The First IWC Collectors Meeting in Schaffhausen - Part 3                                               1  2  3  4

We were split up in two groups to take the factory tour, our guide was the officially retired but still very active mastermind behind the Da Vinci perpetual calendar and Caliber 5000, Kurt Klaus.  I can say that most of our group had trouble keeping up with him, so quickly was he zipping up the many stairs and leading us from one building to another.

Alex listening to Kurt Klaus explaining things in his inimitable and mischievous way

 

Our first stop was at the finishing department where a fresh batch of Grosse Fliegeruhren  cases were just getting their final polish.

I know that one day one of these will be mine !

Aquatimer bezels and ...

... GST Perpetual backs and ...

... the gilded plates of the Portugieser Rattrapante.

 

The finished cases are then all tested to their respective waterproofness, if they pass the test under air pressure, they are then retested in water. This is the machine in which the Aquatimers are tested. These watches are waterproof to 2000 m and have a 3 mm thick sapphire crystal. About 10 % of these don't survive the grueling function check and crack.

 

Our next stops were the repair center, ....

... general movement assembly and complicated movement assembly. There a watchmaker was working on a Portugieser Minute Repeater. Due to the strict tolerances required in such a piece, the parts can't just be assembled but often require some adjustments like filing and bending before they fit perfectly together. When the movement functions properly, it is disassembled, cleaned,  reassembled again and then the chimes are tuned. The entire process takes about three weeks.

 

 

 

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