IWC Ownership

Mondaine Railroad Watch

Several months ago I noticed my Aquatimer had a problem: when I used the chronograph to time something and then stopped the hands without resetting them, the hour hand would continue going. It took me quite a while to figure this out. Previously, I would occasionally wonder why the hour sub-dial was at some strange position after I had used the chronograph.

So I took the watch to the Tourneau where I bought it, and they sent it in for a warranty repair. I couldn’t stand being without a decent watch for who knows how many weeks, so I bought a Mondaine Swiss Railroad quartz watch.  It’s nice, but it’s no IWC.

My watch came back from service about two months later.  The problem was fixed, as expected.  Interestingly, while the Aquatimer had previously run about 1.5 seconds slow per day, after repair it started out at 9.5 seconds fast day.  It has slowed down a bit since then, but it’s definitely less precise than before.  However, at least now it’s within the official IWC targets of 0-10s fast.

Lately the watch bug has bitten me again, and I find myself browsing watch sites and checking ebay.  We’ll see if this ends well for me…

I did it!

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After lots of internal debate, and a trip to a competing jeweler that had the Bell & Ross watches in stock, I finally settled on my original favorite, the IWC Aquatimer in titanium.

I came really close to going with a Bell & Ross BR01-94.  I really liked the square case and super-readable face of the B&R, plus I was worried the Aquatimer might not be big enough.  However, even the saleswoman at the store that carried the B&R advised me to get an IWC instead.

My biggest concern with the B&R is that it’s quite trendy, being large and square, so only time will tell if it turns into the watch equivalent of bell bottom pants.  And although I found the rubber strap to be quite comfortable, I really wanted a bracelet.  What ultimately convinced me to go with the IWC, however, was a detailed look at the watch catalogs from the respective manufacturers.  The IWC book is an interesting read.  It talks about the history of the company, significant watch models they’ve made, their manufacturing steps, visiting the factory, and more.  The B&R catalog, on the other hand, is pure fluff.  It has very nice pictures of the watches, but it really just feels like an extended ad.

Now that I’ve had the watch for a couple weeks, I’m entirely happy with my decision.  My concern that the Aquatimer would be too small was totally misguided:  it’s a great size, and I don’t think I’d want anything larger.  I also find it to be extremely readable, and very comfortable to wear.

So far the watch seems to be running about four seconds per day slow.  This would be in spec for a COSC certified watch, but IWC claims to always adjust their watches to be on-time or fast, which seems preferable to me.  So if it continues losing time after I’ve had it a couple months, I may take it in for an adjustment.  Other than that, I have absolutely no complaints.

Buying a watch is hard

My long-awaited 5 year anniversary came and went, and yet I still don’t have a new watch to show for it. It seems my initial positive experience at Tourneau was a bit of an anomaly. On the day I got the email stating it was time to pick out my watch, I made a trip to Tourneau to check out my front-runners. My list of interest included the IWC Classic Pilot Chrono, Omega Speedmaster Broad Arrow, and Omega Speedmaster Broad Arrow GMT. To my immense disappointment, none of these watches were in stock. The salesman thought he could track down a GMT for me, so he promised to call me back the next day with word on his progress.

The next day came and went with no phone call. So I called him myself, and found that he had been unsuccessful in his quest. In the meantime, however, my concerns over the robustness of Omega’s 33xx movement had again made me wary of that brand, so I asked about my old favorite, the IWC Aquatimer Chrono. Once again, my watch of interest wasn’t available in the store, though this time the salesman assured me he could get one within a couple days.

When the promised “couple days” had passed, but I still hadn’t received a call, I again called the salesman myself. After an initial false alarm over the watch being unavailable, he discovered it had in fact arrived via UPS. So, I excitedly made a trip to check out the watch. I fully expected to leave with my new watch, but alas, it didn’t work out that way. It turned out that the watch had been sitting in a Tourneau display for a few months, and somehow picked up a couple dings on the case.

The salesman promised to locate a pristine version and call me back by Friday. Today’s Sunday, and still no call.   Sigh.

Omega

My company’s anniversary watch program works through a specific AD, with prearranged per-brand discounts. As it happens, the biggest discount is with Omega, which is apparently the favorite brand of some senior management at my company. Hence, we’re encouraged to choose Omega.

In many ways, this is fine with me, since Omega has a very good reputation and makes nice watches. Over the months since I started investigating watches, I’ve tended to favor other brands somewhat, but that’s partly just due to my own contrarian nature.

