Review: IWC Mark XVI Spitfire

[Adeodatus]

OVERVIEW

IWC Mark XVI Spitfire was the watch that actually brought me to RWG, so I feel obligated to "give back" to this wonderful community and thank everyone here.

I've been on the market for this particular piece solely because I consider this one of the best all-around watches. It is elegant and wears great with a suit, while being manly enough for a daily use. It is a very light watch, one you can wear all day without ever noticing it on your wrist. At 39 mm it is also not a as noticeable as some AP or Hublots or even Ingenuiers, so I believe you will not be called out, unless you will try to show it off.

If you are interested in IWC Pilots watches history and heritage please read a wonderful review of the black version of this watch by chrgod. That review is a must for all IWC aficionados.

TECHNICAL INFO

Movement: Nickel Plated 2892 Automatic Asian Clone. Insignia Rotor with Cortes de Geneve.

Dimensions: Diameter 39mm; Case height 11 mm; Width (including lugs) 48 mm;

Crystal: Sapphire crystal with colorless AR

Case: Stainless steel

Crown: One piece screw down with O ring

Lume: Markers, Hands and Numerals

CASE

The case is constructed and polished well, and dimensions are extremely accurate. The only issue I saw was with the internal parts of the lugs, which are as sharp as a razor. The engraving on the case back is at the correct position, although a bit more rough than on a gen.

DIAL

The dial seems to be of a good quality and just stunning. Unfortunately it isn't accurate. As you can see there is a 1mm space between the minutes numbers and the case. This isn't a major issue, though, and unless you compare this watch with a gen or have a really good knowledge of this rep and the gen you will not be able to spot it. Under a magnifying glass you can also see that the hour numerals, especially the silver part of them, is a bit thinner that on gen. Again not a major issue and you will not notice that unless you compare it to gen under a very good lighting and a magnifying glass.

Unfortunately there is one major issue with the dial. The dial is not fully "silver" plated. The stripe that holds the numbers is white and has no ridges as per gen. This is a serious blow for this rep. I have contacted the dealer about this issue and he replied that this "was the way these dials were made", so there is no better dial for this watch. Personally I like it this way and I wish IWC actually made the watch with a white stripe, as it differentiates the silver parts of the dial and allows the numerals to stand out and really shine. So if you are looking for an exact rep this will probably be the biggest tell. I think the issue here is that the factories simply printed the Mark XV dial layout on a larger (39mm) Mark XVI.

HANDS

The hands are very accurate and well executed. My only concern here is the hour hand which is place way too close to the dial.

I'm not sure if this is also the case with the gen, but once I open the watch for service I will definitely have it raised half a millimeter from the dial.

The seconds hand is half a millimeter shorter than on gen, (again, I, personally, like it better this way).

CROWN

The watch features a screw crown with Probus Scafusia on it and O ring, and screws down very smoothly.

The crown is, by far, my favorite part of the watch. It feels as genuine as it gets.

DATE WHEEL

The date wheel is really good. The font is a bit thinner than on gen, but ever so slightly, probably by a few microns.

Good luck spotting that. Again, unless you are comparing this rep to a gen under a proper lighting you will never notice the difference.

LUME

The lume, as expected, is very weak. It doesn't hold up more than a couple of hours after "charging" in the sun. I'm not that concerned about it and I can't see myself re-luming this watch, but for those of you who like great lumes, I guess this will require a visit to Zigmeister.

AR

As you can see form the photos the AR is very good and has a slight blue(ish) hue. Nothing to add here except that I'm very impressed with the AR job the factories have done with this watch.

BUCKLE CLASP

The clasp is poorly constructed. Even before we start with the shallow and off center “IWC” engravement, I have to say that the overall feel of the clasp is very “reppish”.

The clasp is as sharp as a razor as well, to the extent that when you wear the watch it rubs against the strap and damages it.

I’m sure the factories can do a better job at polishing the piece and removing these sharp corners.

The clasp has all the engravemnts as per gen, but the most important one, as I mentioned earlier, is too shallow and off-center.

STRAP

I opted for a Croc strap and it is very comfortable, thin, soft and feels of a good quality.

Although the dealer sweared by the god-all-mighty it was a genuine Croc, “a real croc for sure”, I'm not that convinced.

Nevertheless, I’m not a leather expert, so I’ll give our trusted dealer a benefit of the doubt.

MOVEMENT

I didn't open the watch so I have nothing to say about the movement, except that it's a 2892 Asian clone and is widely used in other reps and has been reviewed here time and time again, so I can't say I have more to add.

SUMMERY

All in all I'm extremely pleased with the watch, the dealer and the transaction. All went smoothly and without any issues whatsoever.

I also enjoy the overall look and feel of this watch. Sure it is not 1:1 Ultimate Extreme Super As-Per-Gen replica, but I actually like it even better than the genuine watch. The issues with the dial are definitely fixable and in any case the drawbacks are only visible under a very good lighting and can be spotted only if compared to a gen side by side.

