Again I say "can't save them all" ...... or can you?

Some of you may recall my previous post You can't save them all - right? where a seemingly hopelessly lost piece, was fully recovered and restored to it's former glory.

It's exactly that kind of a restoration project which I so enjoy undertaking and which brings me much collecting pleasure in often tackling the seemingly impossible tasks of finding a spare part and/or getting the case and or movement repaired.

Well, some time back this humble Cal. 57 turned up for sale in Argentina, looking rather worse for wear.

Now, whilst I have a number of other Cal. 57 in my collection, there were two things about this pocket-watch that caught my interest.

Firstly, that it appeared to be cased in an oxidized steel case!

and secondly, the fact (from not to clear pictures on the web) that it appeared to be a 2 tone case. If you look carefully at the 1st picture above, it's clear that that the front bezel seems to be of a more silvery/shinier material.

Now, ever since the discovery of Black Beauty it was clear to me, that whilst not abounding out there, that there were original IWC pieces, which had been cased in oxidized steel cases. So this fact made the Cal. 57 interesting.

The dial too, seemed to have been "updated" to a 24 hour version (by crude hand painting) at some time in it's life - although clearly was needing to be replaced.

I secured the watch.

It finally arrived, and we set about to get to know more about this watch.

To my great satisfaction it turned out that indeed the case although not typical / common, indeed was genuine IWC with both case and movement serial numbers matching the sales records. The watch, was sold in May 1900 to French wholesaler Erbeau who operated out of Paris. In addition, it was listed as having an "oxide" finish.

So we were spot on!

Or where we? On stripping down for restoration of the watch, that front bezel seemingly clipped off just to easily (although to the uninitiated, it was secure and seemingly a perfect fit).

The quality and finish of this apparently nickel plated bezel, was good - but as we see here, looked to me to be very different to other bezels I had seen on the IWC cases. But then again, most of those had been manufactured in either silver or gold.

Original Bezel - Front View

Original Bezel - Rear View

This required more research. Very illusive.. not to much information to be found. Until a very good friend and fellow collector hears about my search around these oxidized cases, and produces this photo of a watch in his collection.

The other guys Watch

And at that moment to me it's clear. This humble Cal. 57 needs a new "correct" bezel for it's original case. So we turn to our UK based master Case-Maker, with the challenge of manufacturing a new "pure steel" bezel - with the correct cosmetic finishing - Man I like that gold inlay ring!

And so it is - Master craftsmanship

A new steel bezel is manufactured from scratch - with the inlay ring. Note the clean new bright steel, against the old oxidized original case.

And then it's all returned to me, for us to finish locally here the fitting of a tempoarty replacement dial (we still are in search of the original roman numeral dial), as well as clean and re-oxidize / color match the old and new part of the case. Kudu'to Mr. Jeroen Blonk my watchmaker, for his patience and virtue with me (not to mention his growing skill set!)

I like the results.... another Black Beauty in my collection.

Oh and of course, the movement was overhauled and fully serviced. It still runs perfectly too!

Impressive challenge and results. I hope to see it in a couple of weeks at the BBAMSGTG.

Certainly an International undertaking of a (pocket) Watch indeed!

I am lost for words when trying to respond to the passion and dedication you have shown in building your collection. Another fabulous post and another successful project. Nevertheless, that 24 hour dial in red crayon deserves a place in the Schaffhausen museum.

Really a great job, thanks for posting, Mark.

Restoring is always a tremendous effort and often it is more than the value of the watch ?!

Due to sparepart problems with IWC watches, I stopped it for IWC watches.

But just an example, the Gandhi watch model gun metal.

The case is very similar, but it has an alarm clock complication as well.

Hebe, great timepiece there too!

Technically of course you are correct in using the name "gun metal" for these cases. From the archives in Schaffhausen and actual listing for Watch #22 we see clearly the use of the word "Oxide" - so the question then arises as to when exactly in time the expression "gun metal" (German = rotguss?) came into use?

I think, this clarifies it, Mark.

Bruenieren

One of our fellow collectors referred today to these gun metal cased pieces as the "John Player Special" watches ...

Sorry Mark, but what is a "John Player Special" watch ????

Preserving IWC history one watch at a time...just excellent, Mark!

Ahhh yes... good question. It was a brand sponsorship, primary active in the motor sports domain (F1 too) and whose livery was a stunning Black with Gold Trim.

Other than the stunning attractiveness of the livery, they JSP were generally assosiated with winners; with some great #1's such as the late great Ayrton Senna driving for them.

Fitting today, that IWC too have a F1 sponsorship also with winners!

Another beauty with a great story for the Levinsohn Wing at IWC!

Is that an enamel dial? Frosting on a beautiful cake!

Mark, what a fantastic achievement in restoring that humble Cal 57 to life!! What a stunning achievement.

Awesome Mark. You never fail to impress with your knowledge and dedication to restoring these beauties. Love it.

Larry, it is indeed ! ..... and one without any hairline cracks to be seen.

I love such restoration projects, great job Mark (& your team) !

Mark, yet another superb restoration classic from you. Thanks for sharing!

Best,
Thang

This man not only deserves his own Levinson Wing in Schaffhausen: there should be built a restoration department, just for him.
As hebe points out there are pristine cal. 57 for sale costing a fraction of such restoration. But then you have the watch, not the fun.
Adrian,
(alwaysiwc).

Another brilliant story involving a brilliant watch by a brilliant man - again very well done my friend - major congrats!

The word gunmetal is frequantly use for blackened steel cases. But that is not correct. Gunmetal is an alloy of copper & tin or zinc. The german word "brünieren" describes the black finishing process which is used to create a thin, mixed iron oxide layer (FeO und Fe2O3) on the surface of ferrous metal components.
It is easy to do, see: www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUBU9pk9Gnc

Hans