I am observing with scepticism that many people prefer to put their wonderful
micromechanical masterpieces in the safe rather than wear them.
For me, this is unthinkable, because these watches were made for the place on
our wrists.
And then they are supposed to look like this after almost 16 years.
Now this beauty and loyal companion is in the Schaffhausen-Spa to get a
technical and optical lifting.
Cheers,
Sascha
I love the lived in look of a worn 3227 - trying a novel crown guard here ;-)
This discussion was held here several times.
All what you say is correct but over the years fahion and taste changed. For
half a century a wristwatch should look as new. As a result IWC , when
servicing a watch, did everything to bring the watch in shiny new condition,
including a thorough polish.
Now there are brands which prudently ask their customers : polish or not? New
crystal or not?
I have seen that a wristwatch loses value by polishing to half of its value.
And then we are talking about ten thousands of dollars.
Collectors make up names to smooth over a terrible condition :
A tropical dial = a dial ruined by moist.
A spider dial = a cracked dial of which the cover layer is of bad qualty.
A fuchsia bezel = a bezel of which the original red colour has become faint,
too bad to be called a colour.
All of this is cherished to the utmost and expressed in huge amounts of money.
On the other extreme are collectors who refuse to buy a brand new watch of
which the stickers have been removed.
So different minds and different tastes, but what intrigues me is that most
people, entering the world of collecting, do not like ruined watches over new
old stock, but can be influenced by others to change their mind to the
opposite.
Regards,
Adrian,
(alwaysiwc).
True words Adrian. I am always amazed that obvious quality defects such as
cracked or discoloured dials lead to real price explosions for some brands.
It seems to me that this is part of a social development. It has a lot to do
with money and its relevance. I observe that in this day and age, many things
are hyped for the sake of maximum return. Not only in the field of watches,
but also in classic cars, works of art and much more. The main thing is that
it is rare.
A big, if not the biggest disadvantage of this development is that money seems
to kill passion. The object itself hardly plays a role. Neither does passion
for it. But isn't it precisely this passion and the genuine, honest interest
in watches, for example, that forms the basis for us as collectors?
And could we not pay the engineers and watchmakers a greater compliment if we
passionately love and also wear the watches they create?!
I, for one, do. And from this attitude then comes not only passion for watches
in general, but also for a brand like IWC. I have also been wearing my Deep
One regularly while diving for about 20 years. And I enjoy it like a little
child on every dive.
With this in mind, have a great weekend!
Cheers,
Sascha (who has this fantastic piece on his arm today).
A perfect analysis, Sascha.
Adrian.
Good points Sacha and Adrian, love your watches too! I'm somewhat carefull
with my watches, but all get more than enough wristtime.
Regards, Bob
DER Tool ‼️