The Omega models I like best are the previously-mentioned Seamaster 300M Chrono Diver, also referred to as the “Bond Chrono”, and the Planet Ocean Chrono, or POC. The POC was actually my first choice when I started the search. One of my coworkers has the non-chrono version of this watch, with an orange bezel and black leather band, and I really like the way it looks. On my first visit to the AD, I tried on the POC with a bracelet, and liked it a lot. My biggest concern is that it’s expensive, although my later interest in the IWC Aquatimer has somewhat changed my definition of “expensive” in terms of luxury watches.

The biggest knocks against the POC, however, are the persistent stories of problems with the new Omega 33xx series movements. Some postings with lots of links to other discussions of problems are here on watchuseek and also here, and much more discussion can be found on the late Chuck Maddox’s blog. The general argument is that Omega adapted a fairly delicate chronograph movement for use in several of their watches, including the sports-oriented POC, and this movement has had some robustness issues. A few components had to be replaced with stronger versions after the initial release a few years back. The open questions at this point are whether or not the problems have been truly fixed, and the more troubling question of how well Omega is taking care of watches with problems. Many people complain that sending their watch to Omega for service takes several months, and when the watches finally return they break again. And once the warranty period ends, watch service becomes a fairly expensive proposition.

So far, at least, the 300M Chrono watch doesn’t use the new movement. So I’m somewhat torn. I do like the 300M Chrono, but not as much as the POC. Yet I’m not sure I want to gamble on the 33xx movement.

Decisions…

Darn Watch Preannouncements

I emailed Montblanc to find out when the new ceramic and steel Timewalker might start showing up in the US.  The answer was pretty disappointing:  “The Steel / Ceramic TimeWalker collection will not be available until the end of this year/beginning of next year.”  Drat!  It’s a nice looking watch, but I’m not going to postpone my purchase for 8+ months.  I still like the Timewalker line, but none of the existing models have quite the same appeal as the two-tone steel/ceramic model.

I wasn’t entirely surprised when Montblanc told me how long it would be before the new model would be available.  I’ve previously read complaints on watch forums about the ridiculously long delays between when a watch is announced and when it’s actually available.  The post I read claimed that sometimes the prior year’s models aren’t yet available when the next year’s models are announced!  It’s hard to understand why this makes sense.  In my industry, computer graphics processors, new products don’t usually get announced until they’re either available or really close to available.  If we announced something that wouldn’t be shipping for nine months, our customers would mutiny!  Of course, graphics technology and expectations change a whole lot faster than watch designs, so I’m sure that’s a big factor in it.

Montblanc – a new contender

I initially didn’t consider the Montblanc line of watches very seriously, since like many people I think of them as a pen company. But then I took another look at their lineup, and decided that I really like the clean lines of their Timewalker models. I’m not really a fan of the bold printed bezels on most chronographs, so the clutter-free design of the Timewalker’s face appeals to me.

I checked the Montblanc website, and ordered a catalog. And then I saw their new models from SIHH 2008, and I really like the ceramic and steel version of the Timewalker (shown in the picture here).

So just like that, Montblanc is now on my short list of top contenders. Reviews and comments about Montblanc watches are pretty scarce, though they do get a thumbs up from watchfinder.

The Montblanc catalog, a nicely printed hardbound book, arrived just days after I ordered it. So I’m giving Montblanc bonus points for that. I still haven’t heard anything from Omega…

Chronographs

Maybe it’s the engineer in me, but I decided from the start that I wanted my new watch to be a chronograph. I don’t actually have that many occasions when I need to time something, but it does happen. Plus I like the extra buttons and dials on the watch.

One of the first things I discovered when I was checking out the chronograph offerings from various companies is that almost all of them use the same movement: the Valjoux 7750. There are of course several other movements out there, including what is probably the second-most common, the ETA 2892-2. Both the 7750 and the 2892 are currently sold by ETA, and are considered reliable, accurate movements. The 7750 can usually be identified by the placement of the subdials at the 12 o’clock, 9 o’clock, and 6 o’clock positions. The 2892 movement puts the subdials at 9 o’clock, 6 o’clock, and 3 o’clock. That said, there are apparently some versions of 7750 that move the subdials, so this isn’t a completely reliable indicator. Another aspect of the 7750 that seems to often surprise new watch owners is that the large second hand is only used for the chronograph function: the normal sweep seconds for time keeping is on a subdial.

