IWC AS A GIFT FROM AN AMBASSADOR (NO WARRANTY OR OWNERSHIP CARD)

I received my IWC 371806 as a gift from a good friend, who is/was an
Ambassador for the brand, and has many IWC's of his own....I'm super jealous.
As a pilot, I of course only looked at one type of watch when I was told to
just pick out which one I wanted, and he would make it happen as a gift for
being his flight instructor. I love my IWC, and want to keep it as an
heirloom for my son and generations to come. One drawback....no cards were
provided as receiving this as a gift. I assume IWC comped this person, and I
would love to get paid in IWC's....can you say Top Gun Perpetual? (And yes,
he has one of those too) Is my watch severly devalued without the IWC card?
I have the box and everything else, but no proof of ownership. Is this
something that can be resolved, or does my watch forever really belong to Dr
Jack from LOST? :) Any info from the forum would be greatly appreciated. I
am about to send it to Fort Worth for a servicing, and it needs it bad. Had
no idea the amount of gunk that can get inside a closed case.

PS...I am STILL looking for a stainless bracelet that will fit my watch. I
added the alligator bracelet a few years ago, but my one regret is allowing
the Concierge in Beverly Hills to tell me what size I needed. When I say I
need a LARGE, don't question it. 330.00 later, and I can barely get it to the
second hole on the band. I wish I would have been more forceful in telling
him what I WANTED.

I confess I am a bit confused. You say, "I love my IWC, and want to keep it as
an
heirloom for my son and generations to come." Then you ask, "Is my watch
severly devalued without the IWC card?"

To answer your question, no.

At this moment in history, the value of your well-loved watch is not "severely
devalued" without the IWC card. Although a collector may pay a premium for an
example with the card (or choose the one with the card over yours), the
premium is not that much. Could that change in a decade or three? Perhaps.

I am fairly certain that IWC will not re-issue a card to you. They might be
able to verify authenticity and offer some information about its original sale
and date. But you would need to send the watch to IWC, pay for the
verification, and wait several weeks. Perhaps request it when you send it in
for service? Hopefully you do not discover that it was the property of IWC and
needs to be returned! I'm kidding of course.

The good news is, since you're not planning to sell it, the watch doesn't lose
any value at all!

You chose a lovely example. I hope you and your descendants enjoy it for a
long time!

I do appreciate your comment, and it does make sense that, since I have no
intention of ever selling it, that the value is really a moot point. My
thought is that it is kind of like buying a piece of art. Without some form
of verification, the authenticity would be in question. I see a lot of posts
about verifying a watch, or validating a s/n, etc, so I would like to avoid
any questions like that in the future. Also, since mine was a gift through a
rather a unique path, I kinda feel like I'm not as worthy of being in a forum
or online community like this without having the same docs and information as
the others. I would love to own several, and wish I had thought about my
choice more before selecting the Double Chronograph now that I know that a
stainless bracelet is impossible to find, and I HATE that buffalo strap that
was standard with the case. I really would like to have the stainless
bracelet so that it is more of an all weather, water resistant timepiece. I
appreciate the feedback, and look forward to learning more here.

There is a stainless steel bracelet that fits your watch. It's part number
IWA27012.

It will be considerably more expensive than your buffalo strap but, as an avid
lover of stainless steel bracelets, I can tell you that it's worth every
penny.

Firstly, what a fantastic piece and story to go with it. That alone should
increase it's value to you regardless of complete documentation or not. A
piece worthy of handing down through the generations. Congratultions on the
acquisition and wear it in good health.

As you are planning to send it out to IWC for service you can also ask if they
will provide a certificate of authenticity. Many watches passed down, sold or
acquired that are missing the original paperwork have had this as a
supplement.

Lastly and most importantly...... Having full documentation on a watch doesn't
diminish your value or worthiness to be part of a community, this community.
We are all here or found our way here through our passion for the brand or
through a quest for information about the brand or a specific watch. That's
what makes this community.

I believe I've been given this number before for the stainless bracelet, but I
always get told at some point that it will not, in fact, fit the 44mm case
because, apparently that 1mm radius difference is enough to notice or keep the
bracelet from securing to the lugs. Do you know if this is the case or not?
I've heard they are around 1600.00 USD, so not something I want to get
wrong....lol.

Thank you for the feedback. I am sending it to Richemont in Fort Worth this
week, and am excited to get it back. It started losing time about a year ago,
and the inside is definitely dirty, and in need of some IWC TLC. I will see
if they can provde the cert you mentioned. Appreciate it!

Checked out the reference you provided. It's the mesh styly with the straight
ends. I am looking for the other Spitfire style stainless with the curved
ends that match the case. Not that I don't like the mesh.....but I just don't
like the mesh. I would like to have the larger braided style that is iconic
IWC.

Finally found one that supposedly will work, and the pic shows my case with
the bracelet attached. Is exactly what I am looking for. Reference is
IWA03301. Anyone familiar enough with this to
confirm?

As Clem and the others have said, beautiful Spitfire Doppel!!

For the correct bracelet - email IWC concierge with your reference number
which I believe is IW371806 and ask them for the corresponding bracelet.

concierge-usa@iwc.com

This is what I did when I wanted to order a bracelet for my Aquatimer Cousteau

Of course you can write to the concierge and ask the question, as Mark
proposed.

However, I am 100 % sure that IWA27012 is the original Pilot-style bracelet
that you are looking for and the one you have shown above. I guess you did a
Google search with the term "IWA27012" and found some information about a mesh
bracelet? This is wrong information, aka "fake news". IWA27012 is the bracelet
you are looking for, as I said 100 % sure.

Dylan,

this bracelet will match, because the picture you've found there on the web
was taken by me of my watch on 24.01.2012 when I owned the watch.

I sold it to get another IWC beauty but always appreciated it. It's an awesome
watch. Unfortunately I don't know the referenct number of that bracelet but it
was supplied with the Pilot's chrono IW371704 in the 42 mm case.

Even though your watch bears a 44 mm case that bracelet fits.

Identical steel bracelet here on all pictures.

All were my watches then.

That's awesome Tilo

Amazing to get a revisit from the past like that :o)