Getting my first IWC

Hello everyone! After reading the forum for such a long time, I have decided to create an account to join in the discussions and also to seek your opinions as I am looking to buy my first IWC Watch later this year near Christmas!

A little bit about myself :

From sunny Singapore, I have started following IWC ever since I saw their ads in magazines. I like how they portray "understated luxury", are not loud and the watches are relatively simple, in a good way. Having worked for one and a half years now, I have saved enough to purchase my very first IWC and I plan to do it later this year closer to Christmas in either the IWC boutique in Singapore or in the IWC Boutique in Taipei, where I will be holidaying.

I am considering between the IWC Pilot's Watch Mark XVIII and the IWC Portofino automatic and I have some questions which I hope you guys can help me with :

1. I am more than okay with how both watches look. Considering that, is one watch better than the other in terms of movement, history of the line, design or any other considerations?

2. Are there any other IWC entry level models that I should consider?

3. I understand that the IWC Pilot's Mark XVIII movement is a modified kit from a supplier. My question is, "What is the difference between an in-house movement and does this makes the Mark XVIII "less IWC"?"

4. Regarding heading to the boutique to purchase the watch, would the sales staff be willing to gift me anything, considering that I am going to purchase only the entry level watch. Could I ask for straps or anything else?

Thanks for any help in advance!

Welcome aboard,

I am also new to the IWC collectors' forum and I know I will be learning more about IWC watches. Have you considered the legendary IWC Mark XVI pilot watch? I am lucky enough to have one and I must say is a beautiful watch.

Regards,
David

Collecting IWC is a very personal thing and it is difficult to select between so many timepieces.
But all the questions you ask can be anwered by searching the arrchives of this Forum ( spy glass top right), where you can find objective descriptions of movements and historical facts as well as numerous subjective reports on personal taste and emotions stated by multiple collectors from all over the world, concerning all IWC models ever made. There is one rule : we never discuss prices or discounts of pieces from the current or recent collection.
Kind regards,
Adrian,
(alwaysiwc).

Welcome Alex and congrats on narrowing your options down to two, not an easy thing to do.

I would say, if you haven't already, go to the boutiques and try both watches on in person and consider your reactions when trying them on. Very important. And the most important thing is to go with the watch that "speaks" with you the most, not what is the most popular model, which costs more.

Generally speaking, there is more prestige with an in-house movement because it is designed and developed by the manufacture itself, in this case IWC, rather than buying a third party movement that is more mass produced and a more general movement. While in-house movements are more prestigious, they will cost more to buy and to repair since parts might be proprietary. Third party movements might not be as prestigious, but they are used because many of them have been proven to be reliable workhorses that get the job done and done well. Because they are more mass produced, parts are more readily available and repairs and service work will cost less.

As AlwaysIWC said, watches are a very personal thing. My favorite IWC line is the Ingenieur and so I obviously would recommend looking into an Ingenier. But as I said earlier, that means nothing because you're buying the watch for you and you know what's best and most suitable for you - not all the noise from the marketing materials.

I wish I could give more details and specifics, but there are many many more forum members infinitely more knowledgable than I am and you'll get some great info from them.

Enjoy the world of watches!

hi there, this is my very first post to the Forum after visiting for a couple of years. I will post about my own IWC journey in due course once I upload pics. From experience of purchasing from the automatic ranges (Portofino black dial Milanese bracelet and Ingy white dial - both worn by my wife; and Aquatimer black dial rubber strap for me) I guarantee once you hit the Boutique and try on pieces from each line you will 100% fall for one (or more) of them. I haven't tried the Mark. All are beautiful IWCs. My personal fav would be the Ingy - Genta dna, the strap...

Both are very good choices for your first IWC.
If you need any nudging towards a particular model, I will let this post speak volumes. New IWC

to add some colour to my earlier post..hope this uploads (my first attempt):
s1259.photobucket.com/user/Dixta/library/?view=recent

You know, I just watched an interview with Georges Kern with two reporters from the New Zuricher Zeitung which was very interesting and may be relevant.

