IWC Dirty Dozen

[rootbeer7]

My good friend has a bit of a collection and amongst them is one of these. Never taken much interest in these watches. Anyone know if this looks original? I'm questioning whether the hands are original. Thanks in advance.

[nick c]

Here some pics of original Iwc dirty Dozen. Your friend watch the hands don’t look like original, you need to check the movement and the case also


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rootbeer7]

Thanks Nick. I think hands are from one of the other 11 makes (Gevril). I'll have a look at movement.

[nick c]

Originally Posted by rootbeer7

Thanks Nick. I think hands are from one of the other 11 makes (Gevril). I'll have a look at movement.

Good luck my friend

[neilp]

Originally Posted by rootbeer7

Thanks Nick. I think hands are from one of the other 11 makes (Gevril). I'll have a look at movement.

I do not claim to be an expert by any means, but I do own a few of these WWW watches.

There were no WWW "Dirty Dozen" watches made by Gervil. The manufacturers were: Buren, Cyma, Timor, Vertex, JLC, Record, Omega, IWC, Grana, Eterna, Longines and Lemania.

These were commissioned by the British Ministry of Defense, who then maintained them. In doing so often they often swapped parts from one manufacturer to another, hands especially seem to have suffered this fate.

From what I see this watch has a replacement "MoD" dial - there is no "train track" around the sub-seconds; the 5 and 7 are complete rather than cut off by the sub-second dial; the 9 is open, and the 4 has a flat top. I'd guess the hands are also replacements or perhaps from a Vertex version.

As to what you would call original with these watches that is up for debate in my opinion. "As left the manufacturer" - this watch is probably not. "As used by the military" - this watch could well qualify.

I have an Omega WWW fitted with a replacement MoD dial that I am quite happy with and I think it retains a charm of its own although not factory-original.