IWC Cal 71 "Fishtail" Deck Watch of the Royal Navy found at auction

The Cal.71 was built in 1917 and used by the Admiralty well after the second world war. It was the Mod who ordered that these watches were to be recased, with the movement number repeated on the inside case-back.
The watches very rarely turn up at auction, and I am pleased and relieved that I could get one for my collection, after years of searching.
These are considered the holy grail of deck watches, and are highly collectible (and priced) not only to the IWC collectors!
How many of these Calibers were made also remains a mystery, as it is said 600 were produced in 1917, but the IWC App "Date Your IWC" says 1917 676,301 - 676,600 Lép. c. 71 - 19lig. H 6 ...which would be 300!
How many of these survived till this day...not more then a handfull!

I know I`m not the first here with one of these, Tony (Antonio) was my guide and mentor on this one...Since I saw his, I had to have one, thank god the search is over and I can get back to daily business again ;-)

Here for your pleasure the pictures of a movement that should be framed in the Louvre ;)

Jimmy

Congratulations on this extreme rare acquisition, Jimmy.

An very dedicated collector has found his goal, just fantastic.

Would be great to see it live :-)

Enjoy your new find.

Beste Grüße

Heiko

Congratulations Jimmy,
That is sure a thing of exceptional beauty and rarity.
What a fantastic find. Well done!!

Congratulations on the acquisition of a very rare IWC, arguably with the most beautiful movement IWC ever made. It will fit perfectly in your wonderful collection of military watches.

Thanks to Antonio and Jimmy these rare IWC timepieces have been shown and documented here on the Forum.
Unknown to most collectors is that Thomas Koenig and Karsten Frässdorf have executed extensive research on all the caliber71/72 IWC pocket watches, including the deck watches used by the Royal Navy.
There work was summarised in an article : "IWC International Watch Co.Calibre 71/72. A Precision Watch and its "Relatives within the IWC Family".
This article is in my view of the same magnitude and importance for collectors as the classic article on the Mark 11 written by T.Koenig and co-workers and which is known by many collectors.
The cal.71/72 article has been published in "Klassik Uhren",3/2002.
Kind regards,
Adrian,
(alwaysiwc).

Wow - what a spectacular find, congratulations. It look s absolutely beautiful!

Jimmy, absolutely superb find and very pleased for you that you have added it to your collection. My collection does not include a fishtail as yet - but I'm trying hard to realise my "holy grail" when it comes to pocket watches - and with a whole lot of help and patience of fellow collector assisting me I trust to sometime soon reach this Grail.

Your watch as you suggest is a beauty and yes it should be on display - thanks for sharing.

You deserve to add this beauty to your collection- maybe it is the highlight!
Very few must still exist, and I'm also happy to see your's have the same numbers still matching.

Nelson

Just two letters, Jimmy.........BZ Well Done!
Go with Heiko, would be great to see it live. :-)
Congratulations
Hajo

Hajo, you know where I live, and I know where Heiko lives, you are both more than welcome for a fondle (of the watch of course) and Coffee!

See you both soon !

Jimmy

May I go as well? ;-)

Antonio, don't know whether there is a direct flight from Lisbon to Hanover but Lisbon - Cologne exists and Cologne is on the route from Aachen to Hanover....so it is just up to you. ;-)

Congratulations. A magnificent piece. As posted on another thread, a certain candidate for the top 10 most desirable vintage watches.

Hello Jimmy, i think you are one of the experts, so this one is up for auction if you keep track of the movement numbers. Unfortunately it is a marriage but do you think the movement is correct ??
Your text to link here...

Hi Klonk,
The movement is a correct cal. 71 from 1919 that has been converted to central second as requested by the Royal Navy. The movement nr. starts with 676... which is also correct. More than 10 years ago Thomas Koenig has pointed out that the range of movement numbers used for the Royal Navy published by Toelke and King is not correct. Searching the IWC archives he has found that there were made more deck watches than the 105 consecutive numbered watches ( 676361-676465). By the way, there were also cal. 71/72 watches built by IWC in 1904. These series start with movement nrs. 305... and were all sold. So from 1904 it is not expected to find a Deck Watch with a movement nr. 305...
Kind regards,
Adrian,
(alwaysiwc)

Thank yoou so much for your help Adrian.
So it is also correct these movements from the 1917 production did not have an IWC tekst or logo probus scafusia stamped in them ?

edit, i think i now see the probus scafusia on th low right edge next to the winding ratchet ?

Congratulations Jimmy and, though I'm not a pw expert at all, the beauty and history of this watch makes it extra extra special! I'm also very happy it ends up at a renown collector like you!

Best regards,

Bob

whoa. congratulations, what a find!

enjoy it in good health!

best,
thang

Hi Adrian!
I think you are right. In my collection there is a deck watch numbered 676515, another civilian with 305010 and a hunter 305389. I think there are a lot of "fishtails" in our community, perhaps we can list it?!

H.G.A.

Hello Hans-Georg,
Clepsydra and Jimmy Rosier posted on the forum a list of the military ones.
The civilian ones is a different chapter. The regular posting collectors do not posess the majority of the civilian cal. 71/72.
Those are in the hands of a few and I know of several who are reluctant to post serial numbers of their precious "fih tails".
That may be regrettable but it is also understandable.
Kind regards,
Adrian,
(alwaysiwc).