IWC

justpen
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Actual Gold content in an IWC....compared to ???

Hi All, Happy New Year.

I would like to ask if anyone has any comment about the differing Gold content of various watch brands.

I ask this for a few  reasons;

1.        We are happy to pay a higher cost for gold over steel, but it is nice to have some appreciation of what we are paying for, as in, watch making quality cost, and, material used cost, but

2.       There is also a big difference in some watch case weight and construction methods.

3.       Crystal backs are nice and useful, but Crystal is a lot cheaper than gold....good for us to see the beauty...good for the manufacturers to save on gold which is at a record high at present.

If we compare the extreme ends of the scale in gold content in 'Gold Watches' watches we could say that a Rolex is literally stamped out of a solid block of 18K Gold, and is a 'Gold Watch'.... It has a Horological value a Premium for its case material.

A gold plated ‘XYZ'  is still a ‘gold’ watch but it has by nature possibly very little Horological value and certainly no premium for its case material....unless compared with plastic....and certainly not a "Gold Watch"

I don’t mean to bring a gold plated watch into the comparison of top end watches but it is necessary as a method of measurement as the gold content in some watches seems to be getting pretty light, and so when does a gold watch cease to still be a 'Gold Watch'.

This particularly came to notice recently, as, because I like their contrasting black and white dial, I have been thinking of buying an IWC.

I have looked at the Pilot Classic Chronograph Model No. 371713 in Rose Gold and I notice that IWC promote, as a major beneficial factor in most of their watches “The soft iron inner case provides effective protection against magnetism.”

I have never understood this ......is it protecting the watch from magnetic fields or is it protecting the aircraft from magnetic fields? I would not have thought either would have any influence, and if it protecting the watch...as I think it is....I am also a little confused about this need, as being a pilot for 29 years I don’t see a lot of benefit in specifically protecting what is traditionally a pilots watch from magnetism, as there is very little material in an aircraft cockpit which puts out a magnetic field and indeed the opposite is the rule that a pilot should not take any item into a cockpit which is magnetic as it can affect the aircraft instruments ...mainly the compass.

The other reality is that with modern aircraft instruments time keeping in aircraft is usually done with GPS time which is far more perfect than a watch.

On another extreme Omega put out a ‘gold capped’ Seamaster Cosmic 2000 back in the 1960’s and this had a 18K gold cap about half a mm thick fused to the steel case and it was long lasting.....I still have mine and the gold is all there....but it is not a ‘Gold Watch’ as such.

So looking at the IWC range again, looking at the 3D case image they have on their site and which was featured also on PuristSPro last week, there seems to be a lot of “soft iron” including, not only the case but a soft  iron inner back and a soft iron painted dial..... and a lot less gold.

Then there is the feel of a watch. It is nice to hold a gold watch and feel something solid knowing it is mostly  gold.

If the ‘Feel’ or weight is just an iron inner case with an obviously thin outer gold ...then how gold is the gold watch....if the iron was removed what would be the weight difference of the watch.

If you bang a nice watch against a glass door, as I am sure many of us have, will it dent if it is so thin?  

I know a Rolex will not get hurt too bad, so going down the line of gold content, thickness and strength are IWC putting out a capped gold watch just a little more nicely machined than Omega did 40 years ago.....but also a watch that you might have to treat extra carefully in case you bang it.

Then there is price... a gold Rolex stamped out of a solid gold bar....  I also think Breitling are stamped from a solid block ...... compare it with an IWC which is carrying a lot of iron in it.

Comments would be appreciated.

Kindest regards to all,

Jack