There are many brands who have become infamous in their history for the quality of movement they produced. IWC is one of those brands. As with many brands, their success came from creating technologies and innovating on watches that could be used as tools. The utility of watches were at the forefront of their minds, and naturally led to success then, and infamy now, as collectors look back.

So what watch are we looking at today? Today, we are looking at a time-only IWC. The watch was produced in 1951, just after the conclusion of World War II. Thinking back to this time, watches were not always so large. But, this IWC is a bit differently. The watch features a 36mm case, in 18k rose gold, with long, bombé lugs that are often called “twisted” lugs by collectors today. Not only does this give the watch an incredible look to it, the watch sits extremely large on the wrist. This is easily one of the greatest parts about this watch because it fits in with the modern size of watches that one typically sees on the wrists of collectors today. The case is also a three-part sandwich - with a caseback, middle and upper section of the case, giving the watch some depth to it.

The watch has a white, creamy dial that has aged evenly. Being time-only, one has to fall in love with the simplicity of the watch. It has gold applied hour markers, with numbers at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12. Then, there are these beautiful sword hands that match the hour markers that allow time to be told extremely legibly on this over-sized watch. The IWC signature is located below 12 o’clock and is written in cursive text.

One thing that is subtle about the watch, but fits so nicely with the overall design of the watch is the crown. The crown has a grooved finishing to it which make it easy to wind the watch, but the way they are constructed fit well with the twisted lugs design. It is these small things that make a time-only watch come to life in one’s hands.

Opening up the watch and looking at the stamps on the caseback, one can discover even more about the history of a watch. On the caseback of this IWC, that has beautiful perlage finishing on it, one can find the “IWC Probus Scafusia” stamp. Probus Scafusia is the motto of IWC that was established in 1903, which is a Latin phrase meaning "good, solid craftsmanship from Schaffhausen”. The watch also has the 18k gold stamp as well as the Helvetia stamp, the Swiss hallmark for 18 carat gold. A hammer head can also be seen on the caseback. This is a hallmark used by Swiss watch companies to indicate that the watch case was made from gold, platinum, or palladium in Switzerland, but outside of Geneva. If it was made in Geneva the hallmark would be a key or a shield.

Inside the hammer is the number 109, indicating that the case was made by Châtelain, Sandoz & Co. Châtelain was founded in 1936 in La Chaux de-Fonds as a watch case polishing workshop by Mrs Blanche Châtelain Degoumois. Because of World War II the company had to close its doors in 1939, but after the War they resumed business. They created a separate company called G&F Châtelain SA, who focused on polishing of clasps for leather bracelets. This then extended to polishing gold cases. The case of this watch likely went through this arm of the company and is how this incredible case came to life. Incredibly, this company is still around today, and were purchased by Chanel in 1993 who extended their watch manufacturing through the company. Today, G&F Châtelain produce and finish watch cases for Chanel and Bell & Ross.

So with rich design, and rich history of the case manufacturing, we shift gears to the movement. The watch is running on the caliber 89 movement. The caliber 89 was first introduced in 1946 and made through until 1979. It is a manual wind caliber with hours, minutes and center seconds. The caliber came from the caliber 83 movement, which was a movement used in military watches of World War II like the Mark X, and was issued by the British Ministry of Defense. The caliber 89 was built to replace the caliber 83, but was introduced right as the War was coming to an end. It was however put in the Mark XI, which was also issue by the British Ministry of Defense.

As the War ended, militaries around the world saw a huge decline in issuing watches to their soldiers. With it, demand for the caliber 89 diminished. But, that did not stop IWC. IWC decided to case these movements in precious metal cases, this watch from 1951 being a perfect example of it. The watches came in many different designs - in case metal, shape, lug design, and dial/hand configuration. I encourage you to look at Goldammers article where they have some interesting statistics about these watches that were on the market. They provide a lot of interesting information about the variety the caliber 89 came in. What IWC produced was an incredibly sturdy group of watches that became loved by collectors today.

The best part about watch collecting is when there is a perfect storm of interesting history surrounding a watch. This IWC not only tells a great story about the history of casemaking and movement production, but it also is an incredibly modern watch in its own right. And with a 36mm case with extremely long lugs, it will definitely be the discussion piece around any group of collectors.

Enjoy!