2011 Forum Holiday Drawing!

It’s December and the holidays are rapidly approaching. As we’ve done in prior years, members of our forum community can participate in a special forum holiday drawing by making a special post.

This year, the question to answer is a simple one:

Please tell us about your first IWC watch.

Tell us how you learned about IWC, why you bought it (or if you were fortunate to receive a gift), and what you liked about it. Do you still have it and, if so, do you wear it? Photos of the watch and stories about your first IWC experience are encouraged.

My thinking is that this question should be a good way to indirectly introduce each of us to the forum community.

Please post your reply below to enter. From all entries posted between now and Friday, 9 December 23:59h (Schaffhausen time) I’ll randomly pick between 10 and 15 winners, depending on the number of entries. By using a random number generator, all entries will have an equal chance to win. Prizes will be IWC promotional items, including the following:

Good luck and happy holidays!

Michael--

An IWC Mark XVI Pilot, my first and, to date, only IWC, spoke to me from a shop window in Munich two and a half years ago. I was waiting for the tram and was browsing in the window of a very tony watch store. The IWCs all stood out by virtue of their clean, unfancy, functional-looking lines, and of those on display, as I said, the Mark XVI spoke to me loud and clear.

Since I had been thinking of a retirement present for myself, and since for most of my adult life had relied on one cheap quartz watch after another, I decided THIS WAS THE TIME. After returning home, I called a California-based AD (there being, alas, none here in provincial St. Louis) and did the deed.

No regrets, no complaints, just a prized possession that becomes more prized each day!

Cheers!

Donald

My first IWC was the SS GST Automatic Chrono with that beautiful Silver dial and Gold markers.

I have always admired watches, but from afar, always concerned that they were over my budget. On my frequent visits to Europe and Switzerland, my admiration grew and I made the decision to get my first "good watch".

I walked into my local AD with the intention to buy a his & hers Cartier French Tank. However, the salesperson took his time to explain about the "collectability" of timepieces and showed me around the store.

He proceeded to show me the IWC GST and even let me wear it around the store as he continued to show me other watches. I found myself not able to take my eyes off of it.

It turns out that it was everything that I was not expecting to buy. The Tank was square, thin, time only with discreet date, and small!!!!

The IWC was round, big (big by the standards in May 2002), chronograph, day/date window!

The salesman suggested I think about it, and before I even reach home, I had called him to say that I would be back the next day to pick up the GST for me and a mid-size Tank for my wife.

When I purchased the watch, I still didn't know the difference between a Chronograph or a Chronometer, LOL!!!!!!

Nine months later, I had the pleasure to take a factory tour with a very special tour-guide!!!!!

Some pics from the tour...........

GST case from the CNC machine:

I still own the GST:

Thanks for reading my story!!!!!!!

My first IWC was a Ref 5441 Rose Gold Portuguese Jubilee, which I still have, and will be inherited by my daughter. I bought the Jubilee in 2001 from an IWC collector, through the now extinct Collector's Market.
My infatuation with IWC had started much earlier, though. Having grown up in Portugal in the 1950s and 60s, I do not recall not being aware of the existence of IWC. The adults around me referred to the brand as " O Internacional", and I grew up with the sure belief that "real men" wore IWCs. Nothing new, here. :-)
IWCs were very expensive then, due to very high importation taxes, and I just could not afford one, and the idea went dormant in my mind.
It was not until 1993, when I saw the Jubilee in Geneva that I had my epiphany, and first seriously considered buying an IWC. The idea was, however, promptly shot down by the wife on the grounds that our daughter was about to go to College in the US and I ought to rethink my priorities. Wives have a way of killing a man's dream with this kind of unassailable logic. :-)
Fast forward to 2001, and to IWC's Collectors's Market where a collector is selling a Ref 5441 RG for a price that today would be too good to be true.
I was in Lisbon and the Ref 5441 was in New England. No problem. Catch a fight to NYC, go to the bank and withdraw the cash, and get in the daughter's car and drive North on I95, get the Ref 5441 and drive back to NYC. Fly back the next day to Lisbon, where I had some real work to do. Exhausted but happy.
And this is how the whole madness started, and I don't seem to be able to stop. And this Forum is not helping. And for that I am grateful. :-)

I went to the local super watch dealer in my area to pick up a R***x I had wanted for sometime. While there, I spotted a cool watch in another case, it was huge! Or so I thought at the time, an IWC Portuguese Chrono 371417.

