When I showed three of my recent pocket watches, for which their special virtue was their cases, one member here asked me to show their movements. Rather than simply do that, I thought I’d show the movements in a broader context –a brief history of early IWC pocket watch movements.
For brevity, I’ve excluded the earliest movements –the Jones, Seelands, etc. I’ve also excluded later movements, from about 1930 on, including the well-known calibre 98 and its thinner sister, calibre 95. I also can’t cover all movements or technical details in this one post.
](The first movement here, on the left, is an early one, number 5025 in the “second numbering” and is, I believe, an Elgin I (I need to obtain further information on it –it could be a slightly earlier Pfister). You can compare it to the Pallweber –the “jump hour digital” which is an Elgin II. Finally, you can compare them to a “Calibre IWC” –an early Calibre 52.
The Calibre 52 had many variations –different balance cocks, different regulators, etc. It was the ‘workhorse” IWC pocket watch movement, and was made from 1888 to 1940, in almost 300,000 examples –and over 460,000 if one counts its sister Calibre 53 savonette movement. Shown here is another Calibre 52, and compared to a late example Calibre 57:
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I always considered the Calibre 57 as a less expensive variation of the Calibre 52, but you can see here that the Calibre 57 certainly holds it own to this one Calibre 52, especially on the regulator.
Also, during this era --the first few decades of the 1900s-- IWC also produced “finger bridge” movements. You can tell them from the long narrow cocks. The first was the Calibre 65, which is here is shown as a late example. The second was the Calibre 73, an almost identical design with an especially thin movement (its Savonette sister, Calibre 74 also was used in early Portuguese wristwatches).
](Finally, at the far right is another finger bridge movement –the Calibre 77, which also came in several finishing variations, and even different jewelings. Some collectors consider the Calibre 77 as IWC’s most beautiful movement. There’s even one who calls himself “watch77”.
Hopefully this brief introduction helps you visualize IWC’s early movements. Compared to today’s finishing standards –with anglage on the edges of the plates, stripes and perlage, most of the older movements (with calibre 77 as a notable exception) weren’t as decorated. They’re still perfectly functional, after all these years, and I still consider them beautiful.
Regards,
Michael Friedberg
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