One of the most beautiful vintage watches sold in our website is now completely original Mr. 1938 this spectacular pure gold IWC , the case hardly used, including the company one of the best sport: Diameter 83 with the use of X made famous WWII pilot watches the horse. Find a piece of the IWC in this era, in this near-perfect order would be almost impossible, and we are pleased to get this project taking into account the extremely high quality of its dial, case and movement. This is not a cheap watch by any means, but it is excellent in every detail, it is worth every penny of the asking price.
IWC, or, in full, the International Watch Company, is a connoisseur’s choice of vintage wristwatch, its market niche having always been the technically informed buyers who understand just how refined the firm’s movements are. While its overseas agents may choose to do so, the Swiss house hardly ever advertises and keeps an extremely low profile, enjoying even today something of a cult status with those who appreciate the finest mechanical horology. In the 1980s, this led to an interesting situation where, despite being in every way the equal of the most famous brands in the collectible arena, the values of period IWCs lagged behind a little, so much so that the Sunday Times, in an article on vintage watches that we distinctly remember in their colour supplement from around 1987, mentioned IWC as something of an “insider tip” for the buyer looking for the finest quality at something of a bargain price. The reference ended with the memorable line “And if you don’t believe us, just ask the Prince of Wales”, Charles, of course, being a now well documented long time enthusiast of these Schaffhausen manufactured pieces.
Sadly, times have now changed and IWC no longer occupies this slightly obscured position that enabled its products to be purchased cheaply twenty years ago. Vintage IWC watches are among the most desired by collectors worldwide, and prices are among the very highest of any of the top tier brands. The days of early IWC models being bought as bargains are long gone, but, representing, as they unquestionably do, arguably the highest quality achieved by any Swiss manufacturer of the vintage period, these watches make extremely fine investments and continue to rise in value year after year as totally original examples become ever more difficult to source.
Internally, the thick case back has been beautifully mirror polished to perfection. This combination of a rugged, classical exterior with a highly embellished interior is archetypically IWC and represents a philosophy that we admire enormously. Unlike many other Swiss houses that offered diamond set cases and a myriad of other cosmetic features, IWC shunned the superficial almost entirely and basically offered a beautifully made, but very robust, case, with perhaps the finest finished movements that have ever been created, by any manufacturer. Vintage IWC items represent a no frills approach to high horology, the house having always created pieces that were, first and foremost engineers’ watches, with genuine technical substance, rather than masculine jewellery in which movement quality was secondary.
This case is, of course, entirely original to the movement contained with it, and carries full British domestic, not import, hallmarks for 1938, together with the individual case number 12975. It is fully signed internally with the sponsor’s mark “EH”, these letters being the initials of Edwin Harrop, managing director of The London Watchcase Company of the capital’s Rosebery Avenue. The presence of this marking is extremely interesting to the collector, as we would normally expect IWC cases sold in the British market to carry the “CN” stamping, this representing Charles Nicholet, the managing director of Stauffer & Co of 13 Charterhouse Street, Holborn, London, the company that was IWC’s official British importer throughout the inter-war period. In every annual edition of the “Watch & Clock Yearbook” from this era, the directory section gives Stauffer as IWC’s agent here, and no mention is made of either Harrop or The London Watchcase Company.
In summary, this is an exceptionally fine late 1930s gentleman’s IWC in a robust solid gold case, with a rare original black dial and, most importantly of all, one of the most highly respected movements ever made by this venerated house. Its condition is nothing short of remarkable, and it is completely original throughout. Valuing this watch is very difficult, as hardly any black dialled IWC civilian models from this period are ever seen for sale, and the presence of the unusual Edwin Harrop case stamping adds interest to the serious collector.
We have priced this watch at £1875 GB pounds, at which level it represents remarkably good value for money. We could not hope to buy a similarly specified gold Rolex from the same era for this sum, yet the calibre 83 movement in the IWC is arguably a better finished and most sophisticated unit than the Hunter mechanism we would find in the former. This is very much a serious collector’s watch and it will be very difficult for us to find a comparable example for our stock when it has sold.