I made my planned purchase but kept thinking about that Portuguese. Several months later I ventured back to try it on and get some info on IWC. To my dismay, it was gone. Another IWC had arrived and taken its place in the showcase. It was even bigger and maybe even a little cooler; an IWC Portuguese Automatic 500109. Wow! I tried it on and wore it home. My first IWC! and now, six IWC’s later, IWC is still my favorite brand. No more of those R watches.

I never got the 371417, but still hope to someday.

Best,
-Joe

My first IWC watch was a Porsche Design watch, the chronograph, which I believe was a 3743. It was NOS, a wonderful watch.
Unfortunately, it had to go in trade for a 3713 Dopple.

Linn

I had gone through a second brown nylon strap to my quartz Timex Expedition watch that I had worn over ten years, daily. I decided to buy an Omega Seamaster but when I wore it it just wasn't me. After some looking around I discovered the IWC Mark XVI. Understated, highly legible, modern, solid, it has been on my wrist nearly every day for the past two years.

I subsequently got a couple of Ingenieurs they are not as versatile as my pilot watch, primarily due to their size and weight.

I look forward to see what IWC has in store this coming year!

My love affair with IWC and the mechanical watch began in 1994, but it was a very long distant relationship to begin with.

I was sitting at my desk in the bank in 1994 one day reading one of the glossy magazines that comes with the Friday newspaper and I came across a full page ad for the IWC Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Chronograph (3750)and read all about it and thought WOW what a wonderful watch, I should get myself one of these. (I knew they were going to be expensive but thought I was doing pretty well for myself at the time and thought I might be able to afford one and had decided then and there that if they were $3,000 then I would buy one and even if they were $5,000 to $6,000 then I could still probably afford it) At the bottom of the ad it said for a free brochure call this number and one will be sent to you. So I called the number and requested a brochure (expecting perhaps a 3 pages glossy brochure) but could you imagine my surprise 2 weeks later when a hard bound 176 page book arrived in the mail telling me all about the IWC Da Vinci and all their other watches. I was amazed at the workmanship that went into building such watches and read about each model, but I just kept coming back to the Da Vinci.

I didn't do much about trying to find the watch at the time, I went into a couple of places where they sold watches but they either hadn't heard of IWC or didn't stock them, so I just let it go, until about 6 months later a Finance Broker that I dealt with wanted to place a deal for the importer of IWC watches and I asked him to get me a price list. A week later he arrives at my office with the price list (and tried to hit me up for a job at the same time (but he didn't get one)) and after excitedly grabbing the list to see what it was going to cost me for my new Da Vinci, I was utterly shattered when I read that the retail price for the watch was AUD$68,000 (at the time the australian dollar was very low against most currencies $1 AUD = USD0.67 and 0.81CHF plus there was a 30% luxury tax on luxury watches plus import duties as well) and even though I could have probably got a decent discount through the wholesaler my dream of owning a Da Vinci seemed dead.

Even though this was a major set back I couldn't help but dreaming about the Da Vinci, every time I saw an IWC dealer I would go in and look at their watches (amazingly at the time the IWC dealers didn't seem to have too many (if any Da Vinci's in stock, they only seemed to carry the cheaper models)). This habit continued for the next 17 years ( I did buy myself a nice Longines 9ct gold watch in 1996 which I still have and love) until earlier this year when I decided that finally it was time to realise my dream, so I started looking around for the Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Chronograph 3750 (I didn't really like the newer models and wanted the watch I had seen in that magazine ad all those years ago). After a lot of research and a few false starts where I thought I had found the watch that I was looking for only to have one sold out from under me (even though the dealer said he would hold it until Monday for me) and almost getting sucked in by a fraudulent website (very sophisticated) trying to sell me a 3750 (which I managed to avoid thanks to all the great information I received from fellow IWC lovers in this forum (many thanks once again) I finally came across a 3750 being sold by a dealer in Switzerland and he was only about 20 kms from Shaffhausen, so I decided to buy it and then travel to Switzerland to collect it and visit the IWC museum at the same time. (The IWC museum is one of the most amazing places I have seen, could spend days in there looking at their watches) The watch was a Da Vinci in Rose gold with a white face, which is very rare. That was in October this year and my love for the watch grows every time I put it in my wrist. I love the craftsmanship of IWC watches and have since added a Portofino automatic to my collection and hope to be adding a couple more soon.

