VIRTUAL POCKET WATCH MUSEUM DAY 18, cal 73 octo

I guess there are more sides to this story around these spectacular octagonal
cases. As Tonny correctly writes, they do not come up often for sale and for a
long time I had been looking to add one to my Collection.

The 1st Watch

Then one night somewhere a few years ago Tonny, myself and Jeroen met up in
Amsterdam at a boutique event. We had a great evening, and afterwards the 3 of
us went for dinner when Tonny out of the blue pulls a pocket watch out his
(yes, you guessed it - his pocket) which had this tag attached to it.....

...saying, "hey Mark I know you've been looking for one of these for a long
time, and knowing how you love projects, see if you can save this one!".

And yes, indeed there was a Cal.73 in an Octagonal case". Tonny then said
something to the effect of "dont get too excited - it needs lots of TLC", with
a wink and a nod to Jeroen (my IWC trained local watchmaker). To say the
least, I was rather embaressed but very honored at this guesture by Tonny.

After dinner Jeroen and I drove back to the South and Jeroen had some time in
the car to inspect the watch. Now, know that often with these rare pieces, we
as Collectors are happy to simply own such examples and we all know that not
every watch is able to be saved and/or restored. In looking at the condition
of the watch, I assumed that this one was one of those nice to have pieces,
and that it would never be a museum piece, I asked Jeroen to take it with him
to the attelier and when he had time to note down the serial numbers of the
case and movement for my records. A few days later he did email me the two
numbers (which Tonny too had noted correctly) and I entered it into my
database.

Time passed and the watch slowly faded into the background as Jeroen and I
worked on some complicated restorations projects (more on those project
later).

Then, last year during the dinner at the BBAMSGTG

Jeroen
suddenly gets up and makes a small speech, handing me this very vintage box..

I had no idea what it was, and exitedly opened the box only to reveal this
magnificent:

Octagonal Cased Cal. 73

The Case Back

The Maestro watchmaker in Jeroen had seen him fully restore this magnificent
pocket watch to it's former glory. The Cal. 73 inside, dating from 1918 when
it was originally manaufactured has been completey rebuild and runs perectly
too.

Such is the comorade and friendship amongst us Collectors, and I needed to
wait a whole year before I could recipricate and do justice to this fantastic
guesture by Tonny and Jeroen.

Sometimes, it's uncanny how these things pan out - but just before that very
same BBAMSGTG event, a watch turned up for sale in the USA which caught my
attention and then (still) believing that I did not have such a watch truly in
my collection, I managed to secure it - and Bill Barker was kind enough to
take receipt of the watch for me,

The 2nd Watch

The Case Back

The Movement

All the above photos captured by Master Watch Photographer Mr. William Barker

This watch shipped out of Schaffhuasen in 1931.

I love this shaped cases.

About 40 Years ago I have seen a +/- square IWC watch with a c.74 movement.
That time I was student an had not the money to by that watch.

Today I think, the "correct" way would have been to buy that watch and eat
some month just hard bread.

Actually I have no pictures nor watches to add for the discussion of this kind
of cases :-(

We had the octagonal shaped case....

But there is more in the newer time...

REF 5310 has an duodecagonal shaped case may be someone can add a legal
picture, I dot want to steal in in the internet....

P.S. Also the 2nd watch shown watch as 12 corners but 2 of them thes seeems to
be somehow hidden

Stamped in the case of Tonny's watch is an interesting word : 'chronometre'.

Collectors or dealers might think to have a real chronometer in their hands
and there are also cases with the term half-chronometer.

A chronometer is an exceptional accurate timepiece and from about 1860-1925,
watches should be called a chronometer only if they had passed a vigorous
test, carried out by an astronomical observatory as only there the exact time
could be calculated from astronomical observations.

IWC sent several movements to observatories in Geneva, Neuchatel and Kew.
Watches which passed the test program were rewarded with a rating : 'bulletin
de marche'. However, the term chronometer was not protected or patented. This
is why IWC and other brands made up their own tests which were far less
stringent. In an article : 'To be or not to be an IWC chronometer' more about
this topic can be read. I will send it to the moderator. Perhaps it can be
added to this thread.

Regards,

Adrian,

(alwaysiwc).

Ralph, you write " Today I think, the "correct" way would have been to buy
that watch and eat
some month just hard bread."

This would have been 100% the correct thing to do. Then that watch would have
been saved - and you could have shared it with us here today.

Now, I my worst fear is that that watch you missed was found and is in some
Collection in Belgium :-)

The hunt is on.

I've really enjoyed this series, guys! The forum was always a place for me to
learn about watches and this series hit the mark. Thanks for making the forum
more than "can you identify this watch" column again. I still get excited
seeing our members' collections.