Introduce Yourself!

Hi dear new forum!
I am still a little bit confused but it's getting better.
My name is Hans Goerter and I am in the forum from the very beginning.
I live in Germany, in Northrhine Westphalia in a town named KREFELD. The town has 240,000 inhabitants and is in the neighborhood of Dusseldorf and Cologne.
I am a IT specialist and at the moment I am a lecturer for computer sciences in the field of adult education.
I came to IWC during the 80's when I saw the Porsche Titan Chronograph in a windows display.
Every year I am learning more about IWC and the watches and meet many nice people here in the forum or at Collectors Meeting.
Hope to meet you again - virtually or in person :=)
Hans
My hobbies are (besides the watches of course)
[list=a]
[li]Music music music - most of all acoustic guitar fingerpicking[/li]
[li]motorcycling[/li]
[li]painting[/li]
[/list]

with Kurt Klaus at the first Collectors Meeting

me and my BMW K1200RS

Fingerpicking on an old MARTIN D-18

Hello everybody,

I'm Norbert Scheepers and live in Alkmaar (the Netherlands) with my wife and three kids (6,8 and 10 years old). I work as a psychiatrist partly in my own privat practice as psychotherapist and partly a specialist in the field of geriatric psychiatry. Next to that I have a special interest in philosophy, and devellopmental psychology. IWC has been a long passion for me and currently I have 5 IWC watches in my collection. I joined the forum about 5 years ago after obtaining my first IWC, a Mark XV. After that the Uhren-virus hit me hard and confronted me with my own obsessional reasonings for owning more than one watch.

Hi Norbert,

Nice picture, interesting quote: Perfection makes progress impossible. I could add: Perfection makes progress unnecessary. In relation to watches I would go for the perfect watch, and sometimes I feel I've got one, like the rose gold VC Portuguese. But then, what is perfect for one is not for someone else. So even if you think you got perfection, it still may not be there. The question about the quote is: should you strive for perfection? Is it a laudable cause? Are you striving for boredom then, and is that bad? As I stated: an interesting quote.

Kind regards,
Paul, wearing perfection, or so I thought

I tried to reply post a couple of times but failed to post.

Hi hi, it is good to be back :)

My name is Argiris Develegas I come from Kavala a small city in the Greek north.
Since I remember myself I have always liked watches, cooking and tasting, and also beautifully designed and made objects. I became aware of the IWC Forum about three years ago when I was looking for a sports watch to replace my then favorite everyday wearer. I fell for the ref 3227 immediately. Three years and three IWC watches later it is still not mine, it seems that every time I choose something else at the end.

I currently work for a construction materials company in Kavala and my job is to keep everyone satisfied and happy and I am married to my Natassa who is such a patient and supportive person who even accepted to include a small detour to the IWC factory in Schaffhausen during our honeymoon vacation.

I have met many collectors on the Forum and in real life and I am very happy when I meet each and every one of them. During the year I miss so many times the informal dinners and GTGs we had and I wish they were more frequent. You see they are all good friends of mine and I really do miss them.

The IWC Collectors Forum is the definitive place to find out validated information and answers concerning your IWC, current or future. It is also something much more important it is a huge think tank and the meeting place of people sharing exactly the same values with people like F.A. Jones the founder of IWC and this is mainly due to MF's work and contribution here.
So no matter if you are a vintage or contemporary collector a small insignia on your left wrist tells eveything about who you are, Probus Scafusia.

Dear members and fellow IWC addicts,

My name is Mark de Vries from Rotterdam, The Netherlands. My very first "grown up" watch was an IWC: the Portuguese Rattrapante in steel. I bought it about 12 years ago at our local IWC Boutique and remember being extremely proud of owning such a stunning watch. Therefore, it still is in my collection. As a matter a fact it is the only watch that is still there in an ever evolving collection of watches. Apart from the Portuguese, I have three (vintage) YachtClub examples: silver, blue and grey dial, and owned but sold a GolfClub as well as a DaVinci Rattrapante. Selling the DaVinci is considered one of my big mistakes in my watch-life... Apart from IWC I currently have several vintage Rolex and three vintage Vacheron&Constantin references. So I have a weak spot for "vintage".... I am very happy with the path IWC has taken the last years and the current collection, although the Portuguese line is my favorite, is very attractive and will be very succesfull.
My Portuguese has just recently seen a fresh service (came back as new) and today it has got a new strap so it is up for the next 10 years and more...

