Driver,

I read with some distress, in your response to the Pam/DSSD issue, that you're having accuracy problems with your BP. Indeed, I find this most distressing, since I've all but committed myself to getting one in the next couple months.

When you first purchased your Big Pilot, you were aglow with praise for the great piece. Has this accuracy problem soured you on the watch altogether, or have you made peace with its idiosyncracies? Just how far off is it on a daily basis? Do you plan to have it checked out? If you had it to do all over again, would you still go ahead and buy it or look elsewhere?

Don't worry, a few seconds off a day would not dissuade me from buying one. It's classic beauty overrides any other issue. I value your opinion, so I'd be curious to hear your views.

Steve

Hey Steve,

Yes when I first got it, it's timekeeping was generally really good, although there was a definite difference between when the watch was fully wound as opposed to when it was at lower reserve (an isochronism problem). To start off with this didn't really bother me as at both ends of the "power reserve spectrum" it was still within the IWC tolerance of 0/+7 secs a day, but then it started to get a bit worse. Not a clue why, but that's how it was. At it's worst (also at lower power reserve) it was around 20 seconds fast per day! On a watch costing 8.5K GBP, that's not acceptable in my book.

So off it went to IWC....... where, despite me providing a full breakdown of the timekeeping over a couple of weeks and at various power levels, they seemed wholey unable to fix it. Granted, it was better that before but still not within the 0/+7 seconds IWC "guarantee". Oh and they managed to scratch the case too!!!!! So back it went again. And when it was returned it was actually marginally worse than after the first regulation , but at least the scratches were removed. As the timekeeping was still not within 0/+7 I ended up sending it back a 3rd time, and when it returned (with an apology for all the hassle from IWC) it was better than the 2nd regulation, but still gains fractionally outside of the approved tolerance. IWC insist that there's no problem with the movement (or the design), but then again I wouldn't expect them to pan one of their flagship models! Personally I think that the relative newness of the movement, plus low beat rate just makes it hard to regulate. I can live with how it is now, but more than 10 secs a day would be way too much.

That said, I still absolutely love it as a watch, but I do worry about IWC's ability to fix problems these days, especially since becoming part of the Richemont Group. (I have heard of similar issues with Panerai.... who are also owned by Richemont). Hmmmmmm......

In summary, I'd say it's still an amazing watch to buy and own, but the ability of IWC to fix issues is kind of making me question if I'd want to own another IWC. Just my personal opinion of course.