Having said that I will definitely try to franken this watch with a gen dial in the future (or as soon as Concepta will answer my PM ).

Hope you will find the review useful and any additional thought and comments are welcome. Let the nitpicking begin!

On a side note: If you are looking for a similar watch with a more correct dial, I'd recommend trying the Mark XV form Trusty or another dealer, as it seems to have the correct dial for that model.

And the last shot: me, wearing it well...

[ingenieur]

thanks for the wondeful review

[valerian]

Hey, great review! Thanks for taking the time.

I like the Spitfire. Killer watch!

Val.

[Adeodatus]

Agrrr... Typos in the review... Damn it!

Edited January 15, 2012 by Adeodatus

[jellytots]

Very good review - thank you for the time and effort!

[fischyyy]

Great review, really nice watch. If they would release a superlumed version it would be an instant buy.

[dluddy]

Killer watch. Thanks for a great review

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[chrgod]

Thanks for the good review.

The AR does look better than on my Mark XVI pilot, but a white dial is more forgiving to weak AR I assume. Your croc strap is slightly differnt to mine, which was very stiff in the beginning.

[cougar1]

Great review Adeodatus, thanks for updating us, looks like a fine rep apart from some minor mishaps, I have to say the croc strap looks really good with a nice grain on it....which is surprising

[Bardamu]

Thanks for this nice review. But I'm afraid I will not save money with your comments, because it only confirms that I want this watch ! And it could come quite soon...

Paul

[Adeodatus]

Great review Adeodatus, thanks for updating us, looks like a fine rep apart from some minor mishaps, I have to say the croc strap looks really good with a nice grain on it....which is surprising

The strap does feel very good and it's soft and comfortable, but if you look closely at the last picture of the strap, under the first hole, you will see some wear already (it's the greyish patina). Now, that wear is not much of a concern to me, but I wonder would it happen to a real croc strap? I mean when leather is scratched, you'll still see leather. Here - I'm not so sure... Somehow this scratch feels synthetic

[cougar1]

The strap does feel very good and it's soft and comfortable, but if you look closely at the last picture of the strap, under the first hole, you will see some wear already (it's the greyish patina). Now, that wear is not much of a concern to me, but I wonder would it happen to a real croc strap? I mean when leather is scratched, you'll still see leather. Here - I'm not so sure... Somehow this scratch feels synthetic

It certainly looks good, not sure about the wear (I can barely see it from the pic) the graining certainly looks gen croc on that pic, it may be very thinly layered croc hopefully it holds up well and is just part the breaking in process....usually rep croc straps look awful and obvious, that one looks pretty good for a change.

Edited January 18, 2012 by cougar1

[grifter]

Thanks for the great review! I've been thinking about getting a watch for the significant other and this is high on the list. Thanks again, man!

[Limestone]

ohh missed this one.

Thanks for a nice review.

I opted between this and the 3717.

Finaly I went for the 3717-04 a couple of years ago..

Still love it.

Think the Spitfire will join my collection soon.

[seafoam]

I've always loved these. I used to own a really bad version with black dial. I may have to reintroduce this into my collection but proper this time. Thanks for the great review!!

[Adeodatus]

Thanks for your kind words, guys. I love this watch. I wear it almost 24/7 now and find it very comfortable.

Jumped into a pool the other day wearing the watch by accident and it works perfectly, no water leaked in.

I have sanded the clasp's edges a bit in order to preserve the strap. The damage done to the strap was easily "repaired" by a touch of olive oil.

[Novum]

Great review. Thanks!

Where is the best place rito get this watch?

Mary and Rochest said they cant source it...

[starbox]

Great review!

It is unfortunate, that the maker hasn't updated the dial, as on the model with black dial

[dhan]

thx for the great review

 

curios which dealer that u get this watch from?

[Bardamu]

Adeodatus,

 

Last January, I said that I loved this watch after seeing your review and I added that it would become mine. I bought it few weeks later, and as I see that your review has been bumped, I post few pictures.

 

 

 

 

I didn't like so much the strap, so I changed it and placed another one I already had in my stock. It's a genuine alligator. The watch is really great and so comfortable on the wrist !

 

Only one problem, but a real issue : problem with the movement. It stopped suddenly and I have to send it to a good watchsmith. I'll send it to Wiz next week.

 

Best regards,

 

Paul

Edited December 22, 2012 by Bardamu

[Adeodatus]

Killer strap, Bardamu. Looks much better than the black one IMHO. My watch didn't have any issues with the movement, until I dropped it one day. Personally I'm not sure the Asian clone movements are worth repairing. I'm actually thinking of buying a new one instead of sending the watch.

[Henry J. Miller]

Besutiful watch for certain. I especially like the tan/brown strap. But is this correct - BOTH have stopped working?

 

A bit dissapointing I'd say.

[Bardamu]

I confirm, mine has stopped working. I'm about to send it to a watchsmith in order to fix it. When he receives it, he will tell me what the problem is. Hope it can be fixed.

 

Paul