IWC Schaffhausen

Hello all,

I am new to this forum, but I can say I have received a lot of help in my watch hunt from the posts here. Long ago, I decided that, when I had the means, I wanted a classic Calatrava-style watch from the 1940-60s era. The Pateks are nice but far too much money for me; I want something to wear on occasion, not to collect. I like the Omegas of that era, but settled on an IWC for the following reasons. I have always liked the brand and am very happy with my current Mark XV. Furthermore, the Cal 88 has gotten some terrific reviews, and is available in somewhat larger case sizes.

I have found a very nice Cal 88. Using the movement dating site mentioned here, I have established it was produced in 1962. The movement looks beautiful; even under the loupe, it is very clean and without any sort of blemish. The watch face looks very good and unrestored. There is no spotting on the watch face and just a hint of spotting on the hands. It has applied arabic numbers at 3, 9, and 12 with applied arrow batons at the other hour markers. Interestingly, the case is not marked IWC. It is marked DS+S and is 9Kt gold. I was told by the dealer that 9Kt gold was common for British watches of that era as they could not afford the higher gold content cases.

Here is my conundrum. The watch looks beautiful; it is the style and size I was looking for. However, I am a little unsure about the case. I have seen Omegas with British made cases, but am not familiar with IWCs made this way. Do such watches exist and are they thought of as more or less desirable?

The final reason for the hesitance is the price. The dealer is asking US$4000. Looking through the Antiquorum auction results is not too helpful since they do not have many Cal 88s sold there. However, what I can see is this. There were a few Cal 89s from the same era in 18Kt gold cases with IWC stamps that are in equivalent shape. The most expensive were selling for about 4000-4500, but they often came with an original buckle as well, which this watch does not have.

I am afraid I do not have any pictures to show, but I hope the descriptions help enough. The watch seems like it would be a great buy if it were significantly less, but with the price, I am thinking I would rather wait and look some more. Is this watch really worth it?

Thanks for your advice,
George

Last edited: 23 January, 2013 - 18:27

I have heard of some UK non-IWC cases but I have never heard of a price that high for a Calibre 88. If you shop around I'm sure you will save way more than $1000, and then you can have one with an IWC case.

Regards, Michael
mfriedberg@iwcforum.com

Last edited: 4 January, 2013 - 14:27

Michael Friedberg Wrote:I have heard of some UK non-IWC cases but I have never heard of a price that high for a Calibre 88. If you shop around I'm sure you will save way more than $1000, and then you can have one with an IWC case.

I am much obliged. It is unfortunate because the watch looks so clean, but you need limits. I hope to be back when I can post the shots of the 5001-07 I have on order. 1-2 months?!?!

Last edited: 23 January, 2013 - 18:27

Hi George,
We see 1 or 2 IWC's in DS&S cases each month,in the UK workshops. Some can be fantastic looking and the movements & dials are usually IWC originals. IWC did make 9ct cased watches for the UK market but they always had the Probus stamp and serial number inside the caseback. Be Warned, IWC will not accept as original, nor authorise any work on, a watch without these marks.
I found the following example of good marks on Google.
Leo

Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.....Confucius

Leosweeneypod Wrote:Hi George,
We see 1 or 2 IWC's in DS&S cases each month,in the UK workshops. Some can be fantastic looking and the movements & dials are usually IWC originals. IWC did make 9ct cased watches for the UK market but they always had the Probus stamp and serial number inside the caseback. Be Warned, IWC will not accept as original, nor authorise any work on, a watch without these marks.
I found the following example of good marks on Google.
Leo

Hi Leo,

I am very glad you passed along that information. I was actually contemplating seeing if the dealer would accept a price more in line with the market. It would have been a shame to buy the watch only to find that IWC would not service it. It is quite unfortunate since the watch was in such good condition.

I managed to do a little research and found that DS+S referred to David Shackman and Sons. I originally thought it was Dennison since I had seen Omegas with Dennison cases, but those cases had both the Omega and Dennison mark. The case for this IWC only had the Shackman mark. They were a British casemaker of the time that also made cases for Rolex and Omega.

I am curious if you know more of this history. Did Shackman buy the movements from IWC to create the watches? The other possibility I can think of is that IWC did not have the capacity to make enough 9Kt gold cases and contracted with Shackman to make watches for just for the British market. Do you have any other information?

Thanks,
George

Last edited: 23 January, 2013 - 18:27