IWC: Aesthetics combined with trustworthiness?

I am writing this in order to express my feelings after the experience with the two IWCs I own.

My first contact with the company was around 2001, having owned until that time an Omega Seamaster
I had since my teenage years. I was in pursuit, of a more discrete timepiece that would not seek so loud for recognition and would express a more delicate taste in watches.

Coming in contact with the IWC, I was amazed by their simple, robust, almost "industrial functionality" design. The quality they expressed without being loud. In parallel the amazing work of Mr. Michael Friedberg in the forum attributed to my feeling of belonging in a small exclusive club, of watch connoisseurs.

During an internship in Switzerland, I used to walk in Bahnhoffstrasse and stare at the shops with the vintage IWCs with my mouth open. My favorite models were the Inge with the 8521 and 8541 calibers. The 8521 had the more beautiful hands, while the 8541 the more accurate motor. I used to read many times the article of our highly appreciated moderator about the vintage market of IWCs that was in the site around that time. Although my finance did not allow me to buy one, at a normal price I kept dreaming of it and when i found a "chance" i made my first purchase through Ebay, ever. A supposed Inge 8541 from Naples came up to be a marriage when it was mailed in Schaffhausen for a receipt from the archives. That was probably my greatest lesson that patience rewards. Despite the huge disappointment and after the recommendation of the respected Mr Martijn (mb 75), I chose to pay for an overhaul and remove the sacred Ingenieur logo from the dial. After having the watch one year, one day pulling the crown to adjust the time, the crown came out of the case. Service fixed the problem within a week and it was covered from the guarantee, accuracy was unexpectedly good for a forty year old caliber.

The years went by, I used to enter the forum and read Watch International with IWC still being the brand that fitted my special taste. I once participated in a competition in Watch International and won some cufflinks, I never tried to get them, as in my mind the greatest thing I could get from IWC was watches and only them. As the popularity of the forum got higher, I had the sense the brand has lost some of its exclusivity, but did not complain as I don’t consider myself a purist. Nice things should be available to those who appreciate them. Some of the recent collections fitted my taste while some did not (by the way, the decision of Mr Kern to change "in last minute" the design of the 2009 Aquatimer collection, overpassing all these marketers and designers, confirmed in my opinion why he deserves the position he holds and knows the brand like no other).

To be continued

Part 2

It was spring of 2008 while I was working in a construction project in a hotel in Mykonos when I opened Watch International and got shocked. I had just seen the Vintage Collection and the Inge brought back all my memories. The purchase price was still too high for me, but used the calculator and came up with how much labor time I would sacrifice to make it mine. A few months later my girlfriend had been bored of me looking at the beauty of it so many times at the catalogue and said: "You should stop looking this watch at pictures and start looking it on your wrist". That time i realized that i had reached the furthest depths of addiction to an object. The following week i followed Oscar Wilde's advice: "the best way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it".

Owing the watch one and half year I felt great I have not come face to face with anyone else wearing it. Even though I was seeing others' more expensive pieces, I had a great sense of uniqueness. It was an engineered piece for an engineer who liked to discover how things work under the surface.

Two months ago the Inge had a drop from 1.5 meters. I saw a sign of the impact in the crown, but the watch was functioning normally so I kept wearing it. Two weeks ago, after a time adjustment (every thirty days, i reset the watch, to measure its accuracy) the crown could not screw in the case. Returning the watch to the jewelry shop i purchased it, I was contacted and got informed that the crown could not screw in because of an impact it had received. It would have to be replaced without being covered from the guarantee and the spare part would not arrive earlier than 5 of April. Although I expressed my concerns to the kind man of the service, I authorized them to proceed to the repair at my cost, but first expressed complains for the quality of a watch that should have been designed and manufactured according to 2008 technological standards. That a drop from this height should not be an issue anymore, that their supply chain are very slow if they need 1.5 months to provide a spare part from Switzerland- today they manufacture and bring cars from China in less time, that...

I sit and write now, having the humble Seamaster with the massive ETA caliber on my wrist and think that from 1997 until now it had tenths of drops and despite the scratches on the steel it keeps serving silently, without a request for a single a service (a family owned GMT-II, has needed two services, in the same period). I will count down the days until the beauty of my collection will return to my hands, but to tell the truth I have a sense of bitterness on the lips. Like the great Chinese porcelain vase got a tiny crack that only I, know of. Like the confidence of Solid Craftsmanship got a serious hit. Like the image of IWC has turned from a Porsche to a Maserati or an Aston Martin and pity because in technical issues, I trust so much the efficiency of the Germans!

