As some of you know, I am collecting pocketwatches, IWC only.
Far from saying that my collection is a museum collection but I am proud to
have found some nice and rare pieces over time.
Some of the pocketwatches are common, easy to find on the market, sometimes in
better condition than mine, but some I have are gems.
So in these crazy times, as the museum in Schaffhausen is closed, why not open
one here on the forum.
As long as the museum is closed, I will post here daily a pocketwatch from my
collection.
I hope I don't run out of pieces before the virus is beaten. Fingers crossed
for all of us.
I will post them in a random order, with some comments, feel free to join.
Keep safe all.
DAY 20 :
Today, back again deep in the IWC history with a very early cal 28.
It is known that the cal 28 Lepine started with the number 100.001, here I
have number 100.097.
I would date it around 1879, maybe 1880. So incredible to find watches 140
years old in that condition, it keeps me amazing.
As most pre 1900 watches, you see Roman numerals on the dial.
In the title I called it the cal 28, "wave". Since I have 4 cal 28 in my
collection, I will give them each a name with a feature special to the watch.
Here it is the name International Watch Co that is written in a wavy line on
the caliber. Maybe the watch was made on a sunny friday like today, the guy at
engraving was cheerfull and looking for a long weekend, so he was playfull and
gave the name a nice twist ( pure speculation here, but fun ). He also did a
great job on the two cocks and even under the balance . The case is in 18K
gold.
Evey day, I do a bit of research on the form and for today I found a post by
the late Friedrich Wagener, or EarlyIWC. A man who had a fantastic knowledge
about old IWC watches.
He wrote :
À bascule Piliers can be translated into "Pillar plate work with rocking-bar
keyless mechanism"
or "Pfeilerwerk mit Wippenaufzug".
The text in the „Tolke/King on page 128 reads as follows:
"…Calibre 28 "a bascule piliers"19 ligne gilded brass movement with lever
escapement, 16 jewels, 4 screwed settings, Breguet balance spring and
compensation balance.
This movement calibre is probably the first to be produced after the
bankruptcy of IWC in 1879 and strongly resembles the ¾ plate movements of the
"Seeland" calibre. For details concerning the high movement number see page
62."
Page 62 reads:
"…There is considerable uncertainty regarding the serial numbering during the
period up to 9th January 1885 and the type of watch movements produced, as no
records have so far been found…
Love that old scipt
Tonny,
