The following is Part 2 of a translation of the website below (link) written May 25, 2003, by Ken Sato, president, Ken Trading Brain Corporation, regarding the his brand RXW's 47mm Marina Militare:
http://www.rockxwatch.com/MARINA_MILITARE/bigmarina/index.html
BELT AND BUCKLE
Pictured (above) is the original belt and buckle attached to the one produced in 1939. It is leather made from horse skin that was soaked in oil so it could be used in salt water. The buckle is flat [SUS]304 stainless steel with a fish tail shape. It is so flat that when you wear it on your arm the buckle pushed up [away from your wrist]. Of course, it was made for battle, underwater. It was not made that way in relation to the bulky diving suits worn at the time.
The Marina Militare['s strap] has a curve-shaped buckle (above). Here is our black strap, designed for ocean sports. Our buckle design keeps the original fish tail shape, but is more heavy duty with added thickness. The material we use is the same [SUS]316L used to make our model's case, and the buckle is made and finished by hand. The original was flat, but considering human physiology we added a curve and tapper to ours. When you change the watchband you can easily remove it with the tool [screwdriver] included. For each watch the buckle is attached to the brown leather belt, but we have buckles available as optional parts for 3,000 yen each.
Let me explain the marine sports black leather watchband. It was made using a very special process. You can wash it with detergent. It is constructed from French horse leather to which a special chemical process is applied. After wearing it in the ocean, you can wash out the salt deposits using detergent. A detergent that contains a softener would be best. Most leather quickly gets stiff and cracks [when used in salt water] if not soaked in oil first. I myself have a tee shirt with leather on it [perhaps a logo?] processed with this special technique. It has been washed more than 10 times in three years but [the leather] hasn't become hardened. So, I feel this is a wonderful kind of leather and it has been adapted for use for this model.
Next an explanation about the brown leather strap produced by Connolly Leather. For this model we asked a craftsman to make these piece by piece using thick thread sewn by hand, using the ultimate leather which is also used for Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, Bentley and Ferrari. It is even used in F-1 (Formula One) racing cars for their seats. Used for interiors or seats, it is even approved by [Queen] Elizabeth II and used by the British Royal Family. Founded in 1878, [Connolly's] products are very difficult to get. If you see it for yourself you can tell that precious leather is used that is twice as thick as normal, and that is necessary to give strength. Domestically, only a famous high class French manufacturer sells a watchband made by Connolly but if we order from them the same one we had made it would cost 20,000 yen per band. We sell belts only too. The brown one made by Connolly is 9,800 yen. The black one made of washable leather is 8,000 yen. Both include lug pins/screws. The buckle alone is 3,000 yen.
ANTI-MAGNETIC INNER CASE
In this picture [case back cover removed] you can see the original anti-magnetic inner case of the Rolex made in 1939. At that time many anti-magnetic watches used a complex aluminum material, also used in airplanes, called duralumin. The part that looks dark is painted to protect the duralumin from changing color. The thickness is about 0.5mm.
This is our model. Like the original, our photo shows the inner case. We used soft iron as a better anti-magnetic material and also used it for the base dial. This method is the same as used by IWC's Ingenieur "Mark" series and Milgauss. The thickness of the inner case is 1.15mm, more than double the original. Using this design the anti-magnetic quality is the same as IWC's Ingenieur Milgauss or 1,000 gauss = 80,000A/m and protects the watch's movement from electo magnetic waves from computers, cellular phones, and so forth. The other company's model [Panerai] uses a see thru glass back since 2002 but it is just "kudaranai" (a "meaningless") decoration easily thought up by the same jewelry brand. For users who are delighted by those stupid decorations, their brand name was etched into the movement by a machine, and they are not qualified to purchase our watch. Historically [the original Marina Militare] was a military-watch masterpiece so for people who love the model it was nothing but a disappointment that it was handled as if it is a jewelry watch model [like] those using diamonds. Why don't they purchase this watch's original supreme technique and function instead of chasing after outside decoration? To protect the policy of the [original] maker [Rolex] at that time we are aiming as much as possible to make a perfect product.
Photo of the 1939 Rolex case back cover's reverse side. This has [writing] on the backside giving proof that it was made by Rolex for the Italian navy upon order in 1939. This is mine. It says "MONTRES" which means "watch" in French. "Rolex SA" which means "Rolex Watch Corporation." "GENEVA" "SWITZERLAND" "PATENTED" SWISS MADE." Modern Rolex production is the same but they have model numbers or production codes number Ref. number stamped as 6152/1. In this picture it doesn't show a closeup of the original case but it has written on it case number 124774 between the lugs at 6 o'clock which is similar to Rolex production at this time. By this we can judge it was made in 1939. On the 12 o'clock side is printed "BREVET" "Patented" in French. From these facts, those big cushion case type combat diver Ref. 6152, of which people say only 250 pieces [were made?] from 1939 to the 1950's, are authenticated.
[Translator's note: That is Part 2 of my translation of the text from the link. I'll probably continue to translate the rest in two more parts.]