Sarantis Champilos
Mechanical Engineer

Most watches don't survive such a drop

I dropped a watch twice in my life: my Omega Seamaster De Ville, and my IWC Saint Exupéry Chrono. Sad, but from about 1 meter or more something bad may happen. My Omega took a few weeks, my Saint Exupéry 8 weeks, both came back in perfect shape again. I too felt a bit annoyed, at the watch, but to be honnest, to myself too, to be so stupid as to drop it. But trust me, you will grow over it as soon as you have your watch back. These watches are really nice little machines, sturdy and fragile at the same time.

Kind regards,
Paul, wearing rose gold VC Portuguese

indeed, also, generalizing from this has no basis

Since Mr. Champilos needs to inform us that he is a mechanical engineer, with respect he should know that generalizing from one drop, and comparing it to other anecdotal drops of us with one other watch, makes no sense.

There is clearly an insufficient sample, and also from a scientific perspective not all variables are constant. There are drops and there are drops --much depends on the angle, the surfaces, etc.

I recall a discussion years ago, when someone complained that his IWC's rotor became loose when he really hit a tennis ball hard, but his Rolex never did. A whole group of people then wrote about problems with their Rolexes in high velocity-impact situations, including not only tennis but golf. To me, all this proves nothing: scientific testing does.

I also will say that I regret that Mr. Champilos took one incident of user abuse --a drop-- and then implied that there is an issue of "trustworthiness". Despite very articulate prose, I consider that as crossing a line. But I will tell him to search prior posts, wherein I described how my IWC tourbillon survived a 3 or 4 foot drop to a stone floor. I was greatly relieved but that also proves nothing other than good luck.

Michael

Several years ago on a tour of the Lange factory..

a collector (not me) had the chance to have his watch serviced while on tour. At the end he obtained his repaired watch and while placing it on his wrist dropped it on the hard tile floor...about 3 feet. Well, lets just say the watch went into serious service for a period of time. What does this prove. Nothing, except don't drop your watch.

I'd like a Porsche that turns into an Aston Martin

According the physics laws...

if I remember correctly how to convert potential energy into kinetic energy, your watch reached the speed of 19.5 km/hour when it reached the ground and achieved the speed of 0 km/hour within less than a split second.

I can guarantee that if your body would experience the same deceleration, e.g. car accident, or falling with a bycicle or others..., there would be a lot of damage done

Thus, the fact that your watch remained ticking is already a small miracle.

Ciao, Rob.

1 (nt)

A personal feeling is far from brand evaluation

First of all, I should say I felt like being in a court in Chicago against IWC and our moderator was the defence against me. That was far from my initial plan. My reference to persons was with the title of “Mr” not because of an attempt to be formal and keep distances, but to express my respect.

I used my studies not to add value to my post as an expert in quality evaluations, but to justify the reason I chose the specific model.

After all, terms like generalizing and anecdotal although accepted, do not comply with my intentions. As stated in my first sentence, I just wanted to express my feelings and not to attempt a scientific evaluation of the brand. I am confident to say, that even a detailed comparison of some brands with an evaluation sample of 100 pieces from each brand, taking into account tenths of parameters for a period of one year would not guarantee a safe conclusion that brand X is better than Y or worse than Z.

I would like to thank you all for your replies. The stories you mentioned regarding IWC, Lange, Omega, Rolex (in alphabetical order) calmed my feelings. Additionally I cannot doubt that an Aston would be a purchase following a Porsche, or the Gs of acceleration the crown had to stand during the milliseconds of the crash. But through your posts I can face easier the current situation.

Best regards

Sarantis

The price of heavy watches!

Indeed it is disturbing that a watch of such quality should not survive a fall from such a height. Again I can only speak from my own experience, but its seems that the heaviness of modern watches, with their enourmous cases and wristbands, makes them more sensitive to such falls onto hard surfaces. I have seen many a Rolex with a shattered glass from a single fall! Indeed I believe the designs of IWC are superior in this respect, but the massive weight of the cases drives the impact point nonethess. I also own a vintage IWC from the 1960's. It is not even waterresistant, but I has survived literally "dozens" of falls without a problem. Either the leather band cushions the fall, or simply it hits with a much "lesser" force than modern watches.

not 100% sure I agree...

I respect your opinion, but I was told by a prominent person in the industry (not related to IWC) that heavy watches absorb shock better, all other things being equal.

I have not seen any empirical data --one way or the other-- confirming nor refuting this, but until I do I would tend to rely on expert opinions. That's just me personally.

Regards,
Michael