Utility Watch

Hi All,

I purchased my first IWC back in 2009 - a Portuguese Automatic 5001 with black dial - I absolutely love it but one of the features may be its downfall (and maybe IWC's benefit) - the 7 days power reserve - with this much "time" on your wrist you can comfortably wear another watch and only put your 5001 on every 6 days or so. The watch is beautiful (White gold, PPC would be nicer, but a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush) and being such a nice watch and my first, I love it to this day, but as time wore on, I found that the virus started to take over and the bug bit deeper and deeper, with me "needing" another IWC to ensure that I could keep my 5001 in pristine condition and make sure I used the 7 days to its full potential.

After much searching, high and low for the right watch and right deal, I found a Top Gun Doppel Chrono 3799 which fit the bill - it was a IWC Pilots watch (which was first what got me into admiring IWC) so i rightly justified to myself that this was now my "other watch" - it was ceramic, scratch resistant, was not as "beautiful" as the 5001 but still a great watch so it now became my day to day watch and for a short time, it subdued the virus.

The problem with the 3799 was that it had the nylon strap on it when I got it - which has a leather backing - who needs more of an excuse than that to justify another watch - I quickly justified to myself and partner (who wanted me to buy another horse for her with the money I spent on watches - hoses die, watches dont...) that I needed another watch that I could wear day to day, as the 3799 wasn't really suited to jumping in the pool / ocean with its leather backed strap, so after much searching, I found a good condition Mark 11 - it didnt really fit the initial requirements, but who doesn't have a list somewhere that doesn't incude a Mark XI on it, so coupled with the price I got it for, I quickly justified it to myself and my very agitated partner.

I dropped the MK XI off for a service and upon picking it up, decided to put a Big Pilot all leather strap on my 3799 - making it even worse for swimming in and coupled with the 5001 and MK XI, I still didn't have a utility watch (so I kept telling myself).

Just before xmas I decided to bite the bullet - helped along by a letter from my ad saying they had a sale on, so I decided to go down to the AD and look at what they had, keeping in mind I needed a utility watch and also wanted a whole range of other IWC's.

As I have previously posted, I walked out of the AD with a shiny new Aquatimer 2000 3568 on bracelet - I purchased the watch thinking that I would get a mix of time between it and the others - it was a "cheap" watch compared to the others and held no special value to me, it does not have an in house movement, was half the price and had none of the kudos of the others.

After a trip to the Great Barrier Reef coupled with recently taking up kite surfing again (after a 10 year hiatus) I have found that the Aquatimer is now my most worn watches. Most days I find a reason to put it on over the others - the purchase price helps when you start thinking "I dont mind wearing it, it is sturdy, didn't cost as much as my other watches and can stand all the conditions I can throw at it" but it has now become more than that.

The 3568 is super heavy, has a real presence on your wrist, yet is still amazingly balanced. It is amazingly versatile and can be worn in any circumstances - I am comfortable wearing it with a suit, with a shirt and shorts, and equally with a wet suit on, I have not found a situation where it cant be worn. Then, you get near the water and it starts to excel, I have been scuba and snorkelling with it and lately spent more time in the ocean and on the beach than on real land with it on and can only think good of it. The price of it makes me think less about it and more about what I am doing and I would have to say that it is now my most worn watch - a great step up from when I bought it only a few weeks back as a watch to fill a small gap.

It looks as if this is now my favourite watch from a wearing point of view - this does not mean I wont buy more IWC's, but I have a feeling that for the foreseeable future the 3568 will be the one most found on my wrist - it is a great watch with great dynamics and means for me that I can appreciate the others a little more (even though the 3799 case is smashed at the moment) - the only thing I would change is add (not replace) the rubber strap to it, the quick change system is sensational, changing is a breeze and the amount of time I am spending in windy sandy environments at the moment makes me think that the bracelet will start to see some wear that the rubber wont.

