Hi all,
Thanks for your contributions, I hope that others will join and tell their story.
I came to IWC by really good fortune: I was 6 years old and found a wristwatch close to where I lived. Someone had enjoyed the sun or dropped it or I don't know what. My parents took me to the local police station and we handed it in to the lost and found department. No one claimed it and 6 months later it was legally mine.
The watch is a ref 500 from 1952 or 1953, a wristwatch without waterproofing and not really suitable for a wild kid, so my father bought it (I spent the money on a beatiful Märklin locomotive) and he had it serviced at a master watchmaker he knew. It was his daily watch for a number of years.
When I left high school my father gave it back to me as a graduation gift (it had again been serviced by the watchmaker). Since then it has been my daily wearer (but I have a much simpler mechanical watch as my water watch/beater) and after 35 years it was really time for a major overhaul. I left it with one of the IWC agents i Stockholm with the wish that it should go to Schaffhausen for a complete overhaul. "Well, they said, we have competent watchmakers, it will be their decision". The watch was quite soon on it's way to Schaffhausen.
The service took almost a year and was quite expensive, but when it finally came back it looked fantastic. The movement had been serviced, the case had been polished and the dial had been restored. Restored, not replaced, I could tell becuase there had been an ugly scratch by the 9 (my fault, I had been clumsy when opening the case for adjustment of the rate). Under magnification you can see that there has been a scratch, but it has been expertly filled and painted over. Or what it is that you do. I like that, since the watch still has the original dial.
That was more than ten years ago and the movement has been serviced since then, but a new total refurbishment will need to be done eventually. But either you use the watch and love it, then it will be scratched and damaged, or you leave it in the safe and how much fun is that?
The movement is a cal 852 from 1952. One of the best there is.
When I started to be internet-savvy I soon found the IWC collector's forum, and I have been a member since 2002, but a not very active poster, only checking for new posts every day.
Forgive me for not attaching a picture today, I am at the summer house in the Stockholm archipelago and the watch is in the safe at home in Stockholm. Too much water around to use it here... I will post a picture next time I am in Stockholm.
My only problem is that I wonder if I qualify as a member of the COLLECTOR's forum, I only own one other IWC, a cal 52 pocket watch. But I do definitly qualify as a member of the IWC LOVER's forum, I hope others do too.
Oh, by the way, my favourite model is hard, but probably the original Aquatimer ref 812. But there are so many others, both former and current models. The Portugeiser, the Ingenieurs the (too many to mention).
And for other brands, there is none that gets close except maybe for the brand that uses the co-axial escapement. That is a great feat of horological engineering.
I hope you enjoyed my longwinded story, please contribute yours!
Henrik
