As some of you know, I am collecting pocketwatches, IWC only.
Far from saying that my collection is a museum collection but I am proud to
have found some nice and rare pieces over time.
Some of the pocketwatches are common, easy to find on the market, sometimes in
better condition than mine, but some I have are gems.
So in these crazy times, as the museum in Schaffhausen is closed, why not open
one here on the forum.
As long as the museum is closed, I will post here daily a pocketwatch from my
collection.
I hope I don't run out of pieces before the virus is beaten. Fingers crossed
for all of us.
I will post them in a random order, with some comments, feel free to join.
Keep safe all.
DAY 63, Sch utzenuhr 1979 Luzern , part 1.
The watch I show today is another Schutzenuhr, this one is from 1979, the
Schuzenfest in Luzern, the 50th eidgenossisches Schutzenfest.
It was an important event, the 50th time this national shootingcompetition was
organized, so a lot of public and shooters were expected to show up.
The local watchdealer Jorg Sporing made at IWC an order for pocketwatches.
There is a story to tell here about this order that I will post in part 2 or
part 3.
The order was :
100 pieces in silver, Savonette ( cal 982 )
1000 pieces in silver Lepine ( ope face ) ( cal 952 )
50 pieces in gold Lepine ( cal 982 )
When you see the numbers, the guy must have been very optimistic about the
sales opportunities. ( remember it was 1979 , pocketwatches were not that any
more "en vogue" )
The cases were made not by IWC and so they don't have the IWC case numbers,
but a numbering of their own.
Also I saw Zenith ( silver ) and Patek ( gold ) watches with a similar case. A
case with on the back a figure of Willem Tell with a crossbow, made by the
artist Hans Erni.
As with all the Schutzenfesten, there was not only watches that were made, but
also Schutzentahler, commemorative coins.
The watch that Mark L. showed us yesterday, was a DIY Schutzenuhr, made by
joining a regular IWC pocketwatch and such a coin, glued to the back of the
watch.
The coin made for Luzern 1979 has the same maker, Hans Erni, and the same
figure on it.
Part two is for tomorrow with more info and a nice story behind these watches.
And by coincidence, this year, there are again Schutzenfesten planned in
Luzern. ( not sure if it is a go due to the Covid 19 virus )
Some of the medals for this year
Together with the Schutzentahler
The case is of heavy silver, even the inner cover is made of solid silver