Here is a pic of my Da Vinci

I bought my first IWC for my 30st birthday.
It´s a 371701 and i wear it every day with pride!

Keep up the good work!

Marton

Dear friends,

I have been interested in watches for as long as I can remember, how that fascination started I don't really know. Fast forward to the mid 1990s and I have started my collection of real quality timepieces, but for some reason the gold, the platinum, and God forbid - the diamond stuff, does not seem to interest me at all - I'm all about stainless steel and titanium sports watches.

I guess I started to grow up when I hit 30 and a few more dressy watches entered my collection, still stainless though. I cannot pinpoint the moment when I first registered IWC, in other words there was no special watch that spoke to me, but I came to know about them during my visits to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur in the early 2000's. During these business trips I could spend the whole weekend browsing all the fantastic watch stores along Orchard Road - I learned a lot about watches, and I really got hooked on collecting!!!

Maybe now I have fully grown up - because as I hit my 40s I started to appreciate finer timepieces and especially complications like perpetual calendars, tourbillons and repeaters. Then lightning struck.

On our way to the US on vacation this summer I was browsing the watch section of a jewelery store at the Schipol airport in Amsterdam while my wife was looking at jewelery (and watches, she is fortunately into them as well:-)). And there it was - the gorgeous Portuguese Perpetual Calendar in rose gold, silver face and a beautiful light brown alligator strap.

Here it is, on teak where it belongs :o):

I was stunned, such a beauty. The clean lines, the moonphase, the rose gold color, the perfect size - but what really stood out was the large dial and thin but oh so beautiful bezel and case, and the matching light brown strap. I was sold. The next two and a half weeks on vacation I was scouring the internet for information and comparing similar watches daily. And by the time we landed in Amsterdam on the return leg to Norway my wife had uttered the most important words - "why don't we make this your 42nd birthday and Christmas present??"

And here it is together with one of its new friends:

How I really missed the true beautiful, classy and functional timepieces of IWC for all those years is beyond me - but better late than never right? I am a convert now for sure :o)
Thanks for reading my long and winding road to enlightenment!

Thanks for the holiday drawing Michael.

Hello everyone,

Collecting only Baume & Merciers and Zeniths prior to this year 2011, I had sent my Baume to Richemont Hong Kong for a service and strap change, and unfortunately they did not have one. As SIngapore is my home country which I travel frequently to, it so happened that the Richemont Singapore service centre was across the street from my usual hotel. So in I walked, and while they had the strap it was a defective one, and it could not fit properly, so I left empty handed ...almost.

While waiting I browsed an "IWC Catalog" which I had given a cursory glance while at Richemont HK. One particular piece caught my attention. This one here on the left:

It was a mixture with awe and incredulity that I stared at that particular catalog page, especially after I inquired about the price. The staff obviously saw in me what I can only in an understated and wholly inaccurate manner describe as "my interest" and insisted I bring the catalog back with me, despite my initially not wanting to do so.

so a few weeks after my return to HK from that trip, I was in the Elements Mall and dropped in here:

where I met Elaine the very helpful Boutique Manager at that time (she is now at a sister brand) where she informed me the Grande Complication was only available at this little place below. To my surprise it was right across the road from where I kept two offices:

So an appointment was made there where I met Elaine who guided me through the Grande Complication as well as the other pieces that caught my eye - namely the Portuguese. I was very very impressed by HK Flagship as well as how seriously the boutique staff took care of their customers. This was in November / December 2010, so about a year ago.

Over the next six months of toying with the idea of a Portuguese, I thought other priorities should come first, namely a watch that my wife thought was a very nice watch - the Mont Blanc Nicolas Rieussec, as well as a particular Zenith that I bought on the spot at first sight.

These priorities out of the way, I finally got round to properly spending time each visit to a dealers to look at an IWC. 500114 or 500107 ? gold hands or blue hands ? I thought it would be a 500107 for sure, but in the end this one below won. Now ... I bought it because I thought the design was outstanding, and over previous years have received good feedback about IWC from friends, in that an IWC was always on their wishlist. Having purchased it right after dinner one Friday evening, I lugged everything back to my office and unpacked everything. When I removed the plastics and had the 500114 and examined it very very closely for the first time in a familiar homely environment, I was absolutely astounded by the sheer clarity of the dial as well as the finishing. My immediate reaction was to call up one of my buddies who had always advocated the brand but never pulled the trigger, and marveled at just what an amazing timepiece it is ...I was completely sold.

