I have always been attracted by watches with square, rectangular or tonneau-shaped cases. Therefore I always admired the PT Novecento on display in the Schaffhausen IWC museum.
Novecentos have been manufactured between 1987 and 2001 in two reference numbers:
- Ref. 3545 / Caliber: F. Piguet 953 (IWC 31062) / Jewels: 35 / Vibrations: 21000/h / in use: 1987 - 1995
- Ref. 3546 / Caliber: JLC 960.61 (IWC 96061) / Jewels: 47 / Vibrations: 28000/h / in use: 1995 - 2001
My AD who owned a Novecento ref. 3545 and is watchmaker himself, remembered multiple replacements of the click-wheel in the gear train of the automatic winding system of the Piguet caliber (It seems the very thin click-wheel was not robust enough for the purpose it was designed for). This must have been one reason that IWC has replaced the Piguet caliber with the JLC caliber in 1995.
As I wear all watches in my collection, I decided to search for a robust Novecento ref. 3546 with the JLC caliber. Now some week ago I finally purchased a Novecento with (according to the seller) a JLC caliber. The watch did not have the original documents, but a bill from Richemont Iberia and an IWC repair guarantee card from an overhaul in June 2008.
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When I received my Novecento I noticed a double case number: An engraved number “754” (in figures approx. 4 mm high) and a stamped, tiny 7 digit number just below the engraved number (Sorry, no picture of the back. I did not manage to take a readable photograph). My AD believed to remember that the first series of 1000 Novencentos had a serial number engraved on the back. But this observation meant that my Novecento was a ref. 3545 with a Piguet caliber?! As a consequence we decided to open the watch and get an extract from the IWC archives: My Novecento was born in 1989 as a ref. 3545 and was sold to Barcelona / Spain!
I have decided not to complain at the seller. I own a very well maintained Novecento from the first series of 1000 pieces. Michael Gehret who owns several “Piguet-Novecentos” confirmed to me, that he never had technical issues with his Piguet calibers and he is also wearing the watches. So I will keep my Novecento, wear it to my office and treat it like a “raw egg”.
Thank you for reading my IWC detective story.
Urs