Apart from my watch-life I am a traumasurgeon in a large non-academic teaching hospital, trainer for Emergency Physicians and medical manager of our ER department. But above all father of Sebastiaan (6 years) and Bregje (4 years) who are constantly testing me and my beloved wife.

Kind regards,
Mark

Hi,
my name is Tilo Hillenbrand and I live with my family in the south western part of Germany fortunately just a stone's throw away from Schaffhausen. My admiration for IWC and their watches started slowly back in 1999 with repeatedly seeing a Pilot's chrono on my boss' wrist and culminated in buying my 1st IWC watch, a Mark XV, back in September 2001. I started reading the forum in March 2001 and became a member taking part in September 2001 a few days before buying the Mark.
I live near Freiburg at the edge of the Black Forest mountains and work as a software developer in the near city of Basel which already belongs to Switzerland. Our two boys are 2 and 7 years old. My older son has already advanced to my personal watch advisor. I ask him in all the important questions concerning taste of watches.
My wife doesn't like my IWC virus too much but she loves my 3717 Pilot's chrono on bracelet and thus will receive it soon. I think she'll be more on my side concerning IWC in the future.
I love this forum because of so many people out there sharing the same passion but also sometimes hate it because it costs too much time which I do not always have. But even if I don't have time, it's good to know that you're out there. And when I find the time there's always a warm welcome that I highly appreciate.
Thank you IWC and forum for this great opportunity that enriched my life with another dimension for more than 10 years now.

Hi everyone,

I thought it would be appropriate to make my first posting in this topic.
My name is Wiemer, 26 years old and I am from the Netherlands. I have been living and working in Rotterdam as a strategy consultant for about a year now after finishing my Masters in Applied Physics in the east of the country.

I recently became interested in IWC watches because one of my bosses owns a few and regularly wears them. I am intrigued by the fact that it works solely on mechanical energy and with mechanical parts. I feel the need to better understand the inner workings of a mechanical timepiece, so if anyone knows some good materials to read, please let me know.

Since there are a lot more watch brands that are mechanical I do not know what it specifically is in IWC watches that attracts me. Maybe it is the Physicist in me demanding a logical explanation based on hard objective facts in a situation where feelings also heavily weigh into the equations. I talked to my brother about it when we were visiting Luzern last weekend and we agreed sometimes you just have to listen to that feeling. Walking down the lake shore in Luzern I was fortunate enough to "run into" (Of course I did the research and had a map on my phone with the locations of these stores) some jewellery stores with IWC in their windows. When gazing upon the thousands and thousands of euros worth of watches I preferred the IWC ones each and every time. It's something about their look and design that I find really beautiful.

My girlfriend thinks it is just one of my crazes again but it feels like this one is going to stay for a while longer. Unfortunately I have not yet visited Schaffhausen even though my girlfriend lives in Basel which is not that far away. Somehow something always seems to get in the way of us paying a visit.

Currently the restraint for buying an IWC watch is, as with buying so many beautiful things, money. As my mom always says "you can spend your money only once" and I would also like to buy a Ducati motorcycle which does not come cheap either. The closest on the horizon would be a Pilot Chronograph IW377701 which I really like with the leather bracelet. What do you guys think about buying a second hand watch? Somehow it appeals to me less, I would like to have my name in the books in Schaffhausen...

Kind regards,

Wiemer

Greetings to all Forum members.

I joined the Forum in May of 2001 after buying a Porche Design Compass Watch. The fever caught hold on me! I live in Southwestern Michigan, retired from the auto industry since Sept. 2004. I have a wonderfull wife that still works in admin. at S.W. Mich. College who supports and comforts my IWC addiction. WE have a 38 year old son and a 19 month old grandson.

The P.D. Compass is long gone, but I have since aquired eight other IWC mods., the latest being the Inge. Laureus. The collection also includes four other Richmont sisters; three Rolex & one Panerai.

Best regards & Welcome to all new members

Zyxtimer

Hi everyone,
My name is Jukka-Pekka. I live in Espoo, Finland. I joined the Forum in 2006 when I bought my first IWC, a Portuguese chrono Edition Laureus. Nowadays my collection also includes a Spitfire Chrono Edition Laureus, a Spitfire MK XVI, A Portuguese Automatic 5001-14, a 5454-07 Portuguese Hand-Wound, and a classic RG 3531 small Portuguese.
I support my watch collecting addiction by working in management consulting.

