A great pickup on yesterdays thread Tonny, and indeed inspired by Adrian
original post on the Italian Railway pocket watches some years back, I set out
to secure one for myself.
I managed to find one and was happy to add it to my collection, despite the
fact that it had some damage to the unique RM Dial.
The First Italian Railway watch in my Collection - RM # 8892
As you can see the RM number of this watch is much higher than Tonny's and
cleary was part of a later 3rd order. In fact this watch was shipped out from
Schaffhausen on the 22nd of June 1901 to "Societe ital. Strade Ferrate Turin".
I had my watchmaker remove the broken and cracked enamel dial, and sent it off
to the USA for restoration. However, months went by and I heard nothing from
the Dial Restorer, and after a while also had no responce or answer to my
questions as to the status of the dial restoration.
The Second Italian Railway watch in my Collection - RM # 7036
Nothing was more frustrating to me than to have a restoration project
uncompleted, and then when this RM turned up for sale, I managed to secure it.
This watch was part of a second order placed by the Italians on Schaffhausen
for 200 RM Pocket Watches, and these were numbered RM #7012 through to RM
7211 and went out in 1899.
The 3rd Italian Railway watch in my Collection - RM # 9785
This watch was near perfect in all aspects with little wear on the engraving.
My desire to own a Collection worthy RM was met - and I was left with 2 and a
half RM watches, since one missed its dial.
Three Italians in a Row
_ BUT WAIT ... SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE ! _
My three RM's are;
- RM # 8892
- RM # 7036
- RM # 9785
See the last watch on the right above - that's RM # 9745 and not RM 7036
So, what gives here? Well in the interim with all this excitment on the forum,
and Adrian and other posting about pocket watches my good friend Giovanni
Ambrogio, an avid and keen contempory IWC watch Collector asked me to find him
a Pallweber Pocket Watch. He figured (correctly IMHO) that all serious IWC
Collectors should have at least one IWC Pocket Watch in there Collection, and
he decided this should be a Pallweber.
However, shortly after we started looking for a Pallweber for him he and his
wife came for dinner one night, and on seeing my three RM pocket Watches and
getting to understand that they were actually sold to Italy - Giovanni
imeadiatly asked me to stop searching for a Pallweber and to find him a RM
pocket watch.
A couple of weeks later one turned up on eBay, and I spoke to Giovanni telling
him that I thougt that the BUY IT NOW price was fair, and that as he was crazy
to actually own one (he was trying to get me to sell him one of mine), that he
should buy it. That evening and night I watched it on eBay and saw many
"watchers" and a significant amount of interest in it. These watches are
relatively rate and for sure it was going to go quickly. I phoned Giovanni at
around 10pm and asked why he had not secured it yet. His responce was that he
would send an offer lower than the already very fair asking price. I warned
him that it was risky, and a lower price would be rejeceted by the seller.
Either way I woke up first thing in the morning to check eBay and there were
now 18 followers - this watch was going to go out from under Giovannis nose.
So, I made an executive decision - and hit the Buy it Now Button. The watch
(RM # 9745) was mine now.
At exactly 08h30 my phone rings and it's Giovanni basically crying his eyes
out. He said that he had made an offer late the previous night and that it was
automaticaly rejected. He then made a seconf offer - that too was rejected, so
he made a third offer just €25 less than the Buy It Now price and that that
offer was then not automaticaly rejected, so he was hopefull that he would get
an acceptance of his last offer. But when he checked in the morning his offer
had been rejected by the seller and that THE WATCH WAS SOLD !
I did not at this stage tell Giovanni that I secured the watch, and then
taught him the Englsih expression "You Snooze - You Loose". He never forgot
that expression, and I held back on telling him that I had secured the watch
for another 24 hours, during which time he sent me 4 emails and phone messages
containing offers to buy one of my three RM's.
A couple of days later, I drove over to Dusseldorf and sitting at his Dining
Room table over a coffee, put his RM down on the table. The pure joy in his
eyes on seeing it convinced me I has done the correct thing in securing the
watch.
Giovanni then became intrested in the history and legacy of these watches, and
when the well known Collector Thomas Konig asked Giovanni to assist him with
some translation work (many documents were in Italian). They worked on the
article together, but unfortunately Giovanni passed away before the actual
article could be published.
[Article on the RM watches by Giovanni and
Thomas](http://[Article by Giovanni and Thomas on RM Railway
watches](www.iwc.com/en/articles/journal/railroads-and-
pocket-watches.html)watches.html)
Soon after the the article was published, an author in Italy who was writting
a book (in Italian ) on all types of Italian Railway Watches contacted Thomas
Konig and asked if this article could be used in his book (with credit to
Giovanni and Thomas).
Of course Giovanni's RM watch is treasured by his family and toghether with
his wife Natascha we decided that the watch would go to the older of their two
daughters.
When the Italian book finally got published AND IN AN EXTRAORDINARY NICE
GUESTURE , Thomas Konig NOT ONLY arranged for two signed copies of the book
bearing their Dads article in it, to be made available but also approached me
with the idea to source another RM watch for the 2nd daughter, so that both
girls can have a commerative RM watch and accompanying book.
Thomas Konig went to incredible lengths to get this watch (which came from my
collection), into a fully working RM (down to sourcing a donor C52 needed for
parts as well as going the extra mile on the dial).
In a closed family meeting over a dinner in Giovanni's favorite taverna,
Thomas presented both girls with with the books and the two RM watches.
Subsequently, I worked with Schafhuasen and my local watchmaker to then fully
rebuild and service the 2nd RM, ensuring that the correct movement serial
numbers are in the correct case. Also in tribute to the man that Giovanni was,
a fellow collector from Singapore covered the costs for that rebuild.
And there you have it folks the story of the RM Watches in my Collection.
I
Here are 2 RM
Please
If you
