My first Big Pilot

Hi guys

Went Christmas shopping today and look what came home... I was passing time chatting to a sales assistant whilst my finance was shopping in a jewellers. We got talking about watches and the sales assistant said "guess what i have downstairs"... a few minutes he hurried back with this.. and i couldn't say no....

my first Big Pilot; the 5002. Im told its from 2007 but i suspect a few years earlier

one question though.. would there be any benefit to giving it a full IWC service (it seems to be running fine so far) and secondly the Lume very quite poor at night compared to my newer petite price crono. Can IWC relume these watches without giving the watch a new face/hands etc? is it a simple process?

Mark

the original icon...!

big congrats, and wear it in good health.

regards,
thang

That's the one to get! Congratulations on an iconic choice.

Possibly transitional...

Congratulations and I love that you use the word "first" ;)

Perfect choice for the first. Congrats and wear it in good health.

Cheers Chris

Thanks a million guys... Is there anything I should be aware of with it in the lnes of servicing/maintenance/timekeeping etc or should it be fairly bullet proof?

Congrats on the 5002!!
The BP to have :o)

Welcome to the 5002 club and congratulations on your new arrival. Enjoy it in good health. Here is its slow beat cousin from 2002.

lovely pair.. is that a brown strap i see; did it originally come with a brown strap?

How do you find the Lume at night time? I wore mine under a suit jacket today so it probably didn't get much of a recharge but it certainly isn't that bright this evening...does super lumanova on these watches need to be re-done after a time?

Wow, to accidentally stumble upon a 5002 is priceless - that you had the nous to buy it shows class and intelligence - big congrats Mark. I take my hat off and bow to you.

Obviously you were at the right place at the right time and talked to the right person - result is the right watch, a true icon. Enjoy it in good health.

Yes, great watch and sooooo IWC!

Thanks for sharing,

Bob

Congrats for the classic!

Thanks guys... It's a gorgeous watch.. I'd never know it's 13/14 years old.. Now when my petite prince chrono comes back from getting serviced I'm going to have a fun choice every morning...

just was looking at the history of the 5002 online.. i wonder is my watch a transitional watch (5002 face 5004 workings)?

I believe the crown was different...?

Amazing pickup!

Absolutely fantastic icon timepiece.

Wish you well to wear it in good health.

Congrats Mark on your amazing find.

In regards to your question about the difference in crown: all 5002s except for the transitional models had the fish crown. However, whenever you sent the watch to be serviced by IWC they would replace the crown with the Probus crown.
The only way to know for sure if it is a slow beat movement would be to have it hooked up to a machine that would count out the 18,000 bpm.

I found all out as I am also a recent owner of a 5002 but this one came with the original fish crown, meaning it was never serviced by IWC. Most watch repair shops have this machine.

Hope this helps and welcome to the 5002 club!

Thanks... Or simply give the case number to IWC and ask them what model it is I assume?

Another quick and dirty method to find if it is slow beat is to take a one second time exposure of the 5002. You can see in this photo that you can count the 5 beats per second during the 1 second time lapse. Five beats per second confirms the slow beat. Five beats per second is a vibration rate of 18,000 per hour, or a slow beat movement.

Thanks with time lapse video on my phone fairly sure it's 6 beats per second. I just noticed that the operating instructions are for a 5004 but they could have been added anytime..

I'm not sure what entails with getting the watch serviced, but call and ask about lume restoration options. The worst that can happen is them saying no or that they have to replace the dial/hands. Congrats on the 5002! i'm definitely envious!

Thanks.. I've changed the strap back to a brown calf leather option from the black crocodile option and added the clasp option for the bracelet. I think I'll live with it for a few months then send it in for a full service