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Sunday 1 July 2012

Part 9 Assembly of a German Swiss watch...99% engineering, 1 % aesthetic in 2002

10 years ago, IWC was NOT the superflous and brand, name dropping, ridiculous Hollywood watch it is today.
BUT...there are, and they still make, GOOD watches.
The caliber 5000 is the ONLY one.
And posibly the skeletal minute repeater.
The pilot watches are jokes from Peter Pan.

However, the German attention to assembly and design is still present.
Until the current boss who has sales in mind, more than a product...one cannot blame him.
He is after all, just working there.

But in the days prior to his appointment, when Gunther Blumlein was alive...things were as you see here.
HONEST good work.
Good value.
Minimal $$$ spent on dishonest misrepresentation of what I do not see as relevant to a pilot's watch, besides the movies.


But make no mistake, the cal 5000 was designed to be the best.
It was/is expensive to make.
And to make the cal 7000 or any other caliber, was to get better margins.

Well....I may be wrong.
But I doubt so.

I have been there at IWC for a relevant number of visits, and on my own funds to analyse how things are going on.

BUY the caliber 5000 in any form.
They remain good.
Possibly the very best.
At prices below $20,000.
Attention to detail is excellent.
especially in the department of physics and chemistry.






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