SCHAFFHAUSEN
2000m
AUTOMATIC
AQUATIMER
A review by Damon, Marc & Kyle
~INTRODUCTION~
DAMON:The IWC Aquatimer was one of those watches that I thought I'd never add to my collection. I had seen pictures of it on the net and I read posts by people who loved their Aquatimers, but that wasn't enough to send me rushing to buy one. What really got me hooked was the engineering that went into designing the case to withstand a depth of 2000 meters. Like Marc, I'm a dive watch fan. I grew up on the water and I always remember seeing men wearing dive watches as I grew up. To me, a dive watch is a man's watch and it says a lot about the type of person the wearer is. To me, the Aquatimer is a watch for a guy who's not afraid of showing off his masculinity by the watch he wears, and it shows that this person is ready to head out on an adventure at a moments notice.
What sent me running to buy this watch was the fact that I was about to sell my 18kt gold vintage cal. 89 to a friend of mine. I knew that there would be a void in my collection without an IWC so the Aquatimer was just a logical choice for me. Prior to getting this watch, I had never seen it in person so I wasn't sure how well it would look on my 7-inch wrist. Needless to say when I put it on for the first time I was very happy with the way it looked and I could instantly see why so many people loved their Aquatimers so much. It is very impressive looking, and you can tell that it's built like a submarine.
MARC:Ever since I first saw the IWC Aquatimer in a 1998 issue of International Wristwatch Magazine I knew I was destined to own one. I had no idea it was going to take me this long, but I am proud to confess that it was well worth the wait. Its understated and totally utilitarian design makes this watch a real contender for the ULTIMATE dive watch!
Mine is the titanium version, which was not my first choice, but has grown on me considerably over the last few days. I was terribly worried that its lack of heft would bother me and I was also worried that titanium would show scratches/scuffs to easily. My previous titanium watches all lasted less then a month in my collection due to these characteristics. Though after doing some research on TZ, I found out that IWC uses a special process that hardens its titanium to make it even harder then stainless steel. Here is the wonderful article in question: IWC’s Titanium - By Mycroft. So now that one of my worries was put to rest, I decided to take the plunge (pun intended).
My good friend Damon Michau also took the plunge recently and purchased the stainless steel version, together we decided to write a combined review. I also enlisted the help of a fellow Canadian, Kyle Riefsnyder, who happens to own the same watch and a digital camera. We hope you will enjoy reading this article as much as we did putting it together.
I usually like to begin my reviews, by talking about the timepiece’s past, but instead of reiterating the Aquatimer’s lineage, why not read it from IWC’s very forum moderator? Here is his terrific piece on the subject: Tracing the pedigree of Iwc's Aquatimer - By Michael Friedberg.
Let’s move on to the CASE shall we? CLICK HERE!
HOME ~ CASE ~ CRYSTAL/BEZEL/DIAL ~ MOVEMENT
BRACELET/STRAP ~ PACKAGING ~ CONCLUSION
