IWC would have three big names to slap on the front

If IWC asked me how to do this, I don’t think they would have liked my answer. I probably would have told them to insert a lot of tasteful nudes — where ‘calendar girl’ style women would pose minus wardrobes, brandishing an assortment of fine IWC watches. I don’t know about you, but I would have picked up the book to check that out. Unfortunately, IWC likely would have wanted to take a more prudent route and not risk offending its more conservative clients. Oh, well. Perhaps another brand will use my idea.

The plan to jazz up the book took time to develop. After a lot of ideas and matters of practically were addressed, the final result was to make a book within a book. What is a book within a book? Call it an intermission. There is literally another book inside of the massive book. It even feels different. The sandwiched literature isn’t really about watches — but more about how IWC products and personality can influence story telling. IWC was able to convince well-known, high-selling Brazilian author (of books such as The Alchemist) Paulo Coehlo to pen the book within the book. Because the rest of the book was filled to the brim with imagery, so should Paulo’s text. So IWC enlisted French artist and cartoonist Enki Bilal for the task. While not known too well in the US, Enki is a talented artist, and has some animated movies under his belt.

European watch buyers value something that American watch

IWC has a really interesting history, and I won’t try to sum it up here. The brand was actually started by an American, and occurred at the time when Swiss labor was actually cheaper than American labor — at least this is my understanding. Since that time (a long time ago), the brand has transformed a lot, and currently under Richemont Group ownership, thrives as one of the most well-respected luxury watch brands around. The exact details of when the brand started to current day IWC apparently were unknown to any one person. So IWC decided to put together a book to document its history. Which is what this new (and massive) IWC book is all about - and it is called "IWC: Engineering Time Since 1868."

The synthesis of this new book is actually really interesting, and kind of unusual. Most books are created with very specific purposes in mind — to sell copies, and make money. This book is a little different. While IWC of course wants to sell as many copies as possible, the book has other value. First, I think that IWC simply wanted to have a good grasp on its own history. I don’t know whose idea it was to make the book, but CEO George Kern but the ball in motion a while ago to chronicle the history and story of IWC. In cooperation of current and former IWC employees, as well as many historical documents, the task was given to German writer and journalist Manfred Fritz. It took him a few years to finish the job, but the result was a quite competent collection of the history and activities that made up the International Watch Company. The book would serve as a base, for while all future brand history could be added to. The value to Kern was that IWC could finally have a detailed and relatively precise authority on its history, values, and tradition. A very Germanic thing to do yes, but IWC is located in Schaffhausen which is quite close to Germany, and in the German speaking part of Switzerland.

IWC: The Book, The Manufacture

I did a survey on Luxist within the last year that was a survey of the “best” luxury watch brands according to the site’s readers who participated in the poll. I had to choose five brands, and among those was IWC. With a strong, focused product line, and an emphasis on performance and gentlemen’s sport activity, I felt that the brand resonated particularly well with American audiences. While such polls aren’t hard science, the result was that Luxist readers felt that IWC was the best luxury watch brand. Beating the likes of others such as Rolex, Patek Philippe, and Audemars Piguet.

IWC was obviously on my radar before the results of that poll, but it was a fascinating look into the perception of (mostly American) luxury blog readers. One of your fellow aBlogtoRead.com readers recently commented on an IWC related article that IWC watches are well-made, nicely designed, but over-priced. A quick response via another fellow reader indicated a wise observation. If a brand is doing well, selling its products, and experiencing high demand, the amount it asks for its products isn’t too high — especially if it is getting that amount. That sort of halted the topic, and I thought it was a good message about the luxury industry overall. Luxury goods are easy to attack. It is easy to complain about price, image, and snobbiness. What is more impressive is when luxury brands are defended. Such conduct shows that the price, image, and possible snobbiness don’t actually result in bad sentiment - in that particular case. I’m making a general statement about the luxury industry and many different types of products, but in the context of IWC, it interesting to see fans ‘ring in’ to communicate their own personal high-view of the brand and what they sell.