Basically, he said buying a watch in this class is an emotional decision, and not a rational decision.

So the best advice, as stated above, is to go to an AD and try ALL the watches in your price class - whether you think they are interesting or not - and one will probably really stick in your mind. That's the one to buy.

Watches in a similar prices class would be the Marks, Pilot Chrono, Portofino automatic, Portofino chronograph, Ingenieur automatic, Portuguese chrono, Aquatimer automatic. Possibly Portofino hand-wound or Portuguese automatic.

There are some stunning and iconic watches in this list.

If an in-house movement is important to you, everything except the last two fall out of consideration. Since this is an emotional decision, wanting an in-house movement is a perfectly valid basis for your decision. A purely rational decision might lead you to NOT choose an in-house movement. The supplied movements are less expensive; they are more economical to maintain and repair (since they are based on standard movements and theoretically any good watchmaker could repair them); and nevertheless they are robust, accurate, high-quality movements. But rational reasons are largely irrelevant.

The in-house movements are relatively large, so you have to consider your wrist size. If you want a glass back, you have to go with an in-house.

As far as the quality is concerned, I have seen nothing in the workmanship of the entry-level models which makes me think less time and effort is spent on them. IWC cases, for example, are uniformly exquisite. The straps are, too. Their metal bracelet is one of the very best available.

In my case, the correct watch was a Portuguese Chrono 3714-46. When I got serious about finally buying a "luxury watch" (and in my opinion any IWC, from the least to most expensive, qualifies as a "luxury watch") and actually went to an AD and tried on watches, this was the one which knocked me over the head. From my point of view an absolutely perfect watch. There were many others I liked quite a bit, but this one grabbed me in the gut. That's all she wrote.

Though I REALLY LIKE the new Mark XVIII Petit Prince. I like it so much, it's making my wife uncomfortable.

Steven

David, thank you for your comments to my humble post, I am very appreciative of it. I am in fact considering the IWC Mark XVIII, although this look similar to the Mark XVI. Maybe you can educate me on the differences! We are all lucky enough that we are able to earn comfortable amounts of money and that IWC is here to satisfy our watch needs! Have a great week ahead!

Thank you Adrian for your comments and thanks for letting me know the rule about not discussing prices on threads. I will definitely take my time to read through the wealth of information on this forum before making my purchase decision!

I took your advice and took advantage of the national holiday in Singapore today (National Day) to pop over to the IWC boutique! I had a really pleasant experience where the sales associate gave me a lot of information, a lot of opinions and showed me 8-10 watches that I was able to try on to see which one speaks to me. I am currently leaning towards the Mark XVIII Le Petit Prince edition or the Mark XVIII with the black dial.

Your advice on the in house vs modified kit is spot on for me. I did not see it from this point of view, in terms of servicing costs and the prestige that goes along with it. I was told by the sales associate that in house movements are associated more with longer power reserves, flyback repeater (?) and that there isn't really that much of a difference.

Amazing and helpful advice, thank you so much !

Hi Steven

Thank you for the amazing advice! Is the interview in English? Would you mind directing me to the video if it is? I would love to watch it. I totally agree with you that watch collecting is very emotional because rationality would dictate that I never buy a watch since " who uses the watch to tell time nowadays anyway ", as said by one of my friend who is not into watch collecting.

I took your advice and the advice of another member and went to a boutique today and had a lovely experience trying the watches I had in mind on. I might go back another time or two to try on watches from the other lines, namely the PORTUGIESER series and the INGENIEUR series. I am quite curious about the Ingenieur.

It's great to know that modified movements are as good as in house movements quality wise! That is very important to me because even though the Mark XVIII is entry level, it is still a lot of money. It would be sad if they don't put in the same effort as they do to the other watches in the line.

Oh, believe me. I love the Petit Prince Mark XVIII quite a lot!!

Hi Dixta!

Thank you for the very kind comments and advice. Yes, I am falling in love with all the IWC time pieces that I tried on earlier today!

Hi Mark,

Thank you for the link! I am new to this forum so everything is a little bit overwhelming to me. I will look through the thread you linked!

