IWC CF1 / Ingenieur 3227-05 - caseback question

Happy Saturday everyone,

After many years of searching, I recently acquired one of my absolute grail watches, an Ingenieur 3227-05, also known as the Collectors Forum Edition 1. Having just received the watch today in the post everything seeemd to be in order, beautiful ardoise dial etc. But, the case back is the same as my old 3227-01, I had always thought the caseback had “Collectors Forum” engraved on it, along with the  edition number (out of 100) and, where first requested, the name of the first buyer. But mine looks exactly the same as a regular 3227-01. The warranty card looks legitimate however, it states number 46/100, 3227-05 and has matching serial numbers.  

What do you guys think, should I be concerned?

Best wishes,
Doug

(apologies for the photo quality!)

Hi Doug
To the best of knowledge the caseback of your Ingenieur 3227 is not from a CFI. 
Having said that, I recall that there was one CFI that was delivered without having the owner's name in the caseback, but I do not recall the collector's name or if it was CFI 46/100. 
In any event, in the absence of the collector's name the caseback should have engraved COLLECTORS' FORUM and LIMITED EDITION 2005 and 46/100.
What is the case number?  Assuming the cases of the CFIs are sequential, we may be able of determining if it falls with the 100 CFI produced.  My CFI is 90/100 and has case number 3105271.

Clypsydra is correct.  Yours is not the correct case back for the CFI.  There was one without an engraved name, but I believe someone on the Forum now owns it.  #46 was orignanlly delieverd to a German, Ralph Klein, whose name and number should be on the caseback.

Here is what an engraved on looks like.  

It appears the CFI case numbers are not sequential, so no conclusion can be reached there. There is, however, the possibility that the original owner of CFI 46/100, or the dealer, had the engraving removed from the caseback.  Why anybody thought that was a good idea is another matter.
I recall that one member of this forum acquired a CFI on the secondary market and had the name of the original owner removed and his name engraved at Schaffhausen.
If your watch is legitimate, and the engravings have been removed by an overzealous collector or dealer, it may still be possible to bring it back to its former glory.
Hope is not a good plan, but it is the best you have at the moment.  

Hi Clepsydra and Bill,

Thanks again for your help and kind comments, really appreciated. The watch came with the IWC paperwork shown in the picture from a service back in 2012. The paperwork seems to suggest it is a CF1 and matches the serial number. So, as Clepsydra suggests, maybe it was either ordered without the limited edition engraving on the case back or the owner replaced the caseback for some reason. If the caseback was replaced, do IWC issue the watch with a new serial number? Or do they engrave the original on a new case back? 

I’m really interested in solving this mystery. 

All best,
Doug

An incomplete list of the original owners of the Collectors' Forum Ingenieur can be found here 

The serial number remains the same if a case back is replaced by IWC Schaffhausen.

Greetings Martin 

PS: The special engravings were initially on this watch. But on request were removed.

Hi Martin,

That’s fantastic news. It intrigues me as to why someone wanted to remove the original engraving. Do you think it might be possible for IWC to restore it to its former splendor?

Best,
Doug

Hi Doug,

I assume the first owner did not want to see his name on a watch, he was selling for whatever reason.

Well, I do not think IWC will make new engravings. But I would ask a Boutique if they can be of help with the request in order to get an official
response.

Greetings Martin 

Hi All,

Quick update - I dropped off the CF1 at the IWC London Boutique this morning for it to be sent to Schaffhausen to see if they can restore the caseback to its original glory. Fingers crossed!

In the meantime I collected my Ingenieur Ken Nuguchi Limited Edition, after waiting 7 weeks for a full service. Four hours after collecting the watch and it’s not keeping time, it’s lost 30minutes! When I try manually winding the watch I can hear and feel a clicking noise inside the case. Pretty disappointing. 

Have emailed the boutique...