That is my speel for the moment, I would love to hear what your utility watch is and why :)..

Cheers,

Ben

My utility watch is the Fliegerchronograph Ref. 3706. My demands are not great as I don't do water sports etc., but I travel a lot, currently working in China, so it's main attributes are : day & date, waterproof (6 bar) which helps deal with humidity and rain in Far East climates, anti-magnetic, robust 7922 movement (often bumping about in 4WDs), the chrono can be useful for timing during air flights and recording travelling times to locations within rural China etc. I might add a steel bracelet one day though.

Hi Ben,

my "tool" watch - for the sun, sea, beaches - rubber strap and 12-hour chrono counter makes for a useful 'GMT', and the lightweight doesn't hurt either :)

so a bit of beach running here...makes me a happy and contented guy :)

Ben,

Great sharing!

As for me, technically speaking these are my utility watches:

(yes, both Casio's)

However, they are no match for these (my "fancy" utility watches):

and Ben is right, the AT2000 is a very versatile tool watch!

Great stories and excuses for IWC purchases from each of you. The virus is spreading.

+1!

Up until quite recently, my utility watches (i. e., go anywhere, do anything) were not IWC. I've now remedied that with my acquisition of my 3227 Ingenieur for AMG (in titanium).

I still have the others, but there's no need to discuss them on an IWC Forum.

Hi Ben

One of my utility watch

rgds
ks

Me thinks, IWC does not offer utility watches, rather high-end sports and dress watches.

It is plain foolish to purchase a fine mechanical piece and treat it poorly. There are other brands some seen in this thread, which address the utility concept far more aptly.

Cheers from Isobars.

My pockets do not permit me to use an IWC as a utility watch, so I use Ecodrive or Kinetic as a utility. For jobs which do not require risk of serious dings then my pilot 371704, it at least can take a full rinse rather than my Portuguese models or heaven above my latest purchase the 1850.

Here is a couple of my utility watches, uses when taking a walk with the dog, washes the cars, cutting the gras, swim in the pool or down at the beach and so on. Just plain cheep quartz movement. Would not dare to use my IWC or my other watches as utility watch!

I realize that I may be different than many here - but I understand and respect everybody's personal opinion.

Even though I don't use my only IWC, the rose gold PPC, for any utility activity (like walking the dog, mowing the lawn, shoveling snow, washing the car, hiking, swimming, skiing etc.) I do like to use my other mechanical sports watches. To me that is why I bought them - to use them and enjoy them. To me an Aquatimer or Ingenieur with a bracelet or rubber strap would be ideal for such purposes.

Sorry Isobars - maybe I am just foolish :-) With that said though none of my watches have been damaged yet, even if a scratch here and a ding there have occured.

Now this does not mean that I purpously wear them when I run a high risk of damaging them?? - Nope, if I am doing things like carpentry, working on the car, training either running, road biking or mountain biking etc. I do take them off - and mostly use my Polar heart rate monitor.

I guess whatever makes you happy is what you should do - wearing a good watch while being active is one of life's pleasures if you ask me :-)

OK, I´ll have to confess after reading Skules comment, sometimes I also dear to go a bit out of the edge and enjoy my mechanical/automatic watches doing something tougher!

Here is the proof:

Axman, I used to work for the importers of Oris so that was pleasant to see, but a 5001 and a Rolex Cellini in a Utliity Watch thread, not sure I would risk them in a utility capacity other than walking that dog!

Hi Ben,

I really enjoyed your great post. Because it is always the same with IWC afficionados - or should I say freaks?
We are searching for reasons and justifications to get a watch we just love. - You bought the Big Pilot just because it is there.
We are looking for one watch and stumble over another. - I loved the reason why you bought the Mark XI: It is on every serious wish list. ;-)
And finally you enjoy the watch most that is the most simple and inexpensive - can't believe I used this word together with an IWC ;-) - but a real tool or utility watch, which the Aquatimer really is. That's the reason why I myself was thinking several times of getting an Aquatimer. By now I didn't do it, but you never know what time will bring or unveal.

