Hi all

Found this nice looking IWC that I am a bit interested in, but I am far from an expert on the brand. Looks ok to me though. Any thoughts?

The seller cannot open it unfortunately, but runs well. He thinks it holds caliber 88, but is not sure. 35mm case.

 

Well, in my experience cal 89 watches have a center-mounted sweep hand, not a sub-dial.

It is a one-piece case, but maybe a photo of the inside is in order. That way you can also check the case and movement serial numbers. Or if it's cheap enough, just take a chance on it.

 

Thanks for the response

He thinks it's cal 88 though and not 89. And the 88 seem to be a sub second one.

You are probably right on the case. I would also love to see the inside, so might not go for it without seeing it. But always the risk of breaking the crystal when you open, so assume he does not like to gamble on it

It's not super cheap so...

 

Sorry, I mis-read your original post.

It is always good to see the IWC printing in a nice clear straight-on shot, but my gut feeling is that the watch is legit. However, if it's not cheap, it's harder to take a risk. This is a common issue with one-piece cases, sellers can rarely open them. If it were in a 37mm case, I would be more tempted. Pretty watch, though.

 

Haha! No problem. Appreciate the help anyway.

Yea. Let me see what he says about opening it. Itsa bit of money to gamble with if you have no clue what's on the inside

 

Might conceivably be Cal 83, of which about twice as many were produced. I think late 1940s was the 83/88 transition period. Both were beautiful movements. FWIW I think the OP watch is lovely, nice find.

 

Very nice.

Dial is identical to the cal. 88 I had once, a 35mm unicase version from the first half of the fifties; I'd assume this one share those characteristics.

 

Personally I've owned a fair few IWC cal 83/88/89/85xx's in my time, for what it's worth I recon yours looks pretty good and no-redialed (the fine lines on the logo are extremely fine and difficult to redial manually without the use of a machine I think, so seems pretty safe there).

There are a huge number of variations of dials/hands that are quite interchangeable anyway and yours looks fine, good luck if you purchase!

 

Looks good, and nice to see an early "fish" crown!

 

Dibs on that if you still have it!

 

Looks ok to me as well. I'd offer him to pay for a Watchmaker to open it and take a straight from above picture of the inside case stamping....

 

At face value, this is very beautiful. The crown is scrumptious!

 

The faceting on the lugs is very sharp, as are the edges of the drilled lug holes. The case looks to be in good condition. And, as everyone else has mentioned, the crown is rather nice indeed.

 

Beautiful watch! And that perfect leather band makes it look even better in my opinion.
These days i am checking different luxury watches here - Mio watches , hope to find a similar thing, might be a different color, but definitely with the leather band, as i think it fits better my style and personality.

 

my C.83:

 

Very nice. Unsure about the dial (reprinted?).