Hello IWC-people.
I used to think the Tudor Heritage Chrono that I had was the perfect one piece collection watch. Great looks, history, wears great amd so on. Despite owning a few Rolex watches in the past, I liked the Tudor more. Out of curiosity on went on the search to see if I could find something with even better specs. Great model history, low profile (max 42MM width and 14MM height) dimensions and an at least 150M WR was a must.
Eventually I found out about the IWC Aquatimer 1000, IW3548, and fell in love with it. 😀 Bought one which originally sold in 2004 and it is oretty much as new. I think I will be keeping this one for a looong time, especially since I’m only wearing one watch only.
Currently, I’m in the proces of making adapter sets for the GST-type IWC watches, that have the integrated bracelet style watch case. After buying this set, it will be possible for you to attach aftermarket straps in a safe way. Reason for this is the lack of availible straps for these type of IWC watches (except for the oEM IWC rubber strap for this watch, which I don’t like). Normally it is not possible to attach aftermarket strap to this case because of the pin system that IWC uses on these watches. And soring bars don’t fit these lug holes. This way you can go to your custom strap maker, get the strap made on your own specs, and use this set to actually attach the aftermarket strap in a safe way to the watch case. 😀 And these watches do look very cool with aftermarket straps. See pics below.
I do have a few questions about it:
1. My 3548 has polished sides on the case. Did any models come wirh polished side straight from the factory or did they all come with vertical brushed sides out of the factory? I have seen a couple examples that have the polished, but most of them I’ve seen have the brushed sides. See pictures below.
2. Does anyone know when IWC swtiched over from the old style full black watch box to the more modern IWC box with the grey stripe in the middle? My watch came with the older style box, however I’ve seen Ingenieurs from 2005 that came with the newer style box. See pictures below.
3. Does anyone know what kind of hang tags IWC used back around 2003-2004? I want to make my set complete, so I’m looking for the period correct hang tag that used to come with it. So far, I’ve found two different versions of hang tags. See pictures below.
This is my IWC 3548 Aquatimer, stunning looking watch. 😀
These type of watches with aftermarket straps, which looks very cool:
These are the versions with polished and brushed sides:
These are the two types of watch boxes:
These are the three types of IWC hang tags:
