Tony C.
1239
Mixed feelings...
As a vintage IWC collector, I have rather mixed feelings about the new collection. I like the dial designs of most of them, but am perplexed about IWC's decision to make all of the cases so large. I simply do not understand why they wouldn't have made at least one of the offerings in a 38–40mm case. I have no problem with them catering to the trend towards larger (42mm+) case sizes, but there are still many people who, due to wrist size and/or personal preference prefer smaller cases. I believe that IWC runs a real risk of alienating a meaningful segment of the market by their current emphasis on larger cases.
Regards,
Tony C.
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140 years of IWC - The Vintage Collection - Jubilee Edition 1868 to 2008
Six legends celebrate 140 years of IWC Schaffhausen IWC Vintage Collection – Jubilee Edition 1868–2008 The Schaffhausen manufacturer is celebrating its anniversary with six legendary wristwatches from its past: the Portuguese, Ingenieur, Pilot’s Watch, Da...
Pilot's Watch Hand-wound
The first Pilot’s Watch of 1936 starts things off. As the first special watch for the still young, gruelling form of transport it already had almost all the important features on board: for example a black dial with strong, luminescent hands and numerals ...
Portuguese Hand-Wound
The Portuguese of 1939 is a true watch legend. And stylistically comes as close as possible to the perfect ideal of a good watch design. As the first “wristwatch” it established the large size worn on the wrist that is very popular today. It was also the ...
Thanks JX for this comprehensive report but I have a query...
I note that the Portuguese Vintage has alternate baton and arabic markers. The original Portuguese featured with White Dial has Roman Numerals all round. Why the change in the design? Any idea? Personally for me - it should either be all arabic or all rom...
Ingenieur Automatic
The Ingenieur Automatic of 1955: No watch has defined the “technical” profile of IWC quite like the Ingenieur, which was introduced in 1955 and which was the first watch to feature the IWC automatic movement developed by Albert Pellaton. With its pawl-win...
Aquatimer Automatic
The Aquatimer Automatic of 1967: When IWC first took the plunge with its diver’s watches, only a few pioneers such as Jacques-Yves Cousteau or Hans Hass had discovered the beauty but also the vulnerability of the underwater world. But they helped to arous...
Portofino Hand-Wound
The Portofino of 1984: The most elegant but also the most unassuming family of watches from IWC, the Portofino – the classic example of understatement – has decidedly stylish origins. Collectors know this: it is the Reference 5251 watch, which was still p...
And a CONTEST (Closing date extended to 31 March 2008 and new prize added)
I have a brand new grey IWC baseball cap complete with dust bag, as pictured above. I will pick a winner of this baseball cap at random from the posts in this thread; all you have to do is to post your thoughts on the new IWC Vintage collection. Closing d...
SJX...Nice read.
Hi SJX, How can i miss this IWC read,thanks. From the text,seems that they are new release with old essence.Seems that they are doing their home work,all sizes hae been enlarge to 42-46mm to suits the present taste. Judging from the marketing side,with re...
Interesting collection. But does it mean exiting models will be dicontinued?
I like them, but don't love any. Actually I don't like Da Vinci at all. Very strange shape. The new Ingenieur looks very close to the original, which I like, but it is a shame the great Genta design is totally lost. Now I think about it, there is nothing ...
I do not believe so
These watches are meant as complements rather than replacements. I do agree about the Da Vinci's shape but this is the shape of the original Da Vinci and is reflective of the era in which the original was conceived (not the greatest of times). - SJX
Great job from IWC...
...But for one thing: the name of the company on the dial. I would have much preferred the old style one. Just to keep the connection with the original pieces. Of course this is my uneducated opinion. Massi
"International Watch Co.; Schaffhausen" in italics like this?
I do agree it would have looked better on the dial. I suspect it "IWC" was chosen precisely because the company is now IWC and no longer International Watch Co., just like UBS is not the Union Bank of Switzerland anymore. I never understand the need for c...
It's clear historically IWC has never been a High-End watch brand!!
It only produced cheap watches and continues on with ETA today
EYE-DOUBLU-SEE
Thanks for the informative post on these interesting watches. I personally have found IWC to be a difficult brand to understand. I recall my first exposure to the brand at the tender age of sixteen, in a magazine advertisement for the DaVinci perpetual ca...
IWC movements are not inferior just because they are ETA based..
Hi Your article is very interesting. But I am rather concerned at the way you have classified IWC to a second-grade watchmaker simply because they use ETA/Valjox as their base movement for several of their watches. I am an avid watchfan and my collection ...
