Calling all IWC mark XII owners, past and present

[NickRed71]

Earlier this year I bought a mk XII from a jeweller on C24, who had it stashed in the safe for years. It's a lovely little thing, and I'm wearing it as I type.

I now have it on a shell cordovan strap, made by Vekslak. The only thing bugging me is how reflective the sapphire crystal is. I can see my face when I read the time and it annoys me. It's also tricky to take a decent photo of it for the Friday thread.

Has anyone here felt moved to do something about the reflectiveness of the crystal? AR coating on the inside? Or outside too?

Thanks, Nick

[trident-7]

It wasn't something that I'd ever noticed until you mentioned it. I just looked at mine and agree that it is very reflective, but it doesn't bother me.

[Sammers23]

I'm afraid I haven't, but I'd love to see a photo. I know there are places that bake on AR, I'd caution against anything with a colour tint though as that would look strange on a vintage watch

[trident-7]

Here's mine with some of my other IWCs. They all reflect fairly similarly in this shot. I suppose that a with a flat crystal you can generally change the angle so that the reflection goes away from your eyes. With a curved crystal like on the mark xii there's usually an angle on it's surface which reflects light straight back to your fovea.

[monogroover]

I can remember thinking that mine was a bit reflective after I first bought it, but it never bothered me and I forgot about it. The subtle dome of the crystal makes it more likely that you'll pick up a bright reflection. Just compared mine side by side with my Speedy, which has a domed Hesalite of course. The reflection from my study window is more pronounced on the XII, but I think that's partly because the Speedy's dial is grey, not black. Also, the Speedy's hands are more reflective, having a higher surface area ratio of metal to lume. And that automatically compensates for bright reflections on the crystal.

[learningtofly]

I don't recall mine being particularly problematic - it certainly photographed well enough.

[NickRed71]

This is a fair example:




I have to tilt the watch a lot to avoid reflections


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[awright101]

Now you’ve mentioned it we will all notice the reflections hahaha

[NickRed71]

Now you’ve mentioned it we will all notice the reflections hahaha

Sorry, don’t want to spoil others’ enjoyment!


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[milwatch126]

Here's mine with some of my other IWCs. They all reflect fairly similarly in this shot. I suppose that a with a flat crystal you can generally change the angle so that the reflection goes away from your eyes. With a curved crystal like on the mark xii there's usually an angle on it's surface which reflects light straight back to your fovea.

Stunning IWC collection.

M

[Onelasttime]

I don't recall mine being particularly problematic - it certainly photographed well enough.

Lovely, but how about on the wrist in normal daylight?

I have the same problem with my Eterna Heritage Military. It has AR but I have to angle it well away to take anything resembling a half-decent shot. Otherwise it just gets all the ceiling lights or clouds. It has a domed crystal which might make a difference, but I have domed crystals on other watches that are never a problem.

On this one you can see the AR at the crystal edge and most of the ceiling at work



Then outside, at an angle, it doesn't look so bad: