• Apprentice
    23 Dec 2010, 11:53 a.m.

    ...is this normal?

    Hi,
    I've herited my grand uncle's pocket watch. The dial does not have any IWC markings on it, neither does the movement. At least I can't see any.

    However, the front and back casing does have Probus IWC Scafusia, as well as 14K (karats gold I presume?) and a small symbol that look like a bird of some sort.

    From what I can see in the 1911 catalogue, it seems to be a calibre 66. This fits well to the movement number I found (470162). Underneath is the +31457 patent number.

    I have a couple of questions:
    [list]
    [li]Is the movement NOT an IWC original?[/li]
    [li]What is the bird symbol?[/li]
    [/list]

    You seem like a knowledgable bunch, I'm sure you can help me. I'm sorry if similar questions have been answered in earlier posts, I couldn't find them.

    Martin

  • Connoisseur
    23 Dec 2010, 2:14 p.m.

    Sounds to me that your movement is original, although a photo might help.

    But --what bird symbol, and where?

  • Apprentice
    23 Dec 2010, 9:03 p.m.

    When I took the photos and had a closer look (album here: s1084.photobucket.com/albums/j418/Birostris/) I realised that it wasn't a bird, but a squirrel on inside of the back and front case.

    I'm impressed by the swift reply, by the way.

    Have a merry Christmas!

    Martin

  • Master
    24 Dec 2010, 2:16 a.m.

    I can't quite make out the two markings on the case, but I believe they are probably hallmarks to show the gold content (14k, 18k, etc). These vary by country of origin and many references with pictures can be found online using Google or other search engine.

  • Connoisseur
    24 Dec 2010, 2:41 a.m.

    It looks like the casemaker's hallmark to me. This watch was not "cased" in Schaffhausen, nor is the dial a "usual" dial. I suspect that IWC sold the movement to a distributor who had the watch completed with its dial and case. That also would explain the lack of full markings on the movement (although it clearly is an IWC cal. 66, and it's still possible that the movement signature is under the bridges and can't be seen easily).

  • Insider
    24 Dec 2010, 4:05 a.m.

    The squirrel is the Swiss assay mark for 14 karat gold.
    The watch looks original to me. If I am not mistaken I see the Probus Scafusia logo inside the case.
    This type of dial with the red 24 hour markers was not totally unusual 100 years ago.

  • Connoisseur
    24 Dec 2010, 6:31 a.m.

    Sorry, Rolf, we have one of those days to disagree. I very much respect your expertise, but on this one I'm not as sure as you.

    I don't see the Probus Scafusia logo --perhaps I missed it and you can point it out to me. Also, even so the numbering doesn't make sense.

    On the 24 hour dial, what you say is true....but that doesn't make it a dial used by the IWC factory and mated by the factory for this movement. I will show shortly here my latest Schuetzenuhr, which also has such a dial, but it clearly was added on later and also pictures of the same watch exist without the added numbers. But I have no reason to believe that this dial, on this particular watch, was original to this watch as it left the factory...it's atypical for IWCs of this era, unsigned and appears like it was "altered" to add the other numbers.

  • Apprentice
    26 Dec 2010, 11:13 p.m.

    Thank you all so much for your input!

    I also suspected that the casing might not be original. However, there is a IWC Probus Scafusia stamp on the inside of the both the front and back outer lid (photo 2 and 3).

  • Apprentice
    20 Jan 2011, 8:27 p.m.

    Just to clearify:

    My watch has a IWC movement, but probably not an original IWC case, despite IWC stamps on both front and rear lid?

    Or is it just the dial that's not IWC?

    Thanks,

    Martin