IWC Anti-Magnetic Watches. Intellectual Masterpieces from the 20 th Century. Part I.

As avid vintage IWC collectors, Heiko Bertram, Hans Goerter and myself consider the fourth quarter of the last century as the era when IWC made its most revolutionary , high tech wristwatches: the Ingenieurs, the Yacht Clubs, the civil and military Ocean Divers. As a matter of fact,until today, IWC was never surpassed sofar by any brand in making the best anti-magnetic military and civil watch, ever produced.
About a year ago we published a 2 part article on IWC super anti-magnetic watches in Horological Journal, the independant and official journal of the British Horological Institute (BHI). As the there is no longer an issue concerning the copyright, we are now able to post our data on our Forum (Today Part I).
Kind regards,
Heiko Bertram,
Hans Goerter,
Adrian v d Meijden,
(alwaysiwc).

Hi All
Great source of IWC knowledge.

Thank you very much for posting it.

The watch shown in figure 2 is not marked with Paillard's patent but a patent by Heinrich Ostermann and Charles Lacroix a director of the 'Usine Genèvoise de Dégrossissage D’or', a Paillard competitor. None of the watches named, calibre 57, 58 or 52/53 were marked with Paillard's patents.

For details on the the early non magnetic patent markings see;

Non Magnetic IWC Watches and Patents

Cheers from the cellar

Dear Greg,
It is an honour for us that you read the article so thoroughly and that you are commenting on IWC's early "antimagnetic" pw movements.
It is from you, among others that we have learned to report correctly and after reliable research. The sources we used are the same as you refer to : the books of Meis , Tölke and King and of course your very detailed article of 2006. However, your reported information is so detailed and of course authentic, that we decided to keep the early history on anti-magnetic IWC pw's, short. Firstly, because you had already written your article. Secondly, because these anti-magnetic inventions were not launched by IWC.
Although the name of Paillard is mentioned, the legend of fig. 2 says : "IWC, cal. 58, early 'non-magnetic' watch, patent 1888"
It does not say : Paillard's Patent.
In our article we report : "IWC as well as competitors used balance springs in the cal. 58 Savonette, the Lepine cal. 57 'Americaine' and some of the cal. 52/53 movements.
The sources we used for this is particularly your article. However, we are not saying, nor suggesting that these are Paillard Patent's.
So, in summary:
The name Paillard is only mentioned as an important person for the development of early anti-magnetic PW's, among them IWC. Those who want to know more on this specific topic should read your exellent article.It is very detailed and an important horological document that, we believe should be published in the literature.
Kind regards,
On behave of the authors,
Adrian v d Meijden
(alwaysiwc).

Great article about the history of amagnetism in watches as well as Greg's comment and link to his essay. Thanks for sharing.

Looking forward to part2.

Kind regards

Thank you gentlemen, for another informative article!

This week part 2 of this article. In part one the principles of magnetism were discussed. Now in the final part 2, we describe how ingeneously IWC succeeded in eliminating one of the basic forces that can disturb the function of a watch : magnetism. The watches envolved were but still are so outstanding that as far as we know their achieved Olympic and World records still stand firmly.
Kind regards,
Heiko Bertram,
Hans Goerter,
Adrian v d Meijden,
(alwaysiwc).

Really interesting work, congratulations and thanks for posting once again.

Cheers!

Interesting information. Thanks for posting and maintaining my education.

Thank you very much for the very interesting article. For some reason it doesn't show up on the iPad but I managed to read it anyhow and I am very glad I did!

Kind regards,

Clemens

I read from the first article one requires a faraday cage to protect against airport scanners for watches that contain parts that can be magnetised. Yet if the watch, as said in the second article is made out of non-magnetic materials, one does not.

This is something I wish to know more about. For I am revisiting my fiftieth birthday present to myself, which I posted a comment a year or so ago on my excitement on discovering a gold pilot chronograph IW371713. Alas I procrastinated too long justifying the expense and my dear wife saw fit to put her case forward for us (me) to purchase something which she valued more and the whole family could use. An out door spa.

Update, with all my funds but spent I am now still wishing to purchase my first mechanical watch for my fiftieth which was in January. Due to the lack of my funds and I desiring a watch before Christmas, I am considering the pilot chronographs in stainless steel, though my dear wife whilst luxuriating in spa bubbles says the Portofinos look nicer, in her opinion. The stainless steel bands on the pilots look too old fashioned. I must say the milanese bracelets on the Portofinos are quite catching.

My question to the group:

Should I just purchase any old watch that looks nice or should I be concerned with airport scanners and everything magnetic?

it is a bit hard to read these articles because of the size, is there a link to the pages at all?

No problem: click right mouse button => select: open in a new window => select: enlarge

For Macs / iPads / iPhones use the pinch feature to expand the article.

...and if you´re using Windows/Mozilla, Strg and + enlarges the page. Or as
hebe wrote, open the picture/article in a new tab and Strg and + ...Voila

Jimmy

Intellectual research and reporting is always appreciated here. As is a nod to the period where pushing the functionality envelope was <i>de rigeur </i>at IWC.