This may be of interest to owners (and would-be owners) of IWC Ocean 2000 (and presumably Ocean 500) watches.
I got my 3529 back from Schaffhausen following service and refurbishment and it looked great – that was until I noticed that the 12 o'clock dial marker (a luminous triangle) did not have the customary vertical split in it. If you look closely you will see that this split is created by the application of a very narrow strip of some black material down the centre of the triangle.
According to IWC’s Customer Services, in Schaffhausen, the replacement dial was made using superluminova on the hour markers, and the black strip that would have created the split in the triangle will not adhere to this material. IWC advised me that they are working with suppliers to try and find a solution to this problem, but have, to date, not been successful.
Unfortunately, I was not advised of this when presented with the proposed schedule of work and quote.
Although the lack of split in the triangle is purely cosmetic, it does alter the appearance of the watch and so may not be popular with owners/collectors.
This may not be an issue for those models where the dials have tritium based markers and which are distinguished by having either a red "3H" in a red circle or "T Swiss Made T" at the bottom of the dial, as owners are less likely to agree to these dials being replaced.
Those dials without any such distinguishing features (either because of the model or the date of production) are likely to already have luminova markers and so replacing the dial would not compromise the integrity of the original design, or materials, but would simply "freshen up" the watch – as long as the triangle is of the correct appearance. I asked for my original dial to be refitted, which was possible because, apparently, IWC keep the original for 6 months, just in case (shame they don't do the same with bezels, though - another story for another day).
If you are the owner of such a watch and are thinking about having it refurbished, you might want to consider asking IWC to not change the dial, unless you will be happy with the different triangle.
So, if you see an Ocean where the 12 o'clock dial marker is a solid triangle, it does not mean that it is not a genuine IWC dial, it might just mean that the dial has recently been replaced.
