No rain whatsoever - we all have different reasons for the choices we make, and we all like different watches for varied reasons.
As a matter of fact, to me, part of what makes this community so great is that we share our reasons and thoughts - and they are all good whether they agree or disagree with your own.
Sometimes you guys point out aspects of a watch I had not even thought of - and I learn something new, and maybe it changes my mind or makes me appreciate something even more :-) In short - it is all good!!
Its a long story. But, in short, Tony and I have a friendly disagreement over purely white dials (I like them, he does not) and Faraday cages (we both like them, but I will forego the cage if I like the design of the watch despite the cage's absence). We have some fun with our diverging views.
This is something I am debating with myself. Amongst my hobbies I am a Amateur Radio Operator (yeh, one of those radio nerds as my wife says) and like the idea of the pilot watches with the soft iron inner case though do also like some of the other designs that IWC sells. I wonder if any body has personal experience with RF fields and mechanical watches? Am I looking into this too deep?
Skule, a very rare event; buying two such special watches at the same time, impressive! Must be a very special feeling opening the cases and look at those beauties. Congrats!!
Hi Skule Congratulations to these new watches. I just read your report, while enjoying a cappuccino. I must say, the engineer is beautiful! You have a collection of very great pieces. Greetings to Norway, Daniel
Hi Paul, I have no idea of the strength of the magnetic field generated by your radio equipment, so I can't help you there.
Pilot/Navigator watches from the 1040s to the 1070s needed to be very accurate because they were used for astro-navigation, and a +/-2 second deviation over 5/6 hours was unacceptable. It was, therefore, essential they be antimagnetic because of the strong magnetic fields generated by the radio navigation and communication equipment, radars, etc. that would negatively affect accuracy. I addition to being antimagnetic they needed to have other characteristics, which I am not going to enumerate here.
Cockpit crews of today's modern airliners or military airplanes, do not really need a wristwatch to navigate, and most pilots I know, military and civilian, use watches with quartz movements. They are cheap, and very accurate. None of my pilot friends still active would consider spending the money an IWC would cost, which would be less accurate than a $100 quartz watch.
The pilot watches IWC is making today, however, are not for today's pilots. Actually they are not even for pilots. IWC is selling an illusion. However, since IWC is emulating the pilot watch of a bygone era, it ought to be true to the concept. Shiny and Pretty are not requirement for an old fashion pilot watch.
Thank you for your input. I am merely reminiscing my days working on military aircraft and was wishing to revisit my past in some way. I was after a watch that I could wear that would be both attractive and functional and remind of those times repairing aircraft avionics systems and equipment.
The HF RF environments I operate in, in some cases exceeds those of aircraft I have worked on though not in the uwave area. The Attack radar on a F1-11 is a very powerful beast in deed, with all that energy fed into a directional antenna. My uwave endeavours are purely low power though I would never stand in front of a dish.
Thank you for your input you have answered my question. I would not like to have purchased a portuguese automatic only to have it experiencing detrimental effects due to my hobby. So it looks like a pilot watch for every day use and hobbies and if the my wife allows something pretty for the weekend. Possible a gold pilot ticks both boxes. Thank you.
On february the 24th some of my watches were stolen during a burglary. I would like to inform you on type and case number so you can mark them as stolen in your system.
It concerns the following watches:
Men's watch IWC Collectors' Forum Ingenieur,limited edition 36/100, steel case and bracelet, automatic, casenumber 3122621,personal engraving in caseback; Ties Grasdijk, 36/100