Rolex models for example is one of my pet peeves

The bezel is 60-click, which is kind of annoying in a minor way, and could use a bit more surface roughness when wet. The movement is a Top-grade ETA 2892, with unknown changes from IWC. According to other reviewers, it's hand-adjusted and mine is certainly the most accurate mechanical watch I've had, running +2 seconds per day, no matter what. Winding is so smooth that it's actually hard to discern, and the crown threads are easy to engage and butter-smooth. (Nicely signed crown, too.

Notice here the perfect edges and finish on the hands and applied markers, the dual-level date window bevel and split minute ring. Also see the two-color second hand and subtle 'Swiss made' inset into the minute markers. Really nice and well thought out design here. Note also the subtle use of 'signal yellow.' The tip of the second hand, '2000 meters' text, minute markers too and the minute hand matching the bezel. Not sure what I think of the retro font on the lower half of the dial, but it works as a piece.

Luminosity is, well, amazing. It's not as bright as some Seiko's lume, but the dual-color scheme and glowing bezel come alive in the dark. It makes the watch seem larger at night, since you don't normally see the bezel. Since I've a new daughter, I can testify that it's visible at any hour of the day or night, and that the lume rocks. On the minus side, the second hand is only a tiny triangle of lume at the very tip, and is quite hard to spot. I think that this is a modern classic. Bold assertion, but the design is functional, original and confident without the bling or being too large. Adding a sapphire bezel and AR on the crystal greatly improve usability, and the 2892 is a killer movement. Retail price for this version is $4,400. Add a thousand or so for the bracelet and it goes up to a retail price of $5,400 - which I'd look for if I were buying one today. Look around for what you can fine. There are a few color variations, and the piece is also offered in chronograph form. I have no hesitation about recommending the IWC over a Submariner or Planet Ocean. This is a fantastic watch, full stop.

The 14mm height is reasonably shirt-friendly

The simple caseback shows the other design feature I dislike - the quick-release strap and bracelet system. Unlike almost every other watch out there, the Aquatimer series use a lever-release system that IWC licensed from Cartier. It's really cool, requiring just the tip of a finger to release, but since it's proprietary the only place in the world outside of IWC that makes straps is the very expensive ABP of Paris. Having emailed ABP, their least expensive strap to fit would start at 250 Euros... wow. That's still much cheaper than IWC, though, who want $360 for a Velcro strap, $400 for the rubber and a rumored $1500 for the bracelet! IWC has done proprietary lugs since the iconic 3536 diver, though the design has changed with each generation, so it obviously makes sense to them. So while the system works well and is certainly convenient, it does make purchasing your own straps, or replacements straps and bracelets very expensive.

It's a nice rubber strap and buckle, but $400? I've got the Velcro on order, from what I can tell it allows the use of normal 19mm straps, and am keeping an eye out for a used bracelet. It's a serious caveat and cost, so if you buy one keep it in mind. I will say that the rubber is superbly comfortable, which is very important because this is a large, heavy watch: 44mm by 14mm, 145g. Despite all of that mass, it's super comfortable on my 7.25" wrist and I've worn it to run, cycle, swim and sleep.

Due to the caseback shape, it sits quite low and comfortable on the wrist, and doesn't flop around like some taller watches I've worn. The double AR and domed crystal combine for stupendous visibility at a wide range of angles. You can also see that IWC uses a vertical black flange ringe; functional and invisible. The angled 'ROLEXROLEXROLEX' on current Rolex models for example is one of my pet peeves of flange ring design. Not an issue here on this IWC.

IWC Aquatimer Watch Review

Gorgeous, isn't it? This is the IWC Aquatimer 2000, reference 3568-02. Introduced in 2009, the 3568 (the 02 suffix denotes the rubber strap version) replaces the internal-bezel 3548 model. Bolder in design, the 3568 retains the ETA-based 30110 movement (2892-A2 base), but upgrades to a sapphire-coated conventional bezel with spectacular six-layer underside SuperLumiNova. It's also available with bracelet, a white-dial version, and a limited edition with orange-on-white.

