IWC Yacht Club

My father and I both collect vintage watches and have roughly 40 pieces between us, including Rolex, Omega, Heuer, Zenith, Universal Geneve and just one IWC. My father particularly admired the IWC, but I was naturally very happy when he called me the other day and said he wanted me to have it.

We have always kept this watch on a Gay Frères IWC bracelet, but with my tiny wrists we didn't want to remove any links, so we have packaged that away and put on a Milanese bracelet I had here, which has actually come off a Meister Singer, but I think it looks rather good.

We had a somewhat expensive and unexpected repair bill on this one shortly after purchase a few years ago that made us a bit wary, but it seems a shame to keep it restricted to a box, so I shall wear it more often if possible. My only concern is spare parts, however it keeps exemplary time at -2 seconds a day and it's a lovely to wear.

EDIT: I'm frequently on the Omega forums, but I'd like to learn more about IWC.

Hello there, and yes, I know you from the other place.
You have come to the right place to learn about IWC. The depth of knowledge here is incredible.

That is a lovely Yacht Club, particularly nice with the blue dial.

Maybe one day you will decide to have the Gay Freres bracelet sized by a watchmaker and wear the two together again.

Welcome to the Forum

Thanks Mark, it does look good on the Gay Frères without a doubt. Recently I picked up a bracelet for an Omega De Ville Prestige that I had resized by a jeweller who took out the links but I've using that as a daily wearer until now.

I've heard various people sing the praises of the 8541 and I wondered if anybody can offer an objective view on how it compares to the best automatic Omega movements from that time. The one that springs to mind is the Cal 564 on my 1966 Omega Constellation.

I Concur that Cal 564 is one of the finest Omega movements of the era. A robust and reliable chronometer grade gem. The quickset date function, by clicking the crown is unique.

IWC Cal 8541 is so admired that one of my esteemed colleagues uses that moniker as his Forum Name. It is extremely robust, very accurate and is very finely engineered. On top of this, it has the Albert Pellaton designed winding system that is extremely efficient and a joy to watch.

These are some of the reasons that 8541 is revered in IWC circles.

It may be an exaggeration, but I've heard it suggested the 8541 is the best automatic movement ever made by IWC or perhaps any watchmaker.

About a year ago I was in touch with a very renowned watchmaker of some 45 years experience, having sent him a picture of my collection in an email. He telephoned and we had a very pleasant conversation, lasting about an hour. Although he was complementary about the Speedmaster, Constellations and the Heuer tripledate, it was clear the one he really admired was the Yacht Club, describing it as a "very underrated watch". Perhaps he was a tad biased, because he had one himself!

On a side note, I wonder if it's possible to have email notifications when a reply is posted. I only know there is an answer if I deliberately visit the forum and check.

Just superbe! An awesome watch, congratulations!

Thanks Tilo. I've been wearing it now since last weekend and it's really starting to grow on me. This might just have the edge on any Rolex or Omega in my collection from that era.