I remember
this watch so well. It was back in April 2011 and up until then the Doxa 750t
was the most expensive watch I had bought so far. This one was twice as much
and it was a big step for me to take. I was so sure this was going to be my
final purchase and that this was the watch I was going to keep forever. It just
looked so perfect. I kept telling my girlfriend this over and over and she was
just laughing saying “Yeah right!”.
 |
| #74 - The IWC Aquatimer ref. 3548. |
The thing is
I really did love this watch but what I didn’t notice at the time of purchase
was there was some smudge across the polished hands. Indoors you didn’t notice
it but as soon as you went outside it was the only thing I saw. And since
details like that drive me insane I couldn’t stop looking at it. If that would
have been the only problem I would of
course have taken the watch to an IWC AD to get it removed but apart from that
the movement was also loosing time. Like a lot of time. I was quite disappointed,
especially since the seller had said it was running perfect. Those two things
really bothered me and finally I couldn’t take it and I had to let the seller
know that this wasn’t what I had been expecting. The seller immediately offered
me to take it back (ironically this was the same seller who earlier had sold me an ORIS
TT1 1000m diver which didn’t run well at all either) and since giving it a
full service wasn’t an option for me at the time it was with mixed feelings
that I returned it to him.
Looking
back the IWC Aquatimer 3548 is one of my favorite designs of all time and I can’t
say how long I would have kept it if it hadn’t had those two flaws. It was
great to wear on the rubber and I think it would have been too heavy on the
bracelet. Stronger lume would make it perfect. I’m still looking for a 3548 but in the blue and orange Cousteau
edition. That one would definitely be a keeper. I would also love to one day
try out the 3536. Unfortunately I must say that the latest Aquatimer’s that IWC
have produced has not looked very interesting. Just weird.
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