Special thanks to George Glasgow Jr., CEO and owner of George Cleverley, for inviting me to their event with IWC, the Rake and Evolution watches.
The event was for the celebration of the collaboration among the above-mentioned brands, which birthed the above watch. The watch pays homage to the original IWC Mark 11. It's powered by IWC’s automatic caliber 35100 (Sellita-based) and is housed in a 36mm bronze case with a green dial. George Cleverley made the NATO straps out of the 233-year-old Russian reindeer leather, which was salvaged from the sunken Metta Catharina ship. It’s limited and numbered to 150 pieces and at the time of writing was sold out (the last two were sold during the event).
We had the pleasure of seeing the prototype (no. 000/150) of the watch during the event. As lovers of vintage watches, 36mm is a familiar size. And as lovers of patina, we of course like the bronze case, which will develop a patina with wear.
Even though the case is made of bronze, the casebook is made of titanium, because bronze is too reactive against the skin. And staying true to the original, the caseback is of course solid.
At 10.4 mm, the watch has a slim profile. It will of course wear a bit bigger given that the Russian reindeer NATO strap will add thickness to the watch.
Fittingly, I wore my IWC cal. 853 to the event, which was made a little later than the original Mark 11.
The event was attended by the Glasgows of George Cleverley, Wei Koh of the Rake, Simon Chambers of IWC and many friends of the brands, including Jeremy Hackett, Gary Lineker, some actors whose names I cannot remember.
Written by: Nikki Krisadtyo