This is the only truly unissued and unused 6B/346 Mark 11 which I am aware of (photos - credit Ilja Probst). The strap is new, and the boxes are just for the photo background. Even this unissued piece shows some age to the lume, and minor storage / handling marks to the case, as would be expected on a watch of this age.
Ian and Antonio,
Thanks for the comments.
cheers
Todd
Dear Todd,
The last picture in this thread shows a JLC Mk 11 of which is said : probably never used.
I intend to believe that , not because it looks so nice but because of the dial. It is the first dial presenting the so called "white 12" having the Radium lume. If this watch had been used in service, the dial would have been changed for a Tritium dial in Herstmonceux, as was done exactly in the same manner for the IWC Mk 11's which also had a Radium "white 12" dial in 1948.
The RAF Mk 11's were at the start serviced every 6 months, later once per year.
Different watchmakers at Herstmonceux worked on these watches and it was a priority to remove the Radium dial for a Tritium one already in the early 1950-ies. Regarding the condition of the movement on which you seem to be a bit disappointed, I would say : what an excellent preserved cal. 89, regarding its service history and heavy duty.
Kind regards,
Adrian,
(alwaysiwc).
It is realy a very nice watch.
Just some questions:
Why the on movement many wirkd (Scraches to remove Coque) was done and the case is so prestie? (-> Case vere nicely redone)
Why a military whatch should get a commercial price tag? (-> price tag can be original, empty tag filled for this watch).
When NOS why it got a 1963 dial ...
So it is a very nice watch with an "upgraded history" (NOS), probably to rise the price
Adrian and Ralph,
Thanks for your comments.
My statement was "The case and dial look almost NOS." It was my way of describing a mint looking watch. Which it is..
But I was mistaken in thinking that I had an unrestored example. Which it most certainly is not..
Please see the comments made by Ian, Mike and Antonio. Undoubtedly the case has been milled and refinished by the factory and a replacement dial added.
The tag, as Antonio stated, is somewhat ludicrous in a military issued watch.
Still, it's a nice enough watch and the COA is always a good thing to have.
But I would prefer a good unrestored example. And so will probably sell this one and continue the hunt. This time getting expert advice prior to pulling the trigger.
best,
Todd
The tag, as Antonio stated, is somewhat ludicrous in a military issued watch.
No, not always => The OCEAN BUND for example had tags !
Several Ocean Bunds were sold other than to the military. I bought a new old stock one (Quartz movement) from a dealer about 15 years ago. And, also, most of the military ones were "sold" by IWC Schaffhausen to its distribution company in Germany.
The Bunds were delivered(sold) from Schaffhausen to IWC Frankfurt and from there to the relevant Bund purchasing Units. Partially the Bunds were sold via VDO resp Diehl Avionik. But they were not sold via normal authorized IWC dealers. Most of the Bunds which were available for purchase over the years were sold as Military Surplus via Vebeg or the divers "lost" them and had to pay the replacement price to the Bund, if their Story of the loss was not taken by their Officer. Some of the Bunds were sold to Former Service Men
Greetings from a Bund collector
Martin
What a wonderful Forum!
A debate on which watches may or may not have retailers' tags. I love it!!!
Well, even this sentence could be a reason for a step deeper into this topic, retailers or factory tags ::--))
An IWC W.W.W. with MoD store label?
The Bunds were delivered(sold) from Schaffhausen to IWC Frankfurt and from there to the relevant Bund purchasing Units. Partially the Bunds were sold via VDO resp Diehl Avionik. But they were not sold via normal authorized IWC dealers. Most of the Bunds which were available for purchase over the years were sold as Military Surplus via Vebeg or the divers "lost" them and had to pay the replacement price to the Bund, if their Story of the loss was not taken by their Officer. Some of the Bunds were sold to Former Service Men
Greetings from a Bund collector
Martin [/QUOTE]
What I saw several times (and appears to be original at least to me) is that when delivered IWC watches for the BUNDESWEHR (Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Germany) had hang tags very similar to those in use by ADs. But these hang tags were only similar in style: They don't have a box for the price, but only for the Ref.No., the material the case is made of, the movement and the case No. And in all those hang tags I saw, the box for the movement was empty.
But I saw these hang tags only with watches delivered (i) to the BUNDESWEHR and (ii) only if delivered in the DIEHL/VDO era. I never saw something like that with watches sold to the British Armed Forces.
Th. Koenig