Tell me anything you know about IWC

[carbon888]

I'm new to IWC, looking to get The Top Gun 41 Ceratanium. See link. I was out of the watch scene and is now back as this purchase will have a special meaning for me personally.

I'm interested to know anything about this brand. Whether it's history, value, material, how it's made, service experience, reputation, durability, cool/fun facts etc!

Thank you!

https://www.iwc.com/en/watch-collect...eratanium.html

[1William]

For me IWC is a great watch brand that makes some very cool watches. With that said, they are also significantly overpriced, for what they are, for the most part. I own the 43mm Pilot Chrono and the watch is a lot of fun and the bracelet works great. Most sink like a rock on the secondary market and some second hand dealers will not take them or offer very little. So my advice is research the model you are interested in, look at reputable dealers in the secondary market and find the watch you want for the best deal. Good luck.

[carbon888]

Any reason why they are overpriced? Guess people are still getting them or else prices would have come down

[MSchott]

I used to moderate the IWC forum on another watch website. IWC has a long history in watchmaking and was originally started by an American, FA Jones. Their fame came from their flieger (pilot) watches but all their lines especially the Portugeiser, Ingenieur and Portofino are popular. The quality is high and as far as I know they now all use in-house movements. Schaffhsusen is in the German speaking part of Switzerland and I’d say IWC has more of a functional German ethos than decorative.

I own the SS version of this watch with the blue dial. It’s a great piece.

[AperolSpritz]

IWC used to feature very simple generic movements from ETA or Valjoux
They were basically just designing a nice case but with just "ok" finishing tbh.

Nevertheless they were cool - I have a chrono portuguese

They seem to have developped in house movements - or maybe they jsut decorate them don't know

But yes they are overpriced for what they are

[Moondoggy]

I love me Big Pilot 7 day reserve, easy to read, bullet proof however accuracy is not great I believe due to the complication of a 7 day reserve.

[2loaded]

Talk to me Goose..

[bondtoys]

Originally Posted by AperolSpritz

IWC used to feature very simple generic movements from ETA or Valjoux
They were basically just designing a nice case but with just "ok" finishing tbh.

Nevertheless they were cool - I have a chrono portuguese

They seem to have developped in house movements - or maybe they jsut decorate them don't know

But yes they are overpriced for what they are

While IWC used generic ebauches, they always went out and heavily modified those movements.

[Bazil]

I bought an IWC Portuguiser… green dial and upgraded the strap to leather Santori think that’s the name, I loved it and if you watch IWC at watches and wonders they were the stand out brand for me …

[MSchott]

Originally Posted by AperolSpritz

IWC used to feature very simple generic movements from ETA or Valjoux
They were basically just designing a nice case but with just "ok" finishing tbh.

Nevertheless they were cool - I have a chrono portuguese

They seem to have developped in house movements - or maybe they jsut decorate them don't know

But yes they are overpriced for what they are

The ETA or Valjoux movements were the top grade and as said above were heavily modified by IWC. Yes the current movements are in-house. My 41mm flieger chrono is a column wheel design with vertical clutch. High end stuff.

[carbon888]

Originally Posted by MSchott

I used to moderate the IWC forum on another watch website. IWC has a long history in watchmaking and was originally started by an American, FA Jones. Their fame came from their flieger (pilot) watches but all their lines especially the Portugeiser, Ingenieur and Portofino are popular. The quality is high and as far as I know they now all use in-house movements. Schaffhsusen is in the German speaking part of Switzerland and I’d say IWC has more of a functional German ethos than decorative.

I own the SS version of this watch with the blue dial. It’s a great piece.

What was the IWC forum that you moderated? I'm interested in joining a good one. Thanks for the info!

[carbon888]

Why isn't there a subforum for IWC here? Are they just not as popular?

[MSchott]

Originally Posted by carbon888

What was the IWC forum that you moderated? I'm interested in joining a good one. Thanks for the info!

It’s a competing website to this one. Out of respect for the Rolex Forum I won’t name the other.