THE ESSENTIALS
MAKE: IWC
MODEL: IW3545
YEAR: c1994
BOX/PAPERS: NO/YES(SERVICE)
CASE DIAMETER: 27X41MM
CASE MATERIAL: PLATINUM
BRACELET MATERIAL: LEATHER
MOVEMENT: AUTOMATIC
It’s no secret that we love neo-vintage IWC complications here at Falco. In fact, we firmly believe they are among the most beautiful, yet overlooked and undervalued, watches on the market today.
In particular, IWC was one of the few Swiss manufactures during this period producing perpetual calendar wristwatches, led by Kurt Klaus’ remarkable perpetual calendar system that eliminated the usual cluster of correctors and pushers (often operated with a cocktail stick, as many perpetual calendar owners will know). Instead, his ingenious module could be adjusted entirely via the crown. It automatically accounts for the varying lengths of months and leap years, requiring virtually no manual intervention beyond keeping the watch running.
Alongside references such as the IW3750 and IW3751, with their traditional round cases, IWC also quietly produced the Novecento line (Italian for "twentieth century"), featuring square and rectangular cases heavily inspired by the Art Deco watch designs of the 1920s and 1930s. The ref. IW3545 here was introduced in 1987 and remained in production for just under a decade. It features a gorgeous platinum case measuring 27 × 41 mm. Inside beats the automatic calibre 32062, based on Frédéric Piguet’s celebrated calibre 953. The watch can be adjusted entirely via the crown, which has four positions. During normal wear, the crown sits in position X; it can then be unscrewed to position 0 for winding, position 1 for advancing the calendar, and position 2 for setting the time.
The watch is simply beautiful on the wrist, wearing remarkably similarly to a Cartier Tank despite housing a perpetual calendar. It benefited from a complete IWC service in 2019 and has only been worn sparingly since, leaving it with virtually no visible marks. The movement was serviced again recently and is running at +4 s/d, with 269° amplitude and a 0.2 ms beat error. It comes complete with IWC's 2019 service documents and the original instruction booklet.
So cool.