| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: AA |
Very good |
Case: 2-8 |
Very good Slightly scratched |
Movement: 2* |
Very good Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense |
Dial: 2-01 |
Very good HANDS Original |
Brand IWC, Switzerland
Reference 5502
Year Circa 1980
Movement No. 2332364
Case No. 2272207
Material Silver
Diameter 56 mm.
Caliber 9721, 32 jewels
Signature Dial, case and movement
Notes
With a beautiful hand engraved movement, these complications pocket watches by IWC were all made in a limited edition of 1000 pieces.
At the time IWC had said about their line of pocket watches:
“Today, IWC’s watchmakers are proud of the fact that they are able to integrate all the complications mentioned in watches from Schaffhausen. The history of complicated watches from IWC is a very special one. Before the advent of the quartz watch, IWC had specialized in precise, high-quality watches without any complicated modules.
As interest in mechanical watches dwindled in the 1970s, IWC decided to focus on a small group of watch devotees and customers who had not abandoned their love of mechanical watches. In effect, IWC launched a counter-revolution against the quartz revolution that had taken place in the watch industry. Most manufacturers in the watch industry – even in the luxury sector – had either neglected and forgotten the art of watchmaking or had been forced into receivership. Not IWC. Bucking the trend, the company’s Executive Board charged watchmakers, Kurt Klaus among them, with the development of several small series of complicated pocket watches. It was a bold step, and one from which IWC was to reap enormous benefit in the long term.
The first fruit of such efforts was the Reference 5500, a Lépine open-face pocket watch with calendar and moon phase. Unveiled at the 1977 Swiss Watch Show in Basel, it was limited to 100 pieces and sold out in a trice to lovers of classic, mechanical timepieces. In the following years, Kurt Klaus devoted himself to other haute horlogerie projects. The complications were featured not only in pocket watches but also in wristwatches. The designs and mechanisms consolidated IWC’s reputation as an manufacturer of high-quality, complicated watch movements.”
At the time IWC had said about their line of pocket watches:
“Today, IWC’s watchmakers are proud of the fact that they are able to integrate all the complications mentioned in watches from Schaffhausen. The history of complicated watches from IWC is a very special one. Before the advent of the quartz watch, IWC had specialized in precise, high-quality watches without any complicated modules.
As interest in mechanical watches dwindled in the 1970s, IWC decided to focus on a small group of watch devotees and customers who had not abandoned their love of mechanical watches. In effect, IWC launched a counter-revolution against the quartz revolution that had taken place in the watch industry. Most manufacturers in the watch industry – even in the luxury sector – had either neglected and forgotten the art of watchmaking or had been forced into receivership. Not IWC. Bucking the trend, the company’s Executive Board charged watchmakers, Kurt Klaus among them, with the development of several small series of complicated pocket watches. It was a bold step, and one from which IWC was to reap enormous benefit in the long term.
The first fruit of such efforts was the Reference 5500, a Lépine open-face pocket watch with calendar and moon phase. Unveiled at the 1977 Swiss Watch Show in Basel, it was limited to 100 pieces and sold out in a trice to lovers of classic, mechanical timepieces. In the following years, Kurt Klaus devoted himself to other haute horlogerie projects. The complications were featured not only in pocket watches but also in wristwatches. The designs and mechanisms consolidated IWC’s reputation as an manufacturer of high-quality, complicated watch movements.”