Now, quite a few more IWCs later, I have never looked back.

That's my story, and since that first purchase this forum has also become very much part of my IWC story. Looking forward to catching many more of you in the very near term. Its been a great year for me many thanks to the brand, the staff, and all of you guys.

So here's my first IWC, the Portuguese Automatic 500114.

Happy weekend and happy holidays to you all in December and January, with Christmas, New Year and the Lunar New Year festivities ahead.

My first IWC watch was the Porsche Design Ultra Sportivo. I bought it summer 1988 in Chur, Switzerland on the way back from our holiday in Arosa. By the way, Chur is a nice town to visit. The watch was according to my specifications of that time: small, titanium, quartz. It doesn't run now, as the battery ran out a long time ago. I wouldn't wear it now as it is too small to my acquired taste. Until this watch I wore a 1968 Omega Seamaster De Ville: with today's knowledge I don't even know whether I went up a step, but titanium being anti allergic while I was suffering from a nickel allergy to be attributed to the steel watch, and improving on accuracy to state-of-the-art quartz meant a lot to me at the time.

About Christmas 1965, if I remember well, my father gave my mother an IWC ladies watch for every day use. It didn't arrive on time, but my father told me it was a very special watch, being very good. My father didn't care much for watches, he wore his steel Omega, and from his 50th birthday his gold Omega without thinking about it. So what brought him to IWC is a mystery to me. But I remembered what he said, it took me 23 years to follow up on it. I still have that IWC of my mother, I must say I think it is not too pretty. It doesn't run right now.

Kind regards,
Paul

In the summer of 2008, my wife and I decided to escape the Texas summer heat and visit some of her family living in Zurich, Switzerland. I had always had several watches to augment my wardrobe, but only a vague consciousness about haute horology. I decided that I owed it to myself to learn something about watches while I was visiting a country storied for its production of fine timepieces. My Swiss brother-in-law grew up in Eastern Switzerland and had a library of hardback catalogues unlike anything I had ever seen…IWC catalogues! He informed me that IWC was the only fine watch company that operated in Eastern Switzerland, and the company was actually founded by an American! I finished my vacation with a tour through the Alps and a window-shopping spree down the Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich. I fell in love with IWC watches displayed there.

Shortly after returning to the U.S., I started to research everything IWC and resolved to acquire my own IWC watch. Candidly, I was dismayed by the prices (I’m a working class public servant) because this was my first foray into the world of luxury watches and I had no perspective to which to compare. I was fortunate there was an AD in Austin with a knowledgeable staff that helped answer my questions and showed me a rather good inventory. My requirements for my first IWC watch included: a watch that exuded the history of IWC; a watch that would be appropriate for dress and casual wear; a price point I could afford; and a watch that appealed to me aesthetically. I chose a Mark XVI Spitfire on a steel bracelet because I felt it had all the attributes for which I was looking.

photo by BillB

I cannot begin to tell you how excited I was to first wear my new watch. No one I knew (with exception of the lovely D!) would ever notice what was on my wrist…but I felt I had this incomparable treasure under my shirt cuff. I joined the IWC Collectors’ Forum shortly after my purchase and began my ongoing education about IWC.

I still wear my 325505 as my “go to” watch for traveling and every day use. And although I now have several IWC choices from which to choose every morning, I still experience the same thrill when I put on my trusty Spitfire that I did on the morning I first clamped it on my wrist. I doubt it will ever be a classic, but it was the watch that started my love affair with this great company and that makes it special to me!

The story of my first IWC coincides with my passion for watches, I’ve never worn a watch before the 20th of November 2003, the day I bought my first IWC.

I couldn’t wear watches due to the discomfort they gave to my wrists, a legacy of playing tennis for many years and also the impatience of feeling bound by something or someone; even now, the watch is the only accessory I consider bearable.

I was once googling around, searching for I don’t remember what exactly, when I came across the IWC site. My attention was kidnapped by the image of a Portuguese chronograph, a ref. 3714-004 precisely. In the following years I read several books about timepieces’ purchasing motivation process but still today, I couldn’t be able to accurately frame mine; being always interested by the subject of aesthetic and feeling attraction for beautiful things, I probably decided I simply had to have what it looked to me like an example of stylistic perfection (this is not the case but I’m not new to purchase something totally aimless but gorgeous to my eyes).

