I May Not "Get" the Aquatimer Perpetual, But I Sure Do Get This!

Now THIS just oozes IWC from every molecule of its being. Mike and the Wizards of Schaffhausen sure did a great job on the CF3!

I am so looking forward to this one! I sent my "intention" in via the link Mike posted. Hope lots of you have as well.

Thanks very much, Dick. I think a watch company can make different types or styles of watches for different purposes. I really like, for example, the Ingenieur Perpetual.

But to me the essence of mechanical watches is tradition. And the CF3 was intended to be (at least in my eyes) a totally classic watch. It doesn't have a blue dial (like my new Portofino 8-day), and not even a little airplane on one of the hands. It's a pure watch. Single date window and antimagnetic.

At one point in the design process I suggested yellow hands and numerals. That was quickly, and correctly, vetoed by the design people in Schaffhausen. With hindsight, I'm glad.

I'm glad you and many others appreciate what this watch is. To those that haven't ordered yet, they're missing something in my opinion, big time. This watch to me is the quintessential pilot's watch, and pilot's watches are the core of IWC.

Forum members can commit to a CF3 by completing this form.

End of sales pitch.

Dick 100% agreed, and know in this case I like "ooze" !

This CF3 has all the heritage properties that one would look for in an IWC timepiece.

Agree.. That watch is awesome!

Just a comparison to the FIRST Automatic Fliegerchronograph from 1995, the ref. 3705.

Regards

HEBE

Hi Hebe,

I love the ref. 3705 (and the slightly earlier ref. 3706 --which was in fact my first IWC watch). But I really expect my CF3 to be even more loved --to me it is an even "purer" flight watch, with only a date window and with an in-house movement and that has only two subdials.

I was introduced to IWC in the mid-1990s as a "tool watch" with the 3706, and this new model at the very least carries on that traditional fully.

Hi Michael, just a design comparison.

As more I see the CF3 as more I like it. But, much too big for me, like the most IWC models :-(

So, I MUST keep the comfortable vintage :-)

Regards

HEBE

Poor little HEBE, I pity you LOL

This one I "get" and I would be really worried if I didn't "get it".

Well David, I have learned to handle it :-)

This will be my first Pilots watch. It's a good way to start I think.

Jarrod,

I think if someone owned only one pilot's watch this should be the one. Really --I admit I'm biased, but to me a chronograph really is what pilot's watches are about, and the in-house chronograph movement from IWC is the best example of this.

Also, I won't say the watch is "mid-sized" but it is somewhat in-between the larger Big Pilot's watches and the simpler "time-only" models, and that to me makes it not a compromise but the best example.

Plus, as I've said before mechanical watches are about tradition and the heritage of pilot's watches especially represents that. This watch to me, with its single date window, antimagnetic properties, plain black dial and in-house movement, is a classic example of that tradition recast as a modern watch. And if one would own only one pilot's watch, that classicism to me is important.

And none of this even mentions that this is a Collectors' Forumwatch. That to me is the best reason.

I disagree, Michael. One can adore this watch for design purposes and for the fact that it sports an IWC calibre, is designed in current fashion and has a magnetic shield. It looks nice, at least from the pictures.

But to me, neither a chrono nor the design have something to do with a pilots watch. Typical pilots watches are black-white for good legibility, they sometimes have a date window (not all of them, though) and they do NOT feature a chrono function. So they would look like either a 5002, even a 5004 or a Mark XV or similar models.

To me, the CFW 3 is typically a watch you would add to the collection if you already have other watches, especially pilots watches, and you money is less of a restriction to you.

David, sometimes I disagree with you and sometimes, more frequently I agree. But this time, I think you're dead wrong. We have a different view of horological history and, candidly, I didn't know you were a student of that.

In WW II pilot's chronos were frequently used, since elapsed time was important relative to flying. The original late-1930s so-called Mark 9 (a misnomer for the IWC Special Watch for Pilots) marked elapsed time with a bezel ring. But chronographs, far more sophisticated, were produced by other brands and used for flight.

To quote Konrad Knirm on the German military watches: "The first navigation wristwatches (B-Uhren) experimented with the central second by derivation of [b]pocket chronograph movements /b. " (emphasis added)

Of course the Tutima and Hanhart wristwatch flight chronographs were probably the most important military watches of the German air force in WWII. As Knirim writes: "The well-known wrist chronographs of 'Tutima Glashuette' and the 'Hanhart' are not mentioned, though they were officially constructed and ordered for the pilots of hunters and especially the 'Stuka', which meant air-surface combat fighters."

After WW II, Knirim adds "With the end of the war in 1945, the still-existing stocks of timepieces at Glashuette, together with part of the production lines and the testing equipment of Gesundbrunnen near Dresden, were sent to the Soviet Union as 'repair' payments. Tutima pilot chronographs, e.g., were brought in transport boxes to the Soviet headquarters in Dresden. Until August 8, 1945, all production lines of the UFAG and the UROFA (initials of manufacturing companies in Glashuette) movements were dismounted and on the way to Moscow. Recently, I saw a Tutima chronograph in bad condition, which was marked on the dial with the cyrillic letters 'First Moscow Watch Factory Kirowa'. "

In mentioning the above regarding German flight chronographs, I've ignored other countries. The Type 20 and 21 flight chronographs of France (by Breguet, Dodane, Airain and others) are legendary and, as one source calls, them they are "tool watches par excellence",

If you'd like, I'd be glad to go through the history of UK and US flight chronographs as well. Even Peru used them. But this is, indeed, an IWC forum and I'm not sure I should spend further time educating everyone about the history of military watches here. I would commend Knirim's two books, as well as Ziggy Wesolowski's earlier one on UK military watches.

