IWC

India Whiskey Charlie
[IWC Moderator]
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And now for my first post on the IWC forum - Enter 3713-19 & 5002-01

I bought my first real watch in the early 70's.  It was a 34 mm Rolex Oyster Precision manual wind 6694.  For several years after that, I only had one watch at a time and it was always a Rolex (Sub, Sub date, Explorer II, etc.).  Fast forward to the year 2000 when I enter an AD store that carried many brands.  One of them was IWC and that's where I saw a 371319 and literally fell in love with it.  At 42 mm it was *big* but everything about that watch was drop dead gorgeous and I literally loved that bracelet .  Sadly, I couldn’t afford it and walked away that day.  The newly found passion for the wristwatch kept me in touch with various watch stores and I made frequent visits to them on a regular basis.

Another fast forward to 2003 when IWC introduced the Big Pilot 5002-01 which I also fell in love with.  It was far bigger at 46 mm and I had never seen anything like it.  The store offered to finance it and I went for it and eventually bought more watches but I never forgot my first love (3713-19).  One more fast forward to 2018 when a friend acquires one from an estate sale and comes to show it to me.  That triggered a want in me and I started looking for one.  About two months ago, I found one for sale that looked in fairly good condition and was recently (2019) serviced at IWC.  The bummer is that it was more expensive than the one I didn’t buy new in 2000.  After a whole week’s worth of dealings with FedEx and customs clearance B.S. and 20 years after I first saw it, it finally arrived on Wednesday.