IWC watch Cal 8531 International Watch Co. Schaffhausen Vintage Gold Plate

SPECIFICATION

Reference : IWC
Movement : Calibre 8531 Pellaton
Age : circa 1958
Case Size : 35mm
Case Thickness : 10mm
Lug to Lug : 42mm
Lugs : 18mm
Condition : used IWC watch
Box & Papers : No
Case Material : Gold plated 40 microns
Warranty : 12-Months Warranty

POINTS TO MENTION

• In fantastic pre-owned condition, with light wear
• Case and bezel have light scratches and marks
• Case back has some marks
• Dial has aged related marks and is freckled by patina
• Fully serviced pellaton movement
  
• Unsigned crown
• Gold plated 40 microns
• Paired with an unworn brown leather strap

THE WATCH

We have here a stunning  1950s gold plated IWC ,its is a classy watch with a fantastic champagne dial. This watch is powered by the Automatic caliber 8531 , that has a beat rate of 19,800, and date complication, 21 jewels and a 44 hour power reserve approx, which sits in the gold plated, 35mm, snap back case and is paired with a brown leather strap.

A BIT OF TRIVA

An automatic watch keeps running only because of the movements of the wearer’s arm. For over 60 years now, the power driving IWC’s automatic in-house movements has come from the pawl-winding system developed by Albert Pellaton and improved continuously ever since. In an automatic watch, the rotor converts kinetic energy into potential energy for the spring,

At IWC, the automatic system is inseparably linked with Albert Pellaton, he was appointed Technical Director to the Schaffhausen-based company in 1944 and made the development of an efficient automatic winding system his top priority. From a design point of view, the difficulty lay in converting the rotor’s bidirectional movements into a unidirectional winding motion that would put the mainspring under tension. Most systems back then either diverted the rotor’s movements to a complicated transmission or used only rotations in only one direction to wind the movement. This resulted in considerable power and energy loss.

Pellaton hit upon a surprising solution, instead of putting a ball bearing or cog at the centre of the rotor, he used a heart-shaped, eccentrically bearing-mounted disc. The latter converts the rotor’s revolutions into the to-and-fro movements of a rocking bar. The bar’s rocking movements are then transmitted to the winding wheel by two pawls: while one of them pulls the wheel (i.e. winds it), the other glides smoothly over the top of it until the roles are reversed. The mechanism patented in 1950 is unusually efficient. The rotor’s smallest movement in either direction is used to wind the mainspring

OUR THOUGHTS

A beautiful gold plated IWC from the 1950s, still looking and running this good is a wonderful sight. A top class watch from a top class Swiss manufacturer, its in great condition and is a really nice vintage IWC's albeit showing its age but it does it really well. This one also represents a blend of classic design and mechanical innovation with the cal 8531 pellaton movement stands as a testament to IWC's ability to innovate while honouring traditional watchmaking values, making it a prized piece for aficionados.