Fellow Forumers, I am not doing a Nad-style pictorial essay. I can never compete with the incomparable Nad but here's a few pics of IWC watches in action in Australia. A month down-under was not enough time to do this amazing country justice.
The CFDV is a wonderful travel watch. I set the chromo at midday when I left. Of the three watches that I had with me, this watch was the most accurate and the chrono ran continuously. I wore this watch mostly in the evenings at dinner. It did see some action during the day when I was close to vineyards. The one hour difference between the chrono sub-dial and the watch reflects the fact that the east coast of Australia is 11 hours ahead of London.
A week on the Great Barrier Reef gave me the opportunity to give my 3536 an outing underwater. The reef is a very special place. Beautiful, fragile and slightly dangerous. The greatest threat comes from UV radiation which exposed the thinning hair on my head.
And my latest acquisition: my first ceramic.
A stealth watch. Unlikely to attract much attention in risky streets (I am not suggesting that Australia is that type of place). This is a big watch, 46mm, but it is light and very comfortable to wear. I think it is likely to be my daily watch for the foreseeable future. On a 24 hour flight, it is unlikely to pick up scratches from the aluminium seatbelt buckle and champagne glasses. It has one major flaw, the chromo is limited to 60 minutes while the CFDV will record up to 12 hours. I asked at SIHH, earlier this year why the hour hand had been omitted from the chrono sub-dial. The answer was not satisfactory in my view. Nevertheless, it is a fine watch.
Back home, I decided to use a spare black Big Pilot strap to give the khaki fabric strap a rest. After a short time it is showing signs of wear. Although the rivets and deployant clasp are steel and the crown and pushers are titanium, the combination is acceptable (and comfortable).
G'day, mates.
