IWC

AndrewD
[HoMe Moderator]
12829

• Show profile
• Show other posts

Hit and miss for me

Here are my initial responses to the pictures. I reserve the right to change my opinion when I handle the watches in the metal!

I like the colour schemes with the grey ceramic and red highlights. The ceramic case should provide the scratch resistance that makes them a good proposition as a daily wearer; scratch resistance is even more important given their size.

I liked the easy readability of the Day-Month windows in the Da Vinci perpetual a couple of years back, although those watches were very bulky on my wrist, and it’s good to see this display in the Spitfire perpetual.

Like Daos, I am rarely convinced about showing more than one date in a date display, even if the designers were trying to mimic aircraft altimeters. Since kindergarten we knew what numbers come before and after, and it is against the raison d'être of the Pilots watch to provide so much visual information.

It is interesting to see the increasing size trend continuing. I thought it would have flattened out, or the companies offering a range of sizes, like skirt lengths, to suit all; JLC certainly seem to have done this. I wear a 38mm Mark XV and find it a good size for my wrist. The 39mm Mark XVI was quite wearable too, but the 41mm Mark XVII has outgrown me. But I note JMan’s comments about size and know I tend to prefer smaller watches. I think the chronograph versions work better in the larger cases and fill the dials better.

I like the various sporty and aeronautical strap combinations shown in the press pictures, so bravo to IWC for extending these themes. And the fine adjustment on the bracelet is another practical engineering feature to applaud.

Andrew