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 shark fin - an eponym for the shape of the beautiful lugs - 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: Shark Fin
REFERENCE: N/A
SERIAL: 129xxxx
YEAR: 1950-1955
DIAL: The non-luminous original white dial is relatively clean save for some paint decay that can be seen around some of the minute markers. The dial configuration, with its even numbered numerals, is rather uncommon - approximately 14% in a recent study with a n = 106 watches. It is completed by alpha hands and the correct swiss signature at 6 oclock.
CASE: The 37mm solid pink gold case has previously been polished in the past and is in excellent condition showing minimal wear. The hallmarks can still be appreciated on the posterior portion of the lugs. The angled lugs create a great wearing experience with the watch sitting very comfortably on the wrist.
MOVEMENT: IWC manually wound caliber 89. Beautifully decorated movement that has been serviced in the past two years. The watch, according to the independent watchmaker, is running at /- 8secs per day with a 250 amplitude. The watch was timed in our possession over a 24hr period. The 24hrs included periods of wear and non-wear. When compared to atomic EST the watch gained 3 seconds over those 24hours.
BRACELET: The watch is paired with a green genuine lizard strap.
ACCESSORIES: Watch only.
BOX/PAPERS: No.
BANK WIRE PRICE: $2,499
