Information on Great Great(?) Grandfather's damaged watch

Sadly this watch was dropped and damaged. I am not sure of the age (there is a
date there).

The watch is damaged - all damage occured when it was dropped once 10 years
ago.. Glass gone and seconds hand gone. Plus a chip inside as you can see.

Any idea on age, how much to repair, where to repair? I have next to no
information on this watch other than which side of the family it comes from
and the family would have been in Spain at the time.
Hard for me to date/place because the initials on the back could be either my
Great
Grandtaher (would have been 12 in 1906 - perhaps a present?) or Great Great
Grandfather - they have the same name - so same initials. Amazingly, the watch
still works fine.

Please tell us the movement and case numbers so we can help.

Main number: 384874

Then something tiny, barely legible - scratched into the corner upsidedown*:

'' W C 13136

??

17236?? S ''

On the other side:

' Grand Prix Milan 1906 '

Inside on the movement I can't quite make it outLooks like348874**.

*

**

The movement number, 384874, gives some clues as shown in the Date Your IWC
app.

The scratched numbers are likely make by a watchmaker when the PW was being
serviced. Generallly, it's initials plus some other date to date the day of
service.

Hi Reaper,

the movement of your watch is a calibre 52 H6 from 1905 that matches also with
the case egraving of "Grand prix 1906 ....". The closeup shows that moisture
has penetrated into case and movement and some signs of rust on the steel
parts have occured. The rust is really a problem that you should fix as soon
as possible. I would highly recomend that a gifted watchmaker should look
after the movement and take care that the corrosion is stopped. An overall
restoration of the watch is shurely possible but the dail is broken and most
probably need to be replaced. The service in Schaffhausen would shurely be
able to fix it but it will be very costly. Is the case 14k or 18 k gold?. The
missing glass and second hand can easily be replaced.

br

Cromagnonman

Thanks for all the information CROMAGNONMAN - very
useful.

The case is 18k Gold. What do you think I should do? Is there any point
replacing the glass and second hand seeing as the face has a part missing from
it? If I did chose to do this and leave the missing piece of the face, would
Schaffhausen do it at a reasonable price or should I go somewhere else? If so
where? Would someone other than Schaffhausen even be able to source
the correct second hand? What about cleaning the rust as a one off? Sounds
like that should be a priority.

Finally replacing the face - if that is the only option for a repair to the
face, does indeed sound costly. I am guessing a lot of money.

What are your thoughts on my next steps? I am based in London, UK.

If you live in London, you should be able to find several watchmakers that can
give you an informed evaluation of repair costs for your watch.

From that you can make a valuation of what you think should be repaired.

Nice piece and good luck.

I wish it was that easy. Sadly, in London at least - getting a straight answer
from any of the main Swiss watch stores is pretty rare. I went to 5 seperate
stores around Bond Street, Burlington Arcade and Oxford Street. All refused to
even open the watch because they said they would be liable for any subsequent
damage. One or two stores stated how it works is that they send the watch off
to one of their specialists and I wait for a price/ evaluation weeks/months
later via email. I have learnt more about this watch on this forum than I did
at Watches of Switzerland when I went..

On a seperate note, the other watch I received from my father is a 1946
Longines wristwatch that I would not mind wearing from day to day (this one
was my great grandfather's - the son of the man
who owned the IWC PW above and the only other watch I have from my
forefathers). Same story. This watch is not damaged and works
well - I just wanted it serviced as my father told me he had last had it
serviced 35 years ago and it may be a good idea to get it serviced. All stores
refused to even open it to evaluate it even though many had on site watch
repair/service sections. The official Longines store in the end
offered to send it to switzerland for an 'evaluation' (which i agreed to) and
they will get back to me in 4 weeks about how much a service will cost. They
estimated at the store when I pushed them - £400 to £1500 due to the age...I
only know about the age and serials of this Longines watch because I managed
to find an ex watches of Switzerland employee who now works in a watch repair
shop in Piccadilly Underground station and he opened it for me... as you may
have gathered, I don't have £1000s laying about earmarked for watch services
at the moment.

This is why forums like this one are so vital for me and others I presume. An
honest response on here is worth far more than waiting weeks/months for a
single estimate from a single London based Swiss company.

That is very unfortunate. I live in Atlanta, Georgia and have at least 3
reputable watch repair shops that

can take on most any project and they do it in house and not ship it
elsewhere. A complete and thorough

service will be $3-500 depending on the complexity of the movement.

Sounds brilliant ^^

I suspect here the watch companies have agreed a procedure between them and
involves sending the watch off each time..

Years ago, I sent a watch very similar to yours to the IWC representative in
New York, and the estimate for factory repair was three times the value of the
watch. In London, I would search for a reputable watchmaker who repairs
different brands, and not take it to an IWC dealer, whose job is to sell
watches, not repair them. It's a fine movement but not especially rare, and
any well-trained technician could set it right.

As for the dial, I would not try to have it repaired. Rather, spend some time
watching eBay, and sooner or later you will find an appropriate replacement
for a reasonable price. I've seen good ones without chips or cracks for around
$150 US, sometimes less.

^^ Thank you for this information.