Anyway, since then, a week didn’t pass by, I already became the happy owner of my first IWC.

I took on the watch, although it was always on my wrist, it didn’t bother nor hurt me and so my interest for watches grew up along with my awareness. One day, overconfidently I decided my Portuguese wasn’t fitting my demands for technique anymore and so I gave it away.

Today, I think to those days with endearment for myself but I still I feel gratitude to my first watch because it gave me a special imprinting it will always connect myself to IWC in a special way and in fact, IWC is still my favorite maison and it always will.

I just received my first IWC yesterday. My decision to purchase was borne during a trip to Hong Kong and seeing the beautiful Portofino 8 day with the white face and gold accents. The classic detailing and large size really appealed to me. In fact, I appreciate the simple way IWC presents the complications of its watches. I know the years ahead will be more joyful and appreciated as a result of owning this watch. Happy Holidays to all. Jim

Hi Jim,

Congrats on your first IWC, great choice!!!!!!

Please post photos of that beauty :-)

I never thought of buying a mechanical watch until this May - I had been wearing a "kinetic" watch from a renowned Japanese watchmaker - and supposedly the watch would never stop if it was given kinetic energy. However, the watch wasn't working well since earlier this year, and I thought, perhaps I should buy a new one?

I wasn't quite sure about this idea until I visited a friend of mine in this city in May -

Of course, it is Geneva. There were a few brands that I had in mind (not including IWC actually) - but my friend said, "Have you considered IWC? It's one of the favourites of the pilots and it is very accurate." I wasn't too familiar with this brand but I noted my friend's recommendation with interest (since I always aspired to be a pilot though it's too late for me to change the course of my career!)

The next day, my wife and I walked around the Geneva city centre and entered quite a number of shops selling watches - I tried to look for something nice and young but nothing captured my mind. Then I accidentally saw the IWC boutique. Given my friend's advice, I stopped and did some "window shopping" - looking at each of the watches from the outside, and it was love at first sight: the Pilot's Watch! It is simple yet beautiful; elegant but young. Without hesitation, I entered the shop and was served by a very helpful lady. Indeed, I nearly bought my first IWC immediately, but given the strong Swiss Franc, I thought it should be a better idea to buy it elsewhere, and so the lady gave me this: a French version of the catalogue with price list.

On return to my home country I studied the catalogue using my limited knowledge in French, and visited many websites to see the review on IWC watches. While the information that I read was very useful, there is no factor more important than the "love at first sight" feeling that I couldn't find with other watchmakers. I therefore bought my first IWC - Pilot's Chronograph (371701) in early June. Everything thereafter is history ...... I wear it to work, to travel (photos could be seen in my other photos so I won't repeat them here).

It's exactly 6 months since I owned my first IWC, and I still wear it with pride. As I mentioned elsewhere in the forum, I am sure that this will not be the only one and I look forward to building up my collections soon (budget permitting)!

Cheers,
AL

My first IWC was an IWC UTC (now referred to as the UTC 'classic'). It was the year 2000(ish), i was with the family in Southern Spain, and there in the window ... beautiful! I was into watches for quite a while, but never into a specific brand. But that changed instantly. There in the window, nicely lit, was the IWC UTC with a beautiful brown strap. Days i thought about it. Almost forgetting to enjoy the vacation. Returning to the shop and standing outside several times. Finely i thought: what the ****! I drove to the shop, went in, asked if i could see the UTC .... and i was sold (and so was the watch). I still have the UTC and still wear it regularly. It has been serviced twice and recently given it's fourth strap.

Since then i bought more watches, the majority of them IWC. Some of them i sold, but not the UTC. I guess i will never sell it. I like the size (contrary to recent trends i'm not a big fan of watches over 41-42 mm), the layout of the dial and the complication (love a second timezone).

In fact i love it so much i decided to look for a platinum one. I'm not sure why, maybe to 'celebrate' my first 'real' watch :-) While i'm not in a hurry, if i walk past a window and see a beautiful classic platinum IWC UTC with the blue dail i just might enter the shop and ask if i can see the watch ... and be sold all over again.