Founded in 1868, IWC or International Watch Company, monikered for the proposal of assembling watches in Switzerland and importing them into the United States, started by laying the foundations in the town of Schaffhausen. Fast forward several decades and IWC introduced its renowned caliber .89 in the 40’s with its production stretching for three decades.
Like many brands back then, IWC took battle tested technology that arose out of necessity as a result of WWII and commercialized those innovations for civilian use following the war. Based off the caliber .83 - a movement used in some of the watches in the “dirty dozen”- the caliber .89 was built to be extremely robust even being featured in some watches intended and worn by the British Military of Defense. Not confined to only tool watches, caliber 89 was also fitted in a variety of IWC dress watches, which came in a variety of different case styles.
This example, a ribbon lug is encased in 37mm solid pink gold. If you take into account the slim, manually wound, caliber 89 coupled with the angled articulation of the lugs you get an extremely great wearing experience with the watch sitting very comfortable and close to the wrist. A true and classic vintage dress watch.
ABOUT THIS WATCH:
MANUFACTURER: IWC
MODEL: "Calatrava"
REFERENCE: Cal. 89
SERIAL: 163xxxx
YEAR: 1960-1965
DIAL: The non-luminous champagne dial presents with various patches of patina that is more or less noticeable depending on the viewing angle. The applied minute markers feature very minimal decay indicating good preservation. The dial features alpha hour and minute hands.
CASE: The previously polished 37mm solid pink gold case is in good condition. The hallmark is still visible on the posterior portion of one of the lugs. The case presents with light wear throughout commensurate with age.
MOVEMENT: IWC manually wound caliber 89. Beautifully decorated manually wound movement that has just returned from service and comes with a 1 year mechanical warranty fulfilled by the watchmaker. Owner just needs to pay for the shipping.
BRACELET: The watch is paired with a dark brown genuine ostrich strap.
ACCESSORIES: Watch only.
BOX/PAPERS: No.
BANK WIRE PRICE: $1,800 shipped.
