Hello everyone,
I recently acquired an unusual IWC Ref. 5450 Vollkalendarium Mondphasen from the 250-piece limited series. This example is marked No. 072/250 on the movement.
I am not an IWC specialist, so I would be very grateful for corrections, additional information, or any observations from more experienced collectors here.
As far as I understand, the Ref. 5450 was originally produced as a limited 18k gold hunter-case pocket watch, fitted with the Cal. 9821 full calendar and moonphase movement. I understand that this calibre is usually described as a gilt bridge movement with elaborate floral engraving.
I have also seen the Cal. 9821 in this full calendar and moonphase configuration described by some auction houses as a 31-jewel movement, but I would be grateful if someone could confirm the correct jewel count for this exact version.
To be clear, this example is no longer in its original gold pocket watch case. The original gold case was already missing before my ownership. What has survived is the numbered movement, the enamel dial, and the full calendar and moonphase mechanism. These are now housed in a custom 50 mm wristwatch case, with the calendar correctors remaining functional.
What I am trying to understand is how unusual this configuration may be.
My simple reasoning is the following.
Out of the original 250 pieces, many surviving examples would presumably still be kept as original gold pocket watches. Those would normally not be re-cased as wristwatches, because their original configuration has obvious collector value.
Then there may be a smaller group where the original gold case was lost, removed, melted, or separated from the movement at some point. But even in that case, several things would still have had to happen for a watch like this to exist today:
- the movement had to survive,
- the enamel dial had to survive,
- the calendar and moonphase mechanism had to remain complete,
- the movement had to avoid becoming a parts donor,
- someone had to recognise it as worth preserving,
- a custom wristwatch case had to be made for it,
- and the calendar correctors had to be properly integrated.
There is also the size issue. Since the movement comes from a large pocket watch, the resulting wristwatch is around 50 mm. That makes it wearable only for a fairly small group of people with larger wrists, or for collectors who specifically enjoy very large, sculptural watches.
For these reasons, I wonder whether properly re-cased Ref. 5450 examples with functional calendar correctors could be extremely rare — perhaps even in the single digits worldwide. But this is only my impression, based on the limited production number and the practical difficulties involved.
Has anyone here seen another Ref. 5450 re-cased as a wristwatch, especially one where the calendar correctors remain usable?
I would be very grateful for any documented examples, auction references, archive information, or collector experience.
I am sharing this primarily for historical and collector context, not as a sales post.
Best regards,
George