2,241 Discussions and CommentsMember since Nov. 16, 2004
I am not sure whether this post should go in contemporary timepieces or the gallery.
Last week was spent in Switzerland. Monday to Wednesday was business with no time to meet up with friends or spend more than just a few minutes in the IWC boutique in Zurich. However, on Thursday, I flew back to Geneva with Mrs E and a group of watch collectors. When I collected my CFDV from my authorised dealer in May, I was invited to go to Switzerland to see the Patek Philippe factory. I felt rather promiscuous going to see another company’s factory but anyone who has been to the Schaffhausen factory will know that these are very special places and such an invitation cannot be turned down so easily. The visit to the very impressive Patek museum on Thursday afternoon was followed by an hour or so free time. Mrs E and I dashed over the bridge from our hotel to visit the Geneva IWC boutique. There, I had the opportunity to play with a Yacht Club Sportuguese and the ceramic Da Vinci. I discussed the Forum and Nad with the delightful Sylvie Regali and obviously established my credentials. Sylvie disappeared into the bowels of the building and returned with a box. Inside was the new Ref 3774. It arrived last week and will be delivered to its owner next week. We were very fortunate. I think it is the most beautiful IWC I have ever seen; certainly more beautiful than the skeletonised Portuguese Tourbillon Mystere Retrogade, in my view. There is a roundness to the appearance of the watch. Details such the gold thread in the strap are very impressive. Although the subdials are placed within the globe etched on the dial, they are perfectly legible. Mrs E was critical of the sawn off “10” but I think we could live with that. I regret not taking a photograph of the sold back and its engraving. I like solid backs to watches. It was a joy to hold. For some reason the sound of the minute repeater was not as loud as the Portuguese minute repeater and not as loud as the minute repeaters we heard the next day. It could have been the traffic outside. Nevertheless, whoever picks up the Ref 3774 next week is a very lucky person.
The pictures are not brilliant (only had a small pocket camera recommended to me by Nad- he always manages to take excellent shots) but you don’t see many posts of the Grand Complication so I thought I would post them all regardless of quality.
3,742 Discussions and CommentsMember since March 22, 2001
Grand it is. There is something very casual, yet elegant about this new Portuguese Grand Complication - thank you for sharing this - and the photos were great.
3,732 Discussions and CommentsMember since March 28, 2001
Very nice indeed, beautiful day out, beautiful watch, beautiful pictures. I looked up the difference between the Portuguese Grande Complication and the regular Grande Complication. Most noticeable is the difference in diameter: 45 mm versus 42,2 mm. That explains one aspect that caught my eye: on the Portuguese the subdials look so centralised, cleverly disguised by the ring of Portuguese numbers. As the movement in both watches is the same, that makes sense. I must confess that to me the dial of the regular Grande Complication looks a bit more balanced. I wonder if one day a Grand Complication movement will be based on the 50xxx movement, being a bit bigger than the 79091. For a Portuguese that would fit in with the Portuguese roots of a big pocket watch sized movement.
Kind regards, Paul
What you do may not be so important, but it is very important that you do it well. (my variation of a saying by Gandhi)
Last week was spent in Switzerland. Monday to Wednesday was business with no time to meet up with friends or spend more than just a few minutes in the IWC boutique in Zurich.
However, on Thursday, I flew back to Geneva with Mrs E and a group of watch collectors. When I collected my CFDV from my authorised dealer in May, I was invited to go to Switzerland to see the Patek Philippe factory. I felt rather promiscuous going to see another company’s factory but anyone who has been to the Schaffhausen factory will know that these are very special places and such an invitation cannot be turned down so easily.
The visit to the very impressive Patek museum on Thursday afternoon was followed by an hour or so free time. Mrs E and I dashed over the bridge from our hotel to visit the Geneva IWC boutique. There, I had the opportunity to play with a Yacht Club Sportuguese and the ceramic Da Vinci. I discussed the Forum and Nad with the delightful Sylvie Regali and obviously established my credentials. Sylvie disappeared into the bowels of the building and returned with a box. Inside was the new Ref 3774. It arrived last week and will be delivered to its owner next week. We were very fortunate.
I think it is the most beautiful IWC I have ever seen; certainly more beautiful than the skeletonised Portuguese Tourbillon Mystere Retrogade, in my view. There is a roundness to the appearance of the watch. Details such the gold thread in the strap are very impressive. Although the subdials are placed within the globe etched on the dial, they are perfectly legible. Mrs E was critical of the sawn off “10” but I think we could live with that. I regret not taking a photograph of the sold back and its engraving. I like solid backs to watches. It was a joy to hold. For some reason the sound of the minute repeater was not as loud as the Portuguese minute repeater and not as loud as the minute repeaters we heard the next day. It could have been the traffic outside. Nevertheless, whoever picks up the Ref 3774 next week is a very lucky person.
The pictures are not brilliant (only had a small pocket camera recommended to me by Nad- he always manages to take excellent shots) but you don’t see many posts of the Grand Complication so I thought I would post them all regardless of quality.
Cheers everyone.
Last edited: 17 May, 2013 - 09:58
Regards,
Ardoise
Last edited: 1 January, 2012 - 17:55
Thanks for sharing Rave
Ivan
iwcforme
Ivan
iwcforme
iwcforme@aol.com
Last edited: 11 December, 2012 - 13:27
Last edited: 8 November, 2012 - 12:49
Kind regards,
Paul
What you do may not be so important, but it is very important that you do it well. (my variation of a saying by Gandhi)
Last edited: 23 October, 2011 - 13:31
a real dreamwatch G R E A T
footnote:
only the arm belongs to me ;) :D
cheers
Thorsten
Last edited: 9 September, 2011 - 15:29
Best regards,
Jim
"We are the other people, we are the other people...you're the other people too!"
Frank Zappa
Last edited: 13 March, 2012 - 15:03
Were you nervous holding her? :)
I was trying to list what all the 21 functions are, but failed...could someone help complete/correct the list?
hours
minutes
seconds
chrono (seconds)
chrono (minutes)
chrono (hours)
chrono (seconds hacking)
date
day
month
year
perpetual calendar
moon phase
minute repeater (is this 1 or 3 complications?)
Cheers,
Evan
evan_nanos at yahoo.com
Regards
Farhad
Thanks for the great photos. A truly fantastic watch! Someone is going to be VERY happy!
Dick L.
whichwatch at roadrunner dot com