NOSTALGY FOR .........IWC POCKET WATCHES.

Educational, enjoyable- a fine read.

I keep learning....

Nelson

Excellent article, interesting and one of the many reasons we spend time on this forum. Adrian and group thank you for your fine contributions.

Regards,
Kevin

Hi Antonio,
Not all IWC PW's labeled as chronometer had gold cases. But most of them had, simply as these watches were the finest products of the brand. Your question : why make such precise watches is a question of all times. If a customer wants to buy an expensive watch, it should be an extraordinary precise timepiece admired by the family, friends and business relations of the owner.(nothing has changed(=:) As there is now a struggle for business figures, this was not different a century ago. The top brands, among them : Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, Longines, Omega, Ulysse Nardin and of course IWC used their "Observatory rated pocket watches " as an advertising tool to show off how fine these timepieces performed. These precise watches were delivered to the Observatories without a case or crystal. Just the movement and the winding crown. And of course the best pieces were not sold. Unknown perhaps to many potential customers was that every of the mentioned manufacturers could produce movements that could gain between 85 and 92 "marks" out of 100 marks.
IWC already early did its own testing as explained previously in this thread. Practically speaking, the IWC in-house chronometer tests awarded to its PW's was for the average customer probably the same as a Kew A certificate. Do you think that an average customer could see the difference between a watch that is accurate within a second per 24 hours or within 1,5 seconds? Having this logical distinction in mind, IWC decided to do business by selling watches with an in-house chronometer certificate. But IWC was smart enough to realise that the Obsevatories needed to test "some" watches. And so they did...
This watch made for Beyer ,Zürich is an IWC with in-house chronometer test. It has a blackened case and it belongs to one of the team members.
Kind regards,
Adrian,
(alwaysiwc).

Hi Adrian et al,
We now have the why. Many thanks for this, and all the previous, threads.
BTW, serendipitously, there is IWC Chronometre with cal 52, currently f/s at a popular auction site, attracting a lot of attention.

Hi Antonio,
Here a "different" IWC chronometer, clearly showing its successful journey to Neuchâtel and back..
Kind regards,
Adrian,
(alwaysiwc).

Adrian and the team - thank you very much for your most enlightening contributions. Treasured and fun to read - great stuff.

D.

Hello,
I am a newbie here and appreciate all the information.
According to the content about IWC PW chronometer, which I have read here, My Cal 67 PW seems to be quite a mutation. Its dial has a chronometre mark.
Here it is! Sorry for the ugly images by cell phone.

Absolutely one fine learning curve here Adrian!

Now, the search begins....we needs one of "those" in the collection :~)

Best regards
Mark