IWC Calibre 89

Why We Love It Every watch has a history, a hidden lineage that guides it and makes it into the interesting and desirable timepiece we are so often in search of today.  Sometimes the lineage is apparent, the bloodlines of icons that have resisted change for decades.  Other times, as is the case with this IWC, the horological DNA is hidden from view by an otherwise humble and reserved veneer.  This piece is one of them. This particular Calibre 89, is carefully wrapped in a 35mm steel case with fancy curved lugs, likely produced in the mid 1950s. The matte silver dial has taken on a light speckled patina that highlights the applied indices and matching steel-toned sword hands, is a perfect indication of the understated designs of the era and works to further conceal the legendary drivetrain inside.   Every collector needs a dress watch on their collection, and we think we found just the one for you. Don't wait! Calibre 89's are known to fly off the shelf - especially when they come in the much rarer Steel cases! The Story The Calibre 89 movement is one of the more important drivetrains to come out of the post war years.  Standing firmly as the cornerstone of IWC's in-house workmanship, the Calibre 89 was a superlative creation, as accurate and reliable as it was beautiful.  The Calibre 89 began its life inside the mind of Albert Pellaton, a movement designer that had cut his teeth at Vacheron Constantin and come to Schaffhausen as IWC's Technical Director in 1944.  For his first major project, Pellaton penned the Calibre 89, building on the skeleton of the Calibre 83, which had been IWC's workhorse movement since the early 1930s.  While the Calibre 89 is most renowned for driving the Ministry of Defense's Mark XI pilot's watch, it made its way into a wide array of civilian-grade timekeepers, many of which sported the same spartan design language as their military brethren.  While we've offered a few of these late 1940s/early 50s gent's watches in steel, this is the first time we've found one in solid 18K gold, a rare expression of an otherwise buttoned-up watch.