IWC Da Vinci Chronograph Edition Sport for Good Foundation Showcase Review

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Greetings. I'm Tim of Govberg and welcome to the world of IWC today. I'll be your guide to the futures of the IWC Da Vinci Chronograph Edition "Sport for Good Foundation," 42 millimeters in stainless steel. This is reference 3934-02 part of 2017's class of new Da Vinci models. The watch combines historical elements with the distinctive cue of the Laureus Sport for Good series. This is the eleventh installment in that series and a limited edition of 1,500 pieces.

Now the time piece is richly appointed. It features a Da Vinci specific single fold deployant steel clasp. The clasp loops with the opposite side of the strap to provide insurance against accidental droppage while donning or removing at bedside. The strap is upscale, gloss rectangular scale alligator leather in navy blue. It features robust bolstering down the center to add body and definition, folded edges and a monotone stitch and on the underside, the signature signal orange of the Italian house Santoni leather specialists and crafters of fine straps for IWC.

Now on the wrist, the signal orange disappears and the timepiece is dominated by the Laureus sport blue. The Laureus sport for good foundation championed by IWC and the Richemont family of companies, uses the power of sport to empower children around the world faced with underprivileged lifestyles.

We'll return to that signature case back and it's origins, but first let's discuss the case and the hinged lugs. Now though this is a 42 mm case, it's important to note that the historically accurate hinge lugs, are referenced to the Da Vinci series of the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, allow this 42 mm watch to wear more like a 38 or 39 mm steel round watch. Beautiful, elegant and ergonomically correct, their distinctive of the Da Vinci series as well as an example of active ergonomics within the watch industry, conforming to the shape of the wrist rather than forcing the wrist to conform to the watch. Now you can see the case is all of high polish, but surprisingly nuanced with sensuous compound curves. The flare or the hinge of the lugs and the sweep as it abuts the dramatically cambered sapphire.

A note on that sapphire. The original Da Vinci chronographs of the 80s and 90s featured a broadly domed plexiglass crystal that created a charming olfactions, almost vintage style distortion and this sapphire, though upgraded and far harder and more scratch-resistant than the plexiglass, has been dramatically cambered and domed to produce the same charming olfactions distortion effects of the minutes and hours. A beautiful reference to IWC history for the connoisseur. Now you can see just underneath the periphery of that sapphire, the white calibrations for the minutes and seconds as well as the shocks of red that characterize the tri-tone dial. Blue dominant in the fashion of the Laureus Sport for Good Series, which began in 2005. You can see that it also features hand applied and polished Arabic numerals framing beautiful Alpha style hands polished and faceted at center.

Underneath the case back, is IWC's manufacture caliber, 89361, automatic with a 68 hour power reserve. It features 38 jewels to pivot with low friction providing both immense functionality in the form of a flyback chronograph that can be reset and restarted with single push of the trigger at 4 o'clock, as well as timing stability thanks to it's free sprung architecture. The balance is free sprung to resist shock or vibration-induced timing deviation making it a more rugged timekeeper. Now of course, the watch features 3 ATM water resistance, which is sufficient for protection against splashing or inadvertent rain, but it's not a swimmable watch per IWC.

Additional refinements that come from this caliber include hacking seconds so you can pull the crowns, stop the seconds and synchronize to a reference time. A quick set to rapidly cycle the date should the watch run down or encounter an irregular length month and IWC's signature Peleton pall-based winding system. A mechanical engineering tradition of the Schaffhausen manufactured for over 60 years. It provides both efficiency in its bidirectional pall-winding as well as a vibration-free winding experience so you don't feel rotor wobble as the rotor is moving on the wrist.

You can see this and the entire IWC collection of fine timepieces on our website govbergwatches.com.