Grail found....Inge 866..

Thanks Nelson.

I have not been this delighted with an acquisition in a very long time!

That is one of the IWC vintage watches that always caught my eye. Congratulations Todd, you got a real beauty!

Thanks Dzul!

It's been on my wrist since I received it last Thursday..

Great to see a so big enthusiasm on this new aquisition. The ingenieur is one of the basic icon of iwc ( I started my collection with this watch....), but it seemed that somebody forgot it. Wear your watch as often as possible and don't touch it at all. It is perfect as it is.

Thanks Giuliano,

I will definitely be wearing this watch often. I am so very happy (still) to have received it last week!

The only thing I will do with this watch is have the movement serviced by an IWC expert watchmaker. He is a member of this forum and is known to be a great guy who does beautiful work. And I can drive to his shop and hand him the watch in person. I do not ever wish to ship this watch again. Much too precious to me.

Because I value this watch so much, I will not remove the hands for the relume.
I cannot risk scratching the dial, even though I use a dial protector and very thin and polished hand removal levers... Hand removal is something that always makes me a bit nervous. Which is why in this case I would like the hands removed by an expert. I have relumed a number of watches with good results. But I know that I would never forgive myself if I damaged this dial. Even though it has never happened before there is always a first time!

I know that you may not agree with this, but I will ask the watchmaker to give me the hands after he has removed them. The lume spread/degradation on the minute hand sort of bugs me. And I am able to work with a "non-glow" lume that can be matched, if one has the time and patience. I just think the watch will look so much better with a matching minute hand.

Kind Regards,

Todd

p.s. I also have a NOS crystal that I will give to the watchmaker. Of course I will keep all the old parts!

Dear Todd.
Huge congratulations! I am so glad that you finally found your blue dialed 866. And a beautiful specimen you managed to grab.
Absolutely wonderful piece.
All the best, Ryan

Thanks Ryan!
I was thinking of giving you a shout so I could beg you to sell me yours....Although I was pretty sure I knew what the answer would have been..

Speak Soon-
Todd

Todd, I don't believe I almost missed this post .. and seeing that TRULY MAGNIFICENT TIMEPIECE!!

It's absolutely stunning and I wish you well to wear it in good health and happiness.

Congratulations Todd. What a great find, and patience is a virtue. Bravo.

great find(!)wear it in health

It looks fabulous. Enjoy wearing it.

Thanks so much! Now in the hands of a master IWC watchmaker for movement service..

Many thanks!

Thanks to all who recently replied. Now it's getting a movement service, gaskets, etc. by a well known and respected watchmaker.

When we opened the watch, the rubber "shock absorbers" were missing, and happily, the IWC watchmaker had them in stock. I took a drive to personally hand him the watch. While there, he removed the hands for me so I could take them home and see if I can clean up and relume the minute hand

The only downside is that I won't get to wear this beauty for 3 months while it gets a movement service. But at least I will have time to patiently try to come up with a lume match for the minute hand. It's very time consuming, but also sort of fun..

Will post more when she returns..

Thanks Andrew!

Many thanks...

Thanks!

If I'm not much mistaken, 3 months has passed - this watch should be back from the menders now, right? ;)

Would love to see the finished product!

In the meantime, I have 2 things to ask -

1. What exactly is meant by a "sigma" dial? Are you saying there are different variants of this already rare blue 866?

2. Can all 866 experts please look at the following photo - the lume on the hands looks so clean... in fact, the hands look so clean compared with other pictures I've seen of the 866, that I can't help wondering if they have been re-lumed, or the hands replaced entirely?

What do you guys think?

Thanks!

Matt