas Flottiglia.

 

Not sure about the haughty comments when jrlmsla was answering Ben's query if the engraving was factual or not?

 

So it's not a real fake rolex, get over it

 

My haughty comments?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Nope, other's comments. You were clear the watch is a tribute, and the origin of the inscription is historical fantasy with lots of conjecture. A fun project IMO. Given we're on a rep forum and enjoy wearing fakes, is this fantasy watch and its inspiration any less honest than a TC/BK v6x sub / Noob AP ROO / KW PAM? That's the hypocritical bs part, and not from you.

[jrlmsla 0]

I really don't understand the backlash here.

I'm not trying to pass this off as real.

I was just trying to create something interesting and different.

Had I not explained my thought process someone would have asked out of curiosity.

If history isn't interesting to you then go join a thread where they are discussing the latest zf kw AAA version of something everyone owns.

 

 

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[deju 1,894]

I really don't understand the backlash here.

I'm not trying to pass this off as real.

I was just trying to create something interesting and different.

Had I not explained my thought process someone would have asked out of curiosity.

If history isn't interesting to you then go join a thread where they are discussing the latest zf kw AAA version of something everyone owns.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Not trying to give a backlash mate.

 

Just my opinion, which you can exchange for a crisp high five hahaha

 

As I said I think it's cool you like the history behind watches. Maybe it's because I don't care if a watch is rep or gen. If I was to meet you in the street I would be more impressed if you said oh this is a rep of an XYZ and a homage to a specific historical piece.

 

My fantasist remarks more in reaction to the pilot watch story again I'd be more impressed by you having a passionate rant about the history why you like the watch than that you got it from a family member that got it from a German pilot.

 

 

 

 

 

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[jrlmsla 0]

I really don't understand the backlash here.

I'm not trying to pass this off as real.

I was just trying to create something interesting and different.

Had I not explained my thought process someone would have asked out of curiosity.

If history isn't interesting to you then go join a thread where they are discussing the latest zf kw AAA version of something everyone owns.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Not trying to give a backlash mate.

 

Just my opinion, which you can exchange for a crisp high five hahaha

 

As I said I think it's cool you like the history behind watches. Maybe it's because I don't care if a watch is rep or gen. If I was to meet you in the street I would be more impressed if you said oh this is a rep of an XYZ and a homage to a specific historical piece.

 

My fantasist remarks more in reaction to the pilot watch story again I'd be more impressed by you having a passionate rant about the history why you like the watch than that you got it from a family member that got it from a German pilot.

 

 

 

 

 

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Yeah sorry. That was just an example I thought up. It is a crappy one.

But anyway- the S13 info is all real. And an interesting part of history that I have never come across before, so I thought I would share it attached to a watch build.

 

 

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[Mr Stubbs 0]

Well done! I like your watch a lot. It's different, and I salute your imagination mate. Not a lot of that around these days.

[RUSH2112 11]

I presume that's not referring to my post !!!

No, not yours.

[Robin195959 2]

Nice looking watch.