Many watch companies that use these ETA movements “modify” them in-house. These modifications can be as minor as some polishing and aesthetic improvements for display casebacks, or complete replacement of many movement components. IWC, one of my current leading contenders for My Next Watch, claims to do such extensive modifications that the result is a movement that almost qualifies as being in-house.

Watch catalogs

One of the first things I did when I started investigating the world of high-end watches was to visit various watch company websites and attempt to order catalogs. So far, this hasn’t exactly been a smashing success.

Several watch companies don’t provide printed catalogs at all, with a few providing silly online catalogs that attempts to mimic the look and feel of printed catalogs. I find these very tedious to use, as they’re slow to load, make you use the mouse to turn animated pages, and often require you to zoom into each page individually if you want to read the contents. If they’re going to put their catalog online, they ought to at least take advantage of the benefits of the web and provide direct links to individual pages, search, etc. And please, use HTML instead of Flash! Catalogs need to be clear and accessible, not animated and flashy…

Some companies do have printed catalogs, but require you to pick up the catalog from an Authorized Distributor, e.g. an AD. I’m not a fan of this option, but I suppose it’s understandable given the cost of catalogs and a general desire by the companies to support their distributors and crack down on grey market Internet sales. Alas, the last time I visited a local AD they were out of stock for many catalogs I was interested in.

My experience so far with different brands is:

• Omega: After two online requests and a trip to Tourneau, I still don’t have a catalog. I’m not sure if their catalogs are just in very high demand, or if they’re just stingy with them.
• Ball: Received my “2007 Watch Guide” very quickly after ordering it. It’s more of a pamphlet than a catalog, but it does the trick.
• Oris: Another company that quickly sent a catalog, along with a separate sheet listing MSRP for each watch. Very nice.
• Kobold: They sent me a note indicating they were out of catalogs and would ship me one as soon as the new catalogs are printed, but in the meantime they shipped me two magazines with interesting Kobold articles. A very nice touch!
• Ebel: Sent me their very nice 2007 catalog after I filled out the online form. Before it arrived, I stopped by Tourneau and they gave me a copy of the same catalog.
• Baume & Mercier: I picked up their catalog while I was at Tourneau. It’s another nice book-style catalog, similar to Ebel’s.
• Chronoswiss: Shipped me a nice catalog quickly.
• Alpina: Also sent me their glossy book shortly after I requested it.
• Ocean7: No catalog is available, but their website is laudably easy to navigate, so that’s some consolation.
• Breitling: Has probably my least favorite of the watch company websites. They seem to want you to visit an AD to pick up a catalog.
• IWC: Their website has a form you can fill out to order a catalog, but so far (about ten days) mine hasn’t arrived. In the meantime, your option is their horrible online “catalog”.
• Bell & Ross: Another really annoying website. The only catalog option from their website is their “online catalog”, which is tedious to navigate. I have not yet attempted to get a printed catalog at an AD, so I don’t even know if such a thing exists.
• Longines: I filled out their form for a catalog, and got a nice email confirming my catalog order, but so far (six weeks) I haven’t actually received the catalog.

One note regarding the catalogs is in order. My understanding is that the watch world revolves somewhat around the annual Basel World trade show, which was just held last week. Since new products tend to be announced at this show, it may be that the watch companies try to hold off printing and distributing their new catalogs until after the show, and thus the 2007 catalogs may be in short supply prior to this show. Hopefully I’ll have better luck getting catalogs now.

The story so far…

On May 30, I’ll hit my five year anniversary at work, and get to pick out a shiny new watch. Not a $50 souvenir watch, but an honest-to-goodness fancy watch. For the past 2-3 months, I’ve been obsessively reading watch forums, sending away for watch catalogs, and memorizing Wristwatch Annual 2008. I have about six weeks left to make my final selection.

Since a frequent post in the forums is “What watch should I get?”, I thought it might be helpful to others if I chronicled my decision process.

At the moment, my leading contender is the IWC Aquatimer Chronograph in titanium. However, I’m also seriously considering the Omega 300M Chrono Diver, Ebel 1911 Discovery, Bell & Ross BR01-94, and the Tag Heuer Link Chronograph. And then there’s the recently announced Breitling SuperOcean Heritage Chronograph, for which no price is yet known.

Some of my observations so far:

• Too many of the watch companies create really annoying Flash-based websites. They’re slow, tedious to navigate, and don’t allow you to bookmark specific pages. Flash is evil.
• Almost all of the watches I list above use the same base movement. So the wide variations in pricing are basically for the case and brand.