Thanks for your cool story, Ben. I just loved it.
Tilo who uses his Pilot's Chrono for almost everything - still looking good

No that´s true Greg, I am very careful, just wanted to spice the topic a bit!

Fredrik

Skule expressed best what I am feeling too.
I think whether to wear an IWC as an utility watch or not depends on your job and what you are doing at the time.
As a banker it will be never a problem and as a bricklayer you probably can`t afford one or better take it off during work.
A surgeon, if he wears a watch during operation, will be served best with an Aquatimer - he has to wash his hands all the time :-)).

But what I never would do, if I had such an excellent watch, is to own one or even more of them and do not wear them every day. If I spend so much money on such a fine watch I want to wear - and look to it every day - always with a little smile on my face. And when I sleep it would lay beside my bed - because I want to smile as soon as I awake and see it.

But of course - as long as I am digging in the garden or are having a swim - I would take off my Portugieser Grande Complication - if I had one :-).

Ben, spot on!

Whilst I own a Inge which is meant to be "the tough one" - I must confess that like you, my AT Automatic somehow seems to fall into the exact same mode of usage as you describe.

The AT (I wear mine on the bracelet) is designed and built as a tool watch. In this case, as a true diving watch serving as the ultimate safety back up tool. the fact that its build to withstand the tough environmental conditions in and around diving, makes it then also ideally suited as a general "all conditions" watch.

So I echo Skule's thoughts on this one and am glad to see you getting full value and enjoyment out of your invest in the watch. Anyone who knows anything about fine tools knows, - that whilst cheap tools might get the job done, they certainly don't last! Your AT will still be doing the job in 100 years time - will those cheaper electronic "tools" still be working then? I doubt it.

Best regards
Mark

What a great story and great replies. My mechanical tool watch is the Ingenieur 322701 but when I go mountainbiking, I wear my B1 Quartz tool watch.

Kind regards,

Clemens

Ben,
Unfortunately I don't have an IWC utility watch (it's on my long list!), but if I had a choice it would probably be the 322701 without a doubt.

Cheers,
Evan

Hi All,

There has been some great responses to this one. A bit of a recurring theme is the Ingenieur - Shing, the Ti would be a great utility watch!

Unfortunately, I do not yet have an Ingenieur in the collection - it is something I have been procrastinating over for ages now! I was not a big fan of the current line up, preferring the original 666AD, 766 and 866's , but have slowly come around to the current Plastiki and the Big Chrono 3784.

The whole ethos of the Ingenieur is that of a hardy utility watch - it is designed to takes the knocks and bumps and still look like a great watch at the end of the day. If my criteria was for an Ingenieur to wear day in day out, I would be leaning towards the Plastiki, but I wouldn't mind one of the AMG's in Titatium either.

As some others have pointed out, using a IWC as a "utility" watch can be a little hard to swallow - in the case of most of them, it is a fairly hefty outlay and I could understand not wanting to ever get a single scratch on them. Luckily, I have my 5001 and MKXI which I covet and I feel that the Aquatimer is such a sturdy watch (as would be the Ingenieurs) that I dont mind wearing it for most of the activities I undertake knowing that I will only be adding some character and stories to the watch when I do had it over to son, grandson, great grand son in 50 years of so...

Each to their own - keep wearing your watches in good health!

Cheers,

Ben

I agree. I have my watches to use.

Of course, I'm not going to wear a good watch doing hard physical labor (and in general I don't that anyway), nor do I wear a watch at all when working out or attending to various chores in my workshop. And I have several watches I consider to be "town" watches.

But I see no reason not to wear my Rolex GMT IIc, my recently acquired IWC 3227 Ingenieur in titanium or one of several other watches when hiking, hunting, or otherwise pursuing more active interests.