Many brands can point to a single moment in their history that changes the trajectory of their companies. Brands like IWC can point to multiple such moments, but movement development can often be a catalyst for great change. As the title suggests, the caliber 85 was really the start of an important era of watchmaking for IWC. The story of the automatic movement pre-dates IWC’s caliber 85, and David Seyffer, wrote an excellent article documenting this very history:

“A watch that could wind itself; it was a dream, and at the same time a technical challenge that had occupied watchmakers since the 18th century. Historians are still not in agreement as to whom the concept of the self-winding watch can be ascribed. On the one hand, there are those who credit the Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Perrelet (1729-1826) with the invention of automatic winding for pocket watches in 1777. Others claim that Hubert Sarton (1748-1828), a watchmaker born in Liège, could have been the father of this technology and presented it in 1778.

Be that as it may, the idea was born but the technology failed to make its mark on pocket watches.

In the 1920s, as wristwatches became ever more popular, an Englishman by the name of John Harwood (1893-1965) occupied himself with the development of a self-winding system for wristwatch movements. By its very nature, a wristwatch was exposed to much more movement than a pocket watch, so the use of an automatic system held out the promise of greater success than a pocket watch. The wrist generated a great deal more kinetic energy for the barrel. In 1923, Harwood became the first watchmaker to develop a self-winding wristwatch with a central oscillating weight. On 1 September 1924 the Federal Institute of Intellectual Property in Bern awarded him a patent with the number 106583.”

Of course, many watchmakers started to play around with their own methods of creating a self-winding system for a wrist watch. World War II had its affect on the development of these movements as well. There were some brands that launched their own self-winding movements like the Felsa calibre 692 and the Longines 22A. Automatic movements became so sought after that over 200 patents for automatic movements were granted from 1944 to 1955.

IWC of course had a horse in the race and Seyffer describes the process of developing the movements:

“History and developments were reflected in a similar way at IWC, which had remained loyal to the classic hand-winding system throughout the 1930s. But then, in 1944, Albert Pellaton (1898-1976) took over as Technical Director at IWC and, by May 1945, had already started on the development of an IWC automatic wristwatch. The project went by the name "Montre 62 Automatique". As a manufacturer of high-quality timepieces, the company on the Rhine had a strong interest in making a self-winding watch for its customers. In Albert Pellaton, IWC had appointed a Technical Director who was not only capable of handling the design of an automatic movement but would also be able to organize its series production with the required precision.

His first design ideas bore fruit. On 14 June 1946 a first sketch of an IWC automatic watch – "Mécanisme de remontage automatique à masselotte oscillante pour mouvement de montre à remontoir.“ – was patented under the number 254578 in Switzerland. Pellaton had revived an idea first hatched in 1780, which foresaw the transfer of energy via two pawls. In principle, this mechanism was a solution based on very sound technology. But there was still room for improvement. Albert Pellaton continued to work on modifications to the design, mainly with a view to obtaining a complete revolution and guaranteeing optimum shock absorption for the rotor. The result was another patent, dated 7 June 1950, under the number 284841. Effectively, it marked the birth of the Pellaton winding system that has remained such a central feature of IWC's automatic movements to this day. “

The first movement that was to go into production was the caliber 81, an automatic movement with a subsidiary seconds hand. According to records, 1800 numbers were reserved for the movement, but there is no record of a sale so it can be assumed that it never went into serial production. The brand shifted focus to the caliber 85, which is the center-seconds version of their automatic movement which went into production in 1950.

The watch today is an example of where the caliber 85 was used. This watch was manufactured in 1950, based on the serial number making it an extremely early execution of the famous automatic caliber. This time-only piece from IWC comes in a 35mm case made of staybrite steel, based on the caseback stamp marking that details the case metal. The case is in good condition, with only a few scratches on the caseback. The lugs are truly what makes this watch stand out, with their bombé lugs, what collectors often call ‘twisted’. The lugs are long and make this watch sit largely on the wrist. Goldammer did a great article called “A Collector’s Guide to IWC Cal. 89 - Exceptional Lugs & Cases” that describes the many different case and lug designs used by IWC and documents the lugs of this watch nicely.

The white dial has aged to a cream tone, with applied hour markers that match the hours, minutes and seconds hand. The minutes hand is missing its lume, which to some collectors is a no-no, but to others is intriguing. The IWC, cursive name is printed on the dial.

As discussed, the watch runs on the caliber 85, automatic movement. The movement is signed with "Pat. Appl.", indicating that this is one of the earliest versions of the caliber 85 produced. It is likely that the movement was produced before the patent was awarded to IWC. This was common practice by companies to not allow copy-cats from stealing the designs that were developed and created. The movement operates extremely smoothly. This is likely credited to the Pellaton winding system, where rollers oscillate between an eccentric cam, which causes two clicks to ratchet against a saw-toothed winding wheel. It is believed that in 1950 and 1951, 8,400 caliber 85’s were produced before IWC improved on the design with the caliber 852, launched in 1952.

One the interesting parts of this watch is that instead of accessing the movement from a caseback, the movement is actually front-loaded. So in order to see the movement, one must remove the crystal of the watch, unscrew the crown, and then remove the movement from it case. As mentioned before, the caseback of the watch is stamped with the IWC name, logo, case serial and Staybrite steel, a steel alloy used heavily by watch brands at this time.

The 35mm case is truly an incredibly wearable size. Being that the lugs are large and long, they extend considerably from the wrist making it sit larger. They also carry quite a bit of presence which help the watch not fade to deeply into the shirt cuff, which can be helpful if one is looking for something to wear everyday that doesn’t feel like a traditional dress watch.

We have had the pleasure of covering another IWC on the channel which was a rose gold version of the manual wind caliber 89 IWC, which had the same lug design which was incredibly attractive. The steel case of this watch is in our opinion, in better condition, with much sharper angles on the twisted lugs. Also the holes case makes it so much easier to switch out straps.

Experiencing a history-defining watch can feel overwhelming, especially when it was really the birth of such an important piece of technology - the automatic movement - for IWC. Being what is likely an early version of the caliber 85 makes the watch even more special. All of this history wrapped up in an incredibly attractive and well-designed watch makes watches so worth while.

Enjoy!