Staring into oblivion

Hi All,

I made a trip to the AD over the weekend to have a look at what they had available (I am starting to get the itch again after not having acquired a new IWC for some months now!) and also far an ulterior motive - to see if there was any way I could get my hands on one of those great flight jackets - unfortunately Hans, my usual dealer / peddler / pusher of all drugs IWC was not in on the day so my chances dropped dramatically.

To my surprise, they had a Volvo Racing Yacht Club in stock (we dont see many of the more limited runs in Australia so this was a bonus) so I thought I would take a look and try it on.

What a great time piece, it feels great on the wrist, the titanium gives it a completely different look and it weighs so little, the movement is a wonder to look at through the back, like the AT's you can dress it up and down but for me, the best thing about this watch that differentiates it from its sibling and the rest of the IWC range is the dial - what a cracker!

For those who dont know, the dial on the Volva Racing version of the Portuguese Yacht Club is carbon fibre. The way the fibre is laid, it has a certain depth to it whereby you cant seem to see the top of it nor the bottom of it, it is kind of like looking at a hologram, or staring into space. You can move the watch a little to one side or the other and get a whole new perspective on it. Whilst I can spend hours looking at the movement in my 5001, I think I could get lost in the dial on the Yacht Club. Dont get me wrong, I think the Ardoise dials on the mostly white gold variants out there is simply stunning, but they seem one dimensional when compared to the carbon fibre dial.

Looking at the carbon fibre dial is look getting lost in a deep black ocean with no hint of the surface or the bottom in sight, you simply get immersed in it.

I dont believe any photos could do this dial justice so I am not going to post any here - if you want to get lost in that deep black ocean, you will need to visit your local AD or friend who owns one .

Fortunately or unfortunately, I had not budgeted on such an acquisition on the day so walked out of the AD empty handed, but the image of the dial is stil firmly lodged in my mind and I am scared that I could slip away from reality thinking about it :)

Cheers,

Ben

Hi Ben,

So you are already getting an itch after only a few months since your last acquisition, LOL?????!!!!!!!!!!

The Volvo Ocean Portuguese is special. It just struck me that IWC has some real 'sleeper' models out there and the Volvo model is one of them.

The other one for me is the DaVinci Ti/Ceramic, truly a marvel to see all the details on this watch!!!!!!!!

Hi Nad,

It has been over six months since I bought my last IWC - an 1962 666AD Ingenieur, and almost a year since I purchased my last new IWC - the 3568 Aquatimer which I picked up late last year, so I think something to add to the collection is more than overdue, wouldn't you agree? :)

At this very moment, I was meant to be sitting on a beach in Spain, working on my tan, sipping a drink, admiring my watch and doing not much else for a bit over a week and then heading of to Scotlan to do a 2 week tour of the scotch distilleries. Unfortunately I had a key staff member leave a few weeks back and could not replace them on short notice and then go on holidays and still have happy clients so I had to cancel the trip I have been planning for almost a year now (my partner has gone and she is sitting on the beach in spain, working on her tan . . . . .) .

The cancellation of my holiday, coupled with the "extended" period since last acquiring a new IWC and my feel to reward myself for my hard work means that I honestly think I can reward myself with a new IWC. Considering the money I have saved by not going on holiday could probably buy a new watch, I figure if I cant holiday, I might as well treat myself another way, the only issue is, which watch . . .

I had almost forgotten the Da Vinci Ceramic - I have admired it since it was released a couple of years ago. With the Aquatimer and Top Gun 3799 in the collection, I have watch for each day fo the weekend so am looking to beef up the work wear watch and looking for something a little more formal. Whilst I fell in love with the Volvo, I dont think I would be buying one at present but the Da Vinci would fit the bill quite nicely.

I have been eyeing off Kurt Klaus Da Vinci of late which unfortunately is not produced anymore but there are still a few floating around out there including some as new second hand ones. I really want to add a Perpetual to the collection and already have a Portuguese so whilst the 5023 in white gold with ardoise dial is high on my list, I feel that I would have too much of an aesthetic overlap with the 5001 (It was my first IWC so wont be selling it to make room for anything) and I only have round watches at present so the Da Vinci will really broaden the collection. The question is, do I go with the gorgeous and very different ceramic Da Vinci (your photos make it very tempting) which I can get new from the AD or a Kurt Klaus Perpetual . . . You see very few Da Vinci's out in the wild and both the Kurt Klaus and Ceramic even less so.

Thanks for clouding the decision even more with your post of the ceramic Da Vinci :)