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Did you know that there is a connection between Cortébert, Rolex, Panerai and Molnija movements?
Look at the similarities
From left to right:
a 1940's Rolex movement cal. 618, an old Molnija 15j movement, a Cortebert cal. 624 movement and a Cortebert cal. 616 movement
Cortébert
Cortébert was a Swiss watch brand, manufacturing their own movements and supplying movements to other companies such as Rolex.
Rolex
Rolex sourced those movements from Cortébert and just branded them Rolex.
Panerai
On the other hand side Rolex made Panerai watches which were equipped with Cortébert calibers. Rolex-made Panerai watches of Ref. 3646, 6152, 6154 and 6152/1 were equipped with Cortébert Cal. 618 16 Ligne pocket watch movements specifically made for Rolex.
A Rolex Cortebert in a Panerai is known as the 'Holy Cow' among the Paneristi, and it is now priced at € 40000-80000
Molnija
In the early 1920s, Cortébert was approached by Soviet Russia for assistance in establishing a watch industry in Russia.
In 1926, Cortebert was already part of the Ebauches SA consortium in which all relevant raw material manufacturers were represented —> UNITAS, ETA...
After the development of the Unitas caliber, the Cortebert machines were sold to Molnija, who made a copy of the Cortébert's 16 Ligne Cal. 620 as Molnija 3602.
The Molnija movement is a copy of a Cortebert movement as used in Rolex watches from around 1940 and they kept pretty much the same movement design until 2007 with just minor changes.
In other words the Molnija movement was originally a Swiss Cortébert movement.
Cortébert
Rolex
Rolex for Panerai
Molnija 3602