Vintage Stainless Steel IWC Cal. 89

This one is one hell of a watch, internally and externally.
On the inside, IWC’s Caliber 89. Introduced in 1946 by the company’s then-new (and eventually legendary) technical director, Albert Pellaton, the movement was designed and engineered to meet the military demands and harsh conditions that arose during the early 1940s. Ironically, many of these movements, produced post World War II and into the late 1970s, eventually found themselves housed in relatively elegant gold wristwatches. While the movement’s bridges feature fairly wide Geneva stripes and attractively beveled edges, the sine qua non of Caliber 89 lies not in its finishing, but in its construction and assembly quality. The movement is built entirely from thick, exceptionally rigid bridges, with large, hefty pins for optimal structural stability. The screws are thick with long threads and have solid heads, ensuring maximum durability. And with the exception of the earliest examples, all Caliber 89s include Incabloc shock protection. All of which leads to extraordinary durability and long-term reliability, as this example here can attest.
On the outside, well, the word “doozy” comes to mind. There is no shortage of case and dial configurations that serve homes for these movements, and this isn’t my first rodeo, so to speak. It just so happens that this is the best example I’ve ever come across. The combination of the oversized stainless steel case (which I prefer to common yellow and even rose gold) with those strong, oh-so-fancy “Shark-Fin” lugs, the abundance of Arabic numerals (that I always appreciate, being a sucker for legibility), and those on point “Alpha” hands, all make for one tasty timepiece.

Details
Brand: IWC Schaffhausen
Year: c. 1950s
Movement: IWC cal. 89

Dimensions
Diameter: 36.5mm
Lug to Lug: 44mm
Between the Lugs: 18mm
Thickness: 10mm