With the Quartz Crisis waning and mechanical watchmakers still trying to find their feet after their industry had just been turned upside down, a handful of watchmakers had decided that their attempt to combat the rush of cheap quartz watches on the market was not to join them, but to go in the completely opposite direction, with high-end luxury offerings, and so in 1987 IWC launched the Novecento. A rectangular precious metal collection, the Novecento provided a wonderful platform for IWC to showcase their impressive watchmaking might, and so they created the Novecento Perpetual Calendar ref. 3545 that we have here. Made of platinum and offered on a 9-link bracelet that is also made of platinum, this timepiece’s heft provides its wearer with a tactile reminder of its luxury. However, its white dial is what reveals the truly impressive engineering that it contains within. Powered by the the automatic cal. 3206 – a Kurt Klaus designed perpetual calendar movement on a Frederic Piguet base, this timepiece is both functional and impressive. With a quartet of subdials housing its functions and a year indicator at 11 o’clock, this timepiece is a special watch powered by a special watch that helped IWC to survive an extraorindary time for the watchmaking industry and make a name for itself within the modern world of watches.

Unapologetically luxurious and packed with the apex of horological engineering for its time, the Novecento Perpetual Calendar was part of IWC's succesful attempt to rebuke the Quartz Crisis and bring attention to their high-end offerings.