54 Discussions and CommentsMember since Feb. 12, 2012
United Kingdom
Hi, I have held this watch over a 25 watt light bulb for 30 seconds, turned the lights off and the luminous markers cannot be seen whatsoever., I was so surprised I did it again and had the same results. The watch is 15 years old, is this normal for the markers to totally lose their luminous proporties in a relatively short period of time?
You can Google to find out more about how long tritium should last. But the easy answer is that The half-life time of tritium or hydrogen-3 is 12.32 years, which I believe means that half of the luminescence will be gone within that time. Keep in mind that a 15 year old watch may have been produced, say, a year or two before --and you're approaching a small percentage of its initial luminescence.
2 Discussions and CommentsMember since June 24, 2012
IWC mark 12
What a lemon this watch is.
I have had mine 14 years at it is a disappointment. Firstly, it has a JLC movement so it is not an in house IWC watch from top to bottom, something they had a reputation for and which attracted me to the brand in the first place. It has been serviced 5 times in 14 years and is therefore not rugged nor reliable in my experience.
As an example the last service was two and a half years ago by the IWC factory and it now has a regulator problem according to a local agent, (it was losing over 30 seconds per day!!) so another $420 to fix this.
The dial is not that pretty compared to the incomparable Mark 11 which has International Watch Co. in full on the dial and something the Ingenieur of the 50s and 60s had as well. This watch has a movement that is poor by those standards and offers nothing to a collector since it is not a genuine IWC fully manufactured watch nor does it have a unique history.
Please get back to your roots by culling all the fancy models and concentrate on top quality, in-house functional time pieces again across a limited model range, oh and please restore the full name International Watch Co. to your dials.
I wish I had bought a Mark 11 when I had the chance and used my money on that.
54 Discussions and CommentsMember since Feb. 12, 2012
United Kingdom
Gulp! I have just had mine returned from a service at IWC (Schaffhausen) at a cost of £420.00 (Sterling)! I sincerely hope it lasts longer than two and a half years and wonder if any other Mark XII owners have any comments that they would like to add? I am wearing mine now and watching that second hand sweep...so smooth and sweetly :) Maybe you just had a bad apple Timothy but I must say that for a 'Lemon' watch you have owned it quite a while (14 years). Perhaps even though it has caused you grief you still enjoy it more than you think?
54 Discussions and CommentsMember since Feb. 12, 2012
United Kingdom
Hi Timothy, Hmm! I read with interest your comments back in June 2012 regarding the reliability of your mark XII. I received mine back after a full service in June 2012 and have worn it in total about 8 weeks as I rotate my watches. It has only been worn in office conditions and is carefully dry stored. I took in out on Saturday 22nd September and the date would not change, it just slightly jerked and I had to engage and disengage the crown a few times for it to change (this was done at 10am and not between the critical times 11pm - 1am). In addition last night after about 15 hours of continuous wearing it stopped!! I have contacted Richemont(UK) today and I am waiting for their response.
I understand that these models have a tweaked JLC movement and I was wondering if tweaking this movement has had a detrimental effect on this watch? Thanks guys.
I have held this watch over a 25 watt light bulb for 30 seconds, turned the lights off and the luminous markers cannot be seen whatsoever., I was so surprised I did it again and had the same results.
The watch is 15 years old, is this normal for the markers to totally lose their luminous proporties in a relatively short period of time?
Proud owner of a mark XII
Last edited: 17 December, 2012 - 14:30
I tried it, but with effort.
A Mark XII is included too.
HEBE
Regards, Michael
mfriedberg@iwcforum.com
Last edited: 5 April, 2012 - 19:53
As long as this is normal for this watch then I have no problems at all with it.
Proud owner of a mark XII
Last edited: 17 December, 2012 - 14:30
What a lemon this watch is.
I have had mine 14 years at it is a disappointment. Firstly, it has a JLC movement so it is not an in house IWC watch from top to bottom, something they had a reputation for and which attracted me to the brand in the first place. It has been serviced 5 times in 14 years and is therefore not rugged nor reliable in my experience.
As an example the last service was two and a half years ago by the IWC factory and it now has a regulator problem according to a local agent, (it was losing over 30 seconds per day!!) so another $420 to fix this.
The dial is not that pretty compared to the incomparable Mark 11 which has International Watch Co. in full on the dial and something the Ingenieur of the 50s and 60s had as well. This watch has a movement that is poor by those standards and offers nothing to a collector since it is not a genuine IWC fully manufactured watch nor does it have a unique history.
Please get back to your roots by culling all the fancy models and concentrate on top quality, in-house functional time pieces again across a limited model range, oh and please restore the full name International Watch Co. to your dials.
I wish I had bought a Mark 11 when I had the chance and used my money on that.
Timothy Luke
Australia
Well, send it to me. Problem solved :)
Regards,
Bas
I have just had mine returned from a service at IWC (Schaffhausen) at a cost of £420.00 (Sterling)!
I sincerely hope it lasts longer than two and a half years and wonder if any other Mark XII owners have any comments that they would like to add?
I am wearing mine now and watching that second hand sweep...so smooth and sweetly :)
Maybe you just had a bad apple Timothy but I must say that for a 'Lemon' watch you have owned it quite a while (14 years). Perhaps even though it has caused you grief you still enjoy it more than you think?
Proud owner of a mark XII
Last edited: 17 December, 2012 - 14:30
Hmm!
I read with interest your comments back in June 2012 regarding the reliability of your mark XII.
I received mine back after a full service in June 2012 and have worn it in total about 8 weeks as I rotate my watches.
It has only been worn in office conditions and is carefully dry stored. I took in out on Saturday 22nd September and the date would not change, it just slightly jerked and I had to engage and disengage the crown a few times for it to change (this was done at 10am and not between the critical times 11pm - 1am).
In addition last night after about 15 hours of continuous wearing it stopped!!
I have contacted Richemont(UK) today and I am waiting for their response.
I understand that these models have a tweaked JLC movement and I was wondering if tweaking this movement has had a detrimental effect on this watch?
Thanks guys.
Proud owner of a mark XII
Last edited: 17 December, 2012 - 14:30
No!! Send it to ME...Or maybe Bas and I can flip a coin for it..
One of the best pilots watches ever...
Leo
Cheers Greg Chalk
Cvanwhite at aol dot com
Last edited: 21 February, 2013 - 13:47