Hi all, Just wanted to share my latest find with you since it isn't something I have ever seen before. Last night I met up with a young man to complete the purchase of this watch. He told me that it was bought by his grandfather in the late 60s or early 70s, worn by him, then left in a drawer. The watch is an IWC Ingenieur refernce 866AD. As some of you may know, I am a huge fan of the Ingenieurs and own a 666AD that took some time to track down in nice condition. The 866 features the improved 8541 reference with hacking feature. The case is also increased in size measuring 37mm. What makes this special is the APRIOR dial (gold) with Tiffany & Co. branding. I haven't see this on an Ingenieur before. The crystal is quite dirty but the dial looks lovely. The 666ADs tended to age poorly but the gold in this dial likely prevented degradation. The watch is running but will go straight to service. Lots of wrist cheese, time setting is stiff. However, all parts are correct and it looks unpolished. I think I will get the hands relumed. There is quite a bit of lume loss on the minute and second hand. Since the rest if the watch is so lovely, I think relumed hands will really complete it. Here are some quick and dirty pics. I will obviously update with pics after service!
And another one in your amazing collection that I’m jealous of! (For the others see... well the rest of your amazing collection!)
Thank you for the nice comments! I have started looking for watchmakers to do a service. I use one for mid-level jobs but I would rather send this to a higher level watchmaker. I've already sent inquiries to LAWW and Classic Watch in DC. Does anyone have another recommendation for someone who can do an excellent service and can also match the hand lume? Feel free to PM me!
The IWC Ingenieur is very underrated. For some reason they haven't advanced in value for some time. I personally prefer the no date versions. I've never seen a Tiffany signed version. Congrats!!!
I've seen Tiffany signed dials on Rolex and Omega from the time period. Looking at the frizzellweb website for Ingenieurs, I could only find one other example of a Tiffany signed dial: A reference 666 that they call "very unusual and unique." It also seems that Turler (high end Swiss jewelry store) had their name on some of the Ingenieurs including the reference 866:
They are not at all underrated. Their values ran up well before the more recent bubble in vintage watch values, and you can bet that they won't deflate to nearly the degree that many others will when the bursting of the bubble accelerates.
Yes not underrated. But I’m not convinced that the % spread in prices between the iwc and the other brand anti mags will necessary reduce materially when there is a general pull back in prices of all vintage watches. I do think they are relatively undervalued vs the alternatives. I don’t recall any other company signed dials for these. Has anyone else observed them? Anyway, here’s my Turler signed one.
As promised, some pics after service! The watch now runs perfectly and looks great on the IWC oyster bracelet.
wonderful piece! I have just started down the rabbithole with ingenieurs. Hopefully will get my hands on one in the not too distant future. Was it hard to your hands on the bracelet? or was it part of the purchase with the watch?
Fantastic piece brought back to life. I've only seen a Tiffany-branded IWC in person once, years ago, before I got into collecting. Even then I knew it was special by the way it was handled by the owner. Great find and great work bringing this one back to first rate.