Gents vintage IWC hummer tuning fork

For you consideration is this rare IWC tuning fork watch from the 1970s

For those of you who know about these hummers, then you know. For those of you who don’t know, let me explain. The tuning fork watches were far more accurate than any chronometer certified mechanical movement for its time and even now and because it vibrates at about 300 times per second, the seconds hand doesn’t tick or tock but just glides around the dial and it hums while it does so.

This piece is powered by the iconic ESA 9162 which was used by many other brands including Omega, Zenith and Longines. The movement on this one is signed with the IWC logo.

The case measures 37mm across and the crown is signed with the IWC fish logo

It has a beautiful satin silver dial with raised baton hour markers. There is a date window at 3.

The watch is in excellent condition for its age and has a few age related marks.

I have styled this piece with a genuine African lizard strap in shiny black. The stainless steel buckle is signed IWC.

A new battery has been installed.

The tuning fork mechanism came at the wrong time in the history of horology otherwise we would have seen more of these watches as the technology developed and progressed. But the quartz crisis during the 1970s and 80s turned the world of horology on its backside as cheap quartz watches took over the world, relegating this really cool technology to the glass cabinets of the horology museum.

So email me and have a cheeky barter and add this to your collection of weird and wonderful horological icons.