Hello Alex

I'm afraid the interview is in German. In any case, here it is:

www.nzz.ch/video/georges-kern-swiss-made-uhren-luxus-0_7e64z3x4

steven

1. I am more than okay with how both watches look. Considering that, is one watch better than the other in terms of movement, history of the line, design or any other considerations?

2. Pilots have a solid history in IWC's history whereas for me the Portofino is just kind of abit pretentious...Pilot +1

3. Are there any other IWC entry level models that I should consider? Aquatimer, Portuguese Chronograph, Ingeniuer.

4. I understand that the IWC Pilot's Mark XVIII movement is a modified kit from a supplier. My question is, "What is the difference between an in-house movement and does this makes the Mark XVIII "less IWC"?" The difference is exclusivty mainly and price. With an inhouse, only iWC uses that particularly movement but even then i believe IWC makes it in conjunction with valfleruier which Panerai also uses. Inhouse also tends to be specced higher.

5. Regarding heading to the boutique to purchase the watch, would the sales staff be willing to gift me anything, considering that I am going to purchase only the entry level watch. Could I ask for straps or anything else?

I think no harm in asking.

First of all, welcome! I hope you will acquire your ideal first IWC soon, with many more coming in the future.

1) Pilot vs. Portofino. I think it is a matter of taste. In my opinion, Pilot is a bit more versatile, meaning that you can wear it with suit and tie, as well as t-shirt and jeans. Portofino is a bit more formal. Most people would tell you that the pilot series are more popular.

One thing that differentiates between the Pilot from the Portofino is that Mark 18 has anti-magnetic feature. IWC does not heavily advertise it and have it engraved somewhere (like some other brands do), but that feature is there if you need it.

2) I would recommend taking a look at the Portuguese chrono also. It is also very iconic for IWC. Many brands tried to copy its look, but none have succeeded in making their watches as elegant with a balanced-yet-simple look than IWC. Worth checking out.

3) in-house movements of course makes the watch a bit more unique and special. Some may argue why pay so much for an IWC when Hamilton/Longines/Tag Heuer/Sinn/[insert other brands] are using essentially the same movement as the IWC.

One thing you need to know, however, is that IWC has traditionally been using ETA movements. Some of its watchmakers have done wonderful things by modifying the basic ETA movement or adding modules to it. For instance, Kurt Klaus built a Perpetual Calendar on top of a standard ETA 7750 movement, Richard Harbing created a module again for the 7750 to provide rattrapante function, and then there is Markus Bühler. They are all amazing watch-makers who once helped IWC to turn plain-jane ETA movements into something very special. Furthermore, IWC has also given many suggestions to improving the basic ETA movements, which helped to shape some of the ETA movements the way they are today. Nowadays, I believe Swatch group no longer provides ETA movements in kit for IWC to assemble, the movements Swatch group delivers to IWC are per IWC's design specs and requirements.

So, in conclusion, does using an ETA movement make an IWC less special? I personally don't see it that way, but you are entitled to your own opinion.

Also, as people say, all ETA movements were once "in-house" movements by some other companies. When the Swiss watch industry was in deep trouble when Japan quartz flooded the market, ETA actually went around buying out and keeping the best movements, thereby rescuing some of the good but dying designs to live another day. All these movements were selected for good reasons. So, don't be surprised if some of the ETA movements outperform many so-called in-house movements in terms of reliability and accuracy. (Ever wondered why most chronometer-rated watches use ETA movements instead of some in-house movements?).

If you ask what makes IWC in-house movements so special? well... there are many reasons too. One of which common to all IWC in-house automatic movement is that they all have the famous IWC Pellaton winding system, which supposedly wind a watch much more efficiently. Does that matter to you as your daily watch? well... it may or may not.

4) talk to the sales. :-) All I can say is i trust that the sales at the boutique will try their to make your purchase a pleasant experience. Whether it means an extra strap, an invitation to an exclusive event, etc. is for you to find out.

Have fun with your first purchase!

Great and thoughtful answer Kelvin.

I thought the same...great answer.