The Regulateur was on my short list for quite some time, but something else always came in the way. I waited for the 2010 novelties and there was one strong contender, another manual watch, the Portuguese hand-wound. A modern interpretation of a classic design that came to mud the waters once again! The choice was difficult as both had qualities I was looking for, some of them in common (movement, case) and some different (dial style & color).
So off I went to my dealer, who was able to get me a Regulateur with the ardoise dial. I was left stunned, hadn't expected to like it that much! As another fellow forum member told me, "I would ONLY buy the Regulateur in WG". I couldn't agree more. Needless to say I walked out of the store that day with a bag in my hands :)
I wish the new hand-wound was available to compare, but it would have been really tough (and unfair) competition against the ardoise.
I've had it for 2 weeks now and could't be happier.
Although not complicated, the movement derives from the 98 caliber which is a very historic IWC movement (and very accurate too). It feels like a ritual giving it a few spins each morning! The movement is an absolute pleasure to look at thru the display case back. IWC has done a very fine job with the decoration.
Not much to say about the case which is typical Portuguese (part brushed and part polished). One thing worth noting is that the case is 2mm thinner than the automatic (there is no winding system installed), and there is no deployant both of which make a big difference with dress shirts as the watch snugs more comfortably under the cuffs than the automatic.
The dial. IWC has hit a jackpot with ardoise. What can I say? It is absolutely gorgeous. What makes this particular dial perhaps more interesting is the fact that the sub-dials have a grooved circular pattern which results in different color shades compared to the rest of the dial. Hard to describe, it adds another dimension to it and breaks the monotony.
The hand arrangement makes the dial very eccentric.
Finally, the brown strap completes the package. I was very skeptical about it at first and was even entertaining the idea of changing to black. That would have been a mistake as the two work very well together. Brown warms up and helps flatter the dial color.
I hope I didn't bore you :)
Thanks for reading.
Evan
