And there you have it.....although IWC make some lovely watches, the timekeeping aspect of the experience is pretty ordinary. Add to that the cost (eek!) and the relative sobriety of the design language and it's a niche offering.
If someone wants a handsome, well-made pilot watch, you can get the same manufacturing and material quality and (possibly) better timekeeping, from Bremont, Sinn or Laco - at roughly half the cost. That's a tough sell.
I've got a Twelve (titanium) and an Aquitaine Bronze - both are exceptionally well-finished for the price (sub £1200 ). Both were an experiment - the Bronzie was to try a bronze cased watch without spending a lot - it's been great. The Twelve looked interesting, and the vignette blue dial on the titanium model is unique to CW and looks fantastic on the wrist. I'd not buy CW just for the brand, but if you like the look/model, the value-for-money is top notch.
the cheapest on you can find on Aliexpress/Amazon/eBay wil do - they are all much of a muchness. I wouldn't use them on the watch itself, unless the movement was out of the case, but for bracelets they are great. It's much more thorough than a toothbrush, as the ultrasonic waves agitate all the dirt in the spaces too small for a brush to get to. It's doing the same as you do with your brush, just at several thousandths of the scale 😄 Also awesome for jewellery as well, especialy cleaning out the settings on gemmed pieces.
The Saphir stuff has not discolered any of my stitching - in most cases, the main casue is bleeding dye out of the leather and into the stitching, or spreading dirt from the leather to the cotton. Worth cleaning first :D
100% ask for a replacement. Whatever's going on in there is fairly catastrophic and not a rsult of wear and tear. You shoudln't have to wait for months for a repair, as the itme was not fit for purpose when sold.
Most AD's will sort this out wiht no quibbles. If not, go straigth to Longines.
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