Nice story.
On perezcope.com you can find the following explanation:
„The modified Rolex 6152/1 that served as an example for the PAM 127 forms part of the Archivio Storico Panerai (Hystoric Panerai Archive) since the take-over of the Officine Panerai brand. The modern Panerai lists this watch in their Panerai Museum Guide as PAMPL001.
[....]
An interesting observation is that when this vintage watch (PAMPL001) was handed over to Vendôme, the crown guard was in different position. For usability reasons, the lever was designed to open downwards in order to not be in the way when winding the watch.
However [...] the modern Panerai flipped the crown guard 180 degrees to open upwards instaed and make the “BREV. ITAL.” (Italian Patent) engravings visible. This was probably done to create a historic precendent for having the “REG. T.M.” marks on the front of the PAM 127 crown guard.“
For me, this positioning has a lot of charm. 😊