"So why does my NH Rebelde look like a Panerai?"

A couple of days ago, Hodinkee published an article on Panerai manual wind watches featuring California dials. The post created a fair bit of interest amongst Rebelde owners, with some asking 'is my watch really just a copy of a Panerai California dial?'

The short answer is yes, your Rebelde does look like a Panerai rip-off. With further explanation: the California dial is not a Panerai invention. Dials featuring both Roman and Arabic numerals goes back to at least 1930s when a number of watch brands - big and small- made similar styled watches.

In the 1930's Rolex was still just another 'wannabe watch brand' with a rather modest manufacturing capability. Meaning: mostly putting their name on other maker's movements. But Rolex was already onto something big: better than any of his competitors, Hans Wilsdorf understood and embraced the power of marketing, turning a humble 'put together' watch business into a mega brand. Following the simple recipe: make inexpensive watches; fit them with as many dial variations as possible and advertise heavily. That strategy created an illusion that Rolex was a much bigger brand then it really was. Some dials were more popular than others; but Rolex continued to push the California style well into the 1950s. Rolex was also suppling watches to the Italian Navy via a distributor by the name Giuseppe Panerai, an accountant and businessman. (Side note: from 1972 to 1999 Panerai was just another military supplier struggling to stay in business, with a total number of employees averaging around 30. Panerai made an attempt to get into watch business in 1993 but that venture folded up quickly, with the name being sold to Cartier in 1999).    It is true that the California dial is popular thanks to brands like Rolex in the 1930s and new Richemont Panerai in the early 2000, but historically, the style itself originated before those brands made it popular. When 'Rebelde' was born in 2013, the California dial was still a big hit, and an obvious choice for a young brand in the embryonic stage.

And yes, if you are interested in a California dial manual wind watch – made for a large wrist – then we have two models in line: the 44mm steel ‘Control Tower’ (production run of 75 watches, price $2,500) and the 45mm Titanium ‘Rebelde D’ $3,500, batch of fifty. Control Tower - $2,500

Titanium D - $3,500

Clearly, our intention is to keep producing California dial watches in years to come, as well as keeping Rebelde watches in perfect working order – forever.