The main crystal is domed and anti-reflective on both sides, but the bezel is mirror flat and un-coated, which makes for interesting reflections and highlights. I love the idea of putting lume on the underside of the bezel; that combined with the durability of sapphire makes a bezel that'll remain shiny new for the life of the watch. Brilliant! Even better than the non-lumed Rolex and Omega ceramic bezels. As an aside, there are a handful of other watches with lumed sapphire bezels if you like the look - Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, Omega Ploprof, Bremont Supermarine, and I wouldn't be surprised if others went this route at Basel 2010 and beyond.

Other than the eye-catching yellow, the case and watch are remarkably low-key, with predominantly brushed finishing and a lack of reflective surfaces. In person, it's startlingly low-key due to the mostly-black dial and bezel, and has drawn few if any comments. As you see here, IWC doesn't put crown guards on their divers, which is one of my reservations about the design. I have a friend who lost the screw-down crown and case tube on his Fortis to the strap of a falling carry-on bag, so I would assume this to be less durable than a recessed or guarded crown. An odd design decision on a watch rated to over a mile of depth! (2000m). IWC, rather than adding a helium escape valve, simply designs their divers to cope with a negative pressure rating. A superior piece of engineering for the saturation diver.

IWC Portuguese Sidérale Scafusia watch is sound

Taking a lesson from MB&F showing off their "friends," IWC features six of the main people who worked on the creation of the Portuguese Sidérale Scafusia. The most well-known of which is the now horologically famous Jean-Francois Mojon, who while not part of IWC, was contracted by them to work on the Portuguese Sidérale Scafusia project.

The result of all the preparation is the new IWC Calibre 94900 movement. It has over 500 pieces and contains a main movement sections with a module for the astronomical data. A new technology employed in the movement is a constant-force tourbillon. The purpose of this is to increase the rate reliability of the movement. It doesn't work for all 96 hours of the power reserve, but the middle 48 hours are supposed to offer extremely consistent power to the movement. This means that the watch will be more accurate. The purpose of a constant-force escapement is to decrease the variation in rate results that occurs from the fact that a fully wound mainspring releases more power than an almost totally unwound mainspring. In this case it has been applied directly to the tourbillon.

IWC chose the Paranal Observatory operated

In a candid interview Georges Kern has recent with Swiss paper Le Matin, he spoke clearly as to the purpose of the Portuguese Sidérale Scafusia watch. It is to attract people to the brand, show off IWC's technical capabilities, offer media bait as something to discuss, and provide an ultra-exclusive piece for the world's top watch collectors (something which IWC did not previously offer). The project was never really intended to be a money maker. IWC will be happy to sell 10 of them per a year - and with the current market situation as it is, IWC expects most of them to go to Asian clients. The Portuguese Sidérale Scafusia will however also act as an eye lure at IWC brand boutiques around the world with it in the window.

IWC carefully chose the complications its new flagship piece was to offer. It has been well established that astrological complications are among the most alluring to high-end collectors and buyers. These complications tend to be less than necessary to their lives, but encapsulate the emotion and feeling one wants from a complex timing machine. There seems to be a strong connection to astronomical timing and prediction, that is shared among high-end watch lovers. I too am fascinated by such timepieces whose indications can predict or dictate what is happening in the skies. While purely emotional, it makes me feel like I have some special increased power over the heavens.

IWC Portuguese Sidérale Scafusia Watch: Super Complex

What you are seeing here is the most complicated IWC watch ever created. It is called the Portuguese Sidérale Scafusia (ref. 5041) and it will be available only via custom order. IWC recently launched it at a powerful celestial observatory in Chile, and it represents a new high-mark for the brand. While the watch itself is very interesting, the lesson it can teach us about how high-end watch brands operate is even more interesting.

According to IWC a team of watch makers spent about 10 years researching and developing the Portuguese Sidérale Scafusia mechanism. While at least one other IWC watch offers more complications, the Portuguese Sidérale Scafusia is a much more complicated watch. Strictly for the die-hard collector, this timepiece according to IWC CEO Georges Kern is a "dreamlike" machine. It holds within it the values a serious watch brand wishes to convey as well as those aspirational qualities that a super high-end watch should have. It is meant to be an item of wonder, something that beguiles and intrigues more than something which has a serious utilitarian use.