To be honest, I'm pretty stoked that this is going to be my first Pilots watch. As I said, it's a great introduction in my humble opinion. I was going to pick one up in a couple of weeks in Sydney, but changed to an Ingenieur once I had placed the order for the CF3.

And, money is certainly restricted for me but I'm very happy with the CF3. If it's half as cool as it looks in the pic it will be a winner.

I really like the appearance of the watch, but owning a Spitfire unfortunately pushes it a bit towards the unlikely list.
The fact that the in-house chrono is so important and is named so often is fairly peculiar to me though.
The caliber has an issue with the chrono function, thus do we adore the fact that the complication is present and disregard the fact that issues exist that will render it inaccurate and even then "unsafe to pilots"?
I just get the idea that there is alot of emphasis on the fairytale, but hey that might just be me.

Michael, thank you for your explanations. I guess everybody can search in the internet to read see how typical pilot watches look like (respectively, used to look like in the time they were used as navigation instrument). There used to be standards that were used by all companies producing pilot watches, and to me, the Spitfire does not reflect these standards at all - that's all I am trying to say.

Still, it looks nice and I am sure the buyers won't be disappointed.

I have never had any problem with this calibre. Unless you have owned a fair number, generalizations from a few anecdotal reports have little, if any, statistical significance.

On the fairy tale, all watches in a senses are that. I doubt more than one or two people on this forum pilots any plane using his watch for navigation. I've taken my IWCs only as a passenger, even on some amazing plane flights. Casio would work as well.

To me, fine mechanical watches are about tradition and craft. This inhouse movement, with its column wheel design, reflects that craft. And that's not fantasy.

"I have never had any problem with this calibre." MF - does this set a standard?

I really like the CF3 offering and all that it is offering. I am not an IWC exclusive, and read a lot on this topic with a grin... It is just odd to see big boys, spending big bucks and then stare into a fairytale, is this what IWC is now about???

On your comment about the calibre ... I received the opposite from IWC and a large AD group.

Many good reasons speak for this watch:
Its classic design, it's purity, it's an IWC forum watch with individual number, the buffalo leather strap fits much more to a pilot's watch than a crocodile (that would rather fit a jungle or pirate's watch).

I've really thought of getting in but there's a few reasons why I cannot:
[ol]
[li]My funds for this watch are not secured until summer[/li]
[li]I'm dreaming of another watch I like more recently. So I spend all my efforts on this one - frequent visitors here might know which one ;-)[/li]
[li]The pictures speak to me but probably not enough. If I spent that amount of money for a watch it has to be close to perfect for a very long time to me. I have become a purist when it comes to my personal taste.[/li]
[/ol]
I have two minor critics on the CF3:
[ol]
[li]The first one is the same with the Spitfire Chrono: Why does the chronograph not feature the hour counter? This for me is making a perfect movement imperfect.[/li]
[li]I like more the triple date window. This for me made the recent pilot's watches a little bit more interesting from a design perspective.[/li]
[/ol]
OK: beauty always lies in the eye of the beholder.

[ul]
[li]For me the 43 mm case is a little bit too small.[/li]
[li]The purest and most classical pilot's watch in IWC's newer history is the Big Pilot's watch, namely the initial design from the 2002 model.[/li]
[/ul]
As I said: I have become very special with my personal taste over the years I admire fine watches especially made by IWC.
But I really love the idea of this forum watch that stands behind it. The one I really regretted many times that I couldn't get in then was the CFI. But from today's perspective it was OK because IWC now has a watch that comes close in design and to me appeals a little more perfect with a slightly bigger size and the chronograph movement and a close to perfect design.
With a Formula 1 race car on the back side rather than my personal name engraved on it.
That's (watch) life. I really enjoy this forum almost every day even if I'm less active than I used to be in the early forum years but it has become and stays since quite a few years now a substantial part of my life.
And that's why I appreciate the idea of a special watch for this forum, even if not exclusive. It could be called a "Friends of IWC watch" as well what I obviously am.

Nicely put Tilo. Will you have your new Inge by this christmas do you think? Would be cool to catch up and compare your new one with mine. I nearly went the same way you are planning to go.

I like slightly bigger than 43mm too. But I'm happy to have one in the collection, I think it is a minimum size for me. Anything smaller gets lost on my wrist.

Cheers,

Jarrod

Jarrod I'm not sure but I hope to. But this model will be available next year too. I have learned to wait a little bit though I really want to get it to my wrist this year - We'll see.
I know your wrists are quite bigger than mine. So you really need strong watches. Even I like them more than the small ones. For a few weeks I really thought my first Mark XV back in 2001 was big. But that changed quickly.
I think the 45 or 46 mm watches are perfect in size but a lot depends on lug and case shapes and how they are connected to straps or bracelets.

Hi Hebe, any chance I could convince you to sell me your 3705?