Best Regards,
JiiPee

Greatings
I`m a retired specialist in life insurances. I was lucky when I could retire early in the course of a restructure of my company last year.
I spent my youth in Schaffhausen - great city by the way :-). So I made aquaintance with IWC since I could read the time.
Then we lost another - IWC and me, but now I discovered IWC again: It was love on (almost) first sight. And so I am now looking for my first IWC watch. Thats wonderful and terrible at the same time: Just in love with another watch each day :-)).

Best Regards, Lutz

Hi everyone.
My name is Ki Park, I am from Korea and I live in Mexico since 1990. I am 38 years old, married and we have 2 years old twins (a girl and a boy).
My first contact with the brand was through a sales counter window when I was like 25 years old, in that time I was starting my business, so I had no money to purchase one.
Now I own a couple of IWC and planning to get more with the time, hope to purchase the Father & Son soon, obviously will be 2 sons for my kids.
I am in plastic business here in Mexico City.
I think I spend more time following this forum than winding my watch everyday.
Best regards.

Greetings, fellow fanatics!

A relatively recent Forum member, I joined in the fall of 2009, shortly after purchasing my Mark XVI Pilot, which has not left my wrist since then.

I'm a retired teacher (Latin, Greek, and German) who is eagerly waiting to be joined in retirement--coming at the end of this academic year--by my one-and-only, Nina, who is also in love with all things German. (It cannot be mere coincidence in my case that IWC is in the German-speaking part of Switzerland). Nina is at least sympathetic with my IWC obsession, but she's not a watch enthusiast per se. Nobody's perfect.

We live in St. Louis most of the year, spending summers in Aspen, where Nina has a house (a modest dwelling in town, not a mountain palace). Oddly, or not so oddly, Aspen has a fine IWC dealer, while St. Louis has none.

It's an honor for me to be one of you--I've read your bios, and you're a uniformly interesting bunch. I browse other watch sites, and maybe you'll agree that the tone there can often get rancorous. Not here, though. I hope I am half as civilized as all of you clearly are, judging by your posts. Of course, credit for the civil tone of our forum starts with Michael F., the very epitome of homo urbanus.

My immediate hopes include two that are IWC-related. First, I am going to start saving up for the proposed new Collectors' Forum watch. (As a retired teacher, I have to plan these multi-thousand-dollar purchases with care.) Second, I want someday to share a glass of champagne with Kurt Klaus. Ideally, that would be at the factory in Schaffhausen, but any Treffpunkt (meeting place) would do.

With best wishes to all,

Cheers!

Donald

Donald,

Email me at wrbarker at gmail dot com

Although I no longer live in St. Louis, I grew up there and my son lives in Clayton. I visit occasionally and would love to have a visit. A great part of our involvement here on the Forum is having informal GTG's.

Hello everyone, Vinhthang here joined the forum Jan 2012... I and live in London, England with my wife and 2 young daughters (1 and 3). I'm a complete newbie as I have only just gotten my first IWC - a Da Vinci Flyback Chronograph in White Gold Ref 3764 - about a week ago! See picture below.

I started off my career briefly in investment banking/private equity but for the last 7 years or so have been trying to make it as an entrepreneur (in fine art publishing/investing, property and renewables). Sadly nothing has really taken off yet so you will NOT be reading about any frequent IWC acquisitions, but I will certainly live vicariously through the rest of you!

I've had an appreciation for fine watches for as long as I can remember, but after getting a large dial Zenith a few years back I now can't get myself to wear anything but large watches. That led me to the IWC Da Vinci, for me a spectacularly exquisite bit of aesthetic and craftsmanship. So here I am, and I'm pretty sure I'm hooked!

I'm Terry i have own my first IWC classic pilot last year march today something unfortunate happen i was walking along the street with my family while walking my watch hit on to a guy watch (Which was a cheap brand) and that surface a dent chip on my IWC.... when i call in to Singapore IWC asking is there any solution there told me that is steel so there is no way that there could recover the Dent chip..... i'm sad as i always believed that IWC is the best watch the why i stop buying ROLEX and change to IWC but after this incident i totally felt that IWC might has the best movement in the world but the material ROLEX might till be th best....

I just ordered my first IWC watch. I bought the Portuguese Chrono black/ steel. Its my first IWC and I love it :) I also bought the IWC Engineering time book, so I can read up on the company. My other watches are Tag Heuers and an Ebel. Those watches really can't be compared to that IWC though. Its like comparing a Rolls Royce with an ..... You fill in the blanks :) The feel and looks of IWC are breathtaking. Makes me want more