What do you like / love about IWC?

Greetings.

I am relatively new when come to the hobby of watch collecting and really caught on the "disease" big time this year. I am also new to IWC watches but fell in love with the Portuguese line and as some of you know, I already got two of them so far, namely the Yachtclub in RG and the Portuguese Perpetual Calendar. I am curious to know what do fellow IWC collectors like or love about their IWC watches?

For me, I find IWC watches amazingly well build and how everything even down to the tiniest detail are so well constructed and finished, including the complicated movements thru the display case back. I also like the accuracy of my IWC watches, and how it always clock minute to minute with the time on my mobilephone and other digital device for many days without needing any adjustments. In this aspect,is is superior to all my other watches. Lastly, I like the vibe and masculine image these watches convey and because of their relatively large size, it is so easy to read the dial.

After I got my Rolex, then Audemars Piguet, many of my fellow WISer friends from where I live were very surprise that I have gone for the IWC route. They would have expected me to go for Patek, like the Nautilus or the complication watches. Twice,I have the opportunity to choose a PP of similar price range ( but less features ) but have gone for an IWC instead. Sure Patek watches are beautiful but something about this brand's offering that just doesn't click with me, yet. Well, maybe later on.

So do share what you like / love about IWC. I am curious to know. I think this topic might have been discussed before but I have tried to search the forum for a similar thread but somehow I couldn't managed to find one.

Have a good weekend!

With me, there was a certain interest in watches from a young age. The practical use, time told in two cycles, the mesmerizing look of the seconds hand moving, and moving. In those years all watches looked quite similar, at least far more than now. Getting an Omega Seamaster De Ville with a date as a graduation present made me extremely happy, I had wanted to own one for many months.

My mother getting an IWC ladies watch started it all. It was supposed to be very good, and the fact that it arrived weeks late after Christmas added to the suspence. I bought my first IWC twenty five years ago, and it was the start of a life long love affair. What always attracted me to IWC was that the watches are very well made (but that is true for all top brand watches), combined with a certain clean look, restrained yet noticeable. Not loud, yet not boring. Sometimes there is something endearing to them, combined with strength, but that is a personal perception.

As often is the case, after a certain general interest in a topic, there comes a monomaniac period, in this case, IWC, IWC, IWC, and the rest doesn't exist. This period, which lasted about twenty years for me, is sometimes followed by an opening up, there are other great brands with beautiful watches. It makes my watch world a bit more complete, but with one exception I kept buying only IWC watches, they feel so familiar.

Kind regards,
Paul

Basically everything. The history. The design. The quality. Every line of IWC is fantastic. I haven't found any other watch maker that comes even close in any way to IWC. I have looked at a lot of other brands and have not really been tempted. There are so many more that I would like before I would think about any other brand at the moment. And when you throw second hand purchases in there, I may buy nothing else. I'm ok with that though.

The history and the legacy - thats where it all begins!

Off course, it does not end there - and the watches play an important role too. For me like you, it's the Portuguese series although as an avid sports diver and instructor, the AT range has it's place in my heart (and collection) too.

Great post! Agree totally with all previous comments.

The late Lucius Beebe, boulevardier, bon vivant, self-confessed snob, and hardworking journalist, was fond of quoting his friend Evander Berry Wall on the subject of quality. Said this equally unrepentant son of the Gilded Age, "My needs are simple: I require the best of everything."

The watches of course are in the center of everything, but for me my fascination has been immeasurably enhanced by the friends I've made on the Collectors' Forum. No other brand does what IWC has done to bring its owners together.

I only need a picture to answer that

Three words: Portuguese, Portuguese, Portuguese.

That's a little disingenuous, I like other of their watches as well but I love all of the Portuguese models. As an American who lived in Switzerland, I'm also drawn to the F.A. Jones story and the founding of IWC.

I'm relatively new to the IWC brand, however, I've admired and collected mechanical watches since my father gave me a Rolex Air-King 30 years ago. I've always enjoyed the purely mechanical nature of the movements - gears, springs, etc that require no electricity (battery or otherwise) to operate accurately for many years. The expert craftsmanship is another aspect of fine watches that appeals to me. The fit and finish of the IWC I have (Aquatimer) is first rate and similar to that of two JLC watches I've acquired over the years. Finally, the water-resistance feature is important to me, as most of my collection consists of sport watches that are fun to wear in the pool and at the beach. Maybe there's a yacht club Portuguese in my future? Thanks.
Andy.

Thanks guys and great to hear your feedback. And yes, I agree this is a great forum for IWC Collectors.

I'm also a big fan of Leonardo Da Vinci. It was the DV Chronograph Ceramic that got me hooked on IWC.

I like IWC because with some of their product lines they have had an excellent original idea, a vision, if you like, and then they have had the good sense to stay true to it while creating modern interpretations of that original idea.

The Portugieser product line is a perfect example. Every Portugieser in the current IWC collection is immediately recognizable as belonging to a long and cherished evolution process based on the original Portugieser design. What's more, it is immediately recognizable as an IWC. No other watch brand produces anything like it.

One reason why I'm so exited about the new collector's forum watch is that the design as shown by Michael is so well in harmony with the IWC pilot's watch heritage, while at the same time being a thoroughly contemporary design. In my view, this is what IWC should strive for.

I don't just like but lOVE IWC because the make watches like these:



They're genuine, technically perfect, wonderfully manufactured, perfectly finished. They have a soul and a heart and make a man cry from happiness. ;-)

When I was growing up, I remember admiring the watches of my uncles and grandfathers. There was always a mix of Omegas and IWC. The IWCs always had a distinctive look. I knew that one day I would have to get one.

What I love about IWC is that they have a wonderful tradition, are very traditional and always just a little different. This is a fantastic combination! There is also a great community of IWC owners.