Much has been said, and subsequently written, about IWC’s Mark replica watch collection this year. I guess that that’s what happens when a manufacture decides to re-tell the story of an icon through a revamped collection. This year’s Mark XVIII was a very pleasant surprise from IWC Mens Replica Watches.
However, it’s not immune to criticism. The size, placement, and general need for a date window has divided opinion, but like Jack, I find it to be one of the more useful functions for a daily watch, a role the IWC Mark XI replica watch is striving to play. Removing it would mean doing a straight revamp of the Mark XI which IWC seems content to leave alone for now, waiting perhaps until the model’s 70th anniversary in 2018.
The historial IWC Mark XI replica watch is watch that I greatly admire for its wearability. It’s small – only 36 mm – and couldn’t be more subdued in its appearance. It is made economically, in stainless steel and bare of any decorative elements, but it is made with purpose. Issued in 1948 to Royal Air Force pilots, the Mark XI had to meet a number of requirements set by the British Ministry of Defense in terms of accuracy, legibility, and reliability in combat situation. It would go on to be issued to a number of both civilian air services and military air services, before the last production models were shipped to retailers by IWC in 1984.
The IWC Mark XI replica watch completes the critical mission of legibility quite subtly, with important features that do not distract from the classic design of the watch. Large Arabic numbers with radium highlights at every quarter and smaller batons for every minute provide an instant read, while the hour and minute hands are filled with tritium – a luminous, but radioactive material, used before the advent of Superluminova.
