There's a string from 2004 about Rauschenbach dialed IWC pocket watches. You can read the string via the link below.
As you may know, the Rauschenbach family owned IWC at the turn of the 20th century and the legal name of the company used their name, in several variations. Some IWC pocket watches have the Rauschenbach name on the dial instead of IWC. One collector said they are rare and usually sold, a few years ago, for over 1000 Euros. The late Fritz Wagener, a great expert, said they aren't that uncommon and the one in question, in poor condition, wasn't worth more than about 450 Euros to knowledgeable collectors. But that one didn't reach the seller's minimum despite bids up to 1100 Euros.
Recently, another one with a different Rauschenbach dial was for sale. The seller's photo wasn't very good and the watch looked terrible, at least with a dirty dial:
However, I had seen watches with that dial before, and they were brass with an intricate guilloche engraving. Because the brass reflected light, the dials generally didn't photograph well. While I'm no longer very active in the pocket watch market, having most examples that I want, I figured that this one was worth a gamble --at the right price. I also thought the price might be low since the seller only would ship to North America, and the real demand for this watch would be particularly in Switzerland and Germany.
So I bid on it. And won the watch for under $160. A very good deal, I would think. The watch looks a lot better than its "for sale" photo, and even this one doesn't show the watch in its best light:
Regards,
Michael
