Watches Time Blog

Movements for the IWC watches are mainly two folds. Most of their modern models are based on different calibers by ETA. The ETA is a part of the Swatch Group that works on mechanical and quartz movements for the watches. However, they have done some excellent job in the mechanical movements and they are frequently used by most of the top level brands. Among all of the movements, the ETA 2892A2 and ETA/Vljoux 7750 movements are widely used in many of the IWC watches.
Beside the ETA movements, the brand uses their own caliber in their watches; especially this is a very common practice in the older versions. Also the company modified several important movements from other companies according to their need. Based on the Pellaton winding structure, the Caliber 5000 and Caliber 8000 are designed, which are very common to find in their wrist watches. For their pocket watches, the International Watch Company used the movements like F.A. Jones. The brand also used the JLC meca-quartz watch movements in the classic Portofino chronograph models.
According to the IWC, the company keeps record of each of the timepieces they sold since 1885. The record includes the mechanism and caliber, materials for the case and other parts, reference number of each piece, production and delivery date and information about the dealer who sold it. They even let their customer to know this information in exchange to a little fee if the watch was sold for at least ten years.
The mechanical and service department of the brand is capable of maintaining and repairing each model since 1868 as well as replacing any part. Like every other high end automatic watch brands, the watches from this brand are also gain or lose about four seconds per day.
Instead of complex mechanical movements, the watches of the IWC follow simple electronic movements to keep the price low.

The Grande Complication stands as the technological marvel of IWC. The name stands for itself. This complicated watch is made with 659 complex mechanical parts to perform 21 different features and displaying the time. Beside the regular timing hands for displaying the hours, minutes and seconds, the watch has four smaller circles on the dial.
On the top, there is a circle to show the perpetual moon phase in a mid night blackish-blue sky. This is designed with polished goldstone. There is a perpetual calendar to display the date for next 500 years. For the calendar, the makers used the rest of all three circles: one for the day, one for the month and one for the date. The date circle is at 3 o'clock and has one hand. The rest two have two hands each. One hand in each circle shows the above functions of day and month and the other two hands are used as very sensitive minute repeater and as a chronograph. This idea of multi used small circle is really exception and not very common to find among all other brands.
There is a slide on the left side of the watch that enables a nice toned chime to work as a reminder. Two tiny hammers, very accurately made, are used for making the sounds in each hour and in quarter of an hour. On the right side, there are three buttons to adjust the time and calendars and to use the chronograph.
There is also a separate window to display the year in four digits.
There are six different versions of this model and they are made with either solid platinum with 95 percent accuracy or pure 18 carat rose gold. The black alligator strap gives the watches more standard and higher class. Only 50 pieces of this model are released each year by IWC and available with very high price.

Omega is one of the top most watch brands in the world. It was founded in 1848 by Louis Brandt. Like many other world class watch companies, this is also a Swiss brand. Brandt started his company in La Chaux-de-Fonds. During that time, he was a watch maker who assembled the watches from elementary parts. His specialty was key wound precision of the pocket watches, which was the only available type of watch at that time.
His watches were famous in all over Europe. During his death in 1879, he still worked with the supplied parts from the local craftsmen. After his death, his two sons continued the business, but became frustrated because of the poor service of the suppliers and low quality of the materials. So they decided to go overall production and in-house manufacturing.
Because of limited recourse, they moved the company into a small factory in 1880, and changed it again in 1882 in Gurzelen of Biel/Beinne, which is still the company headquarters. Omega created some major change in their production and started to develop new technologies in their watches. The exclusive Omega caliber was introduced at that time.
Both sons of Brandt died in 1903, leaving the business to the hands of their four children. At that time, the company was producing over 240,000 watches per year with more than 800 employees. The elder of the four, Paul Emile Brandt, was the man behind the current fame of the brand. His intimate look over and hard work for the next fifty years changed the course of the history of Omega. He led the company through the crisis of post first world war, joined his company with Tissot, another famous watch company and merged the group called SSIH, which became the largest watch producer in Switzerland in a few years.
Since then, there is no turning back, and Omega became one of the most expensive and best performing watch brands in the world.