IWC Aquatimer Cousteau Divers Limited Edition

Regular price
$7,850
Regular price
Sale price
$7,850
REF 3548
Automatic
42 MM
– Show less
SKU AS06108
Article Number 40970033
ref 3548
case size 42 MM
movement Automatic Winding
approximate age 2000s
dial color Blue
material Stainless Steel
style Dive
category Pre-Owned Contemporary
bracelet Rubber
lug width 22 MM
Includes Signed blue rubber strap with signed stainless steel pin buckle. Also includes inner and outer boxes, books, spring bar tool, signed polishing cloth, service papers dated 7/29/2015, and warranty card.
overall condition The case is in excellent condition overall showing light signs of wear consistent with age and use. Luminous sunburst blue gloss dial is in outstanding, as-new condition with matching handset. Signed crown.
REF 3548
Automatic
42 MM
– Show less
SKU AS06108
Article Number 40970033
ref 3548
case size 42 MM
movement Automatic Winding
approximate age 2000s
dial color Blue
material Stainless Steel
style Dive
category Pre-Owned Contemporary
bracelet Rubber
lug width 22 MM
Includes Signed blue rubber strap with signed stainless steel pin buckle. Also includes inner and outer boxes, books, spring bar tool, signed polishing cloth, service papers dated 7/29/2015, and warranty card.
overall condition The case is in excellent condition overall showing light signs of wear consistent with age and use. Luminous sunburst blue gloss dial is in outstanding, as-new condition with matching handset. Signed crown.

Why We Love it

When one thinks of a dive watch, IWC isn’t a brand that springs immediately to mind.

Despite other companies taking the lead in the dive watch race, however, the Schaffhausen-based firm has contributed significantly to the aquatic scene. Their compressor-cased Aqautimers from the late 1960s have since become collectible classics, while the Ocean 2000 designed with none other than Ferdinand Porsche was one of the first titanium-cased divers. All in all, the pilot’s watch-focused company has had quite an impact on the design of undersea timekeepers.

The particular Aquatimer we have here is a Reference 3548 from the 2000s. Introduced in 2004, it marked the return of the internal rotating bezel featured on the 1967’s Reference 812 AD, referencing the model’s ‘Compressor’ design.

It features a 42mm stainless steel case with a sapphire crystal, dual crowns, an inner, unidirectional rotating dive timing bezel operated by the bottom crown, and a simply gorgeous luminous glossy/sunburst blue dial with a bold, white and orange handset, and a date window at 3 o’clock.

Limited to just 1,953 pieces, it’s powered by the IWC Calibre 30110 automatic winding movement (ETA 2892-A2 base) and comes paired to a signed blue rubber dive strap with an IWC-signed pin buckle and it's factory goodies.

Bold and colorful, it’s the perfect vacation watch, and one that you won’t see very often out in the wild.

Think IWC only makes pilot’s watches? Think again! Nab this one before someone else has the same idea.

Brand Story

+
When an American watchmaker named Florentine Ariosto Jones arrived in Schaffhausen, Switzerland in 1868, he found a city almost frozen in time. Though the Industrial Revolution had swept through America, in Switzerland the situation was very different. Watchmakers still plied their trades by their own firesides, as they had done for centuries. But Jones had in mind something different — an American-style factory where the watches would be designed and assembled in keeping with the old Swiss ways. His methods caught on, and soon there were 196 people employed at his factory.
Though the International Watch Company was founded 35 years before Wilbur and Orville Wright’s first flight, the association between IWC and aviation began just as the age of flight dawned: A pocket watch made by the company in the 1890s found its way into the pocket of one Robert Albert Lotter, a pilot in the German Luftwaffe who served with distinction during the First World War.
Two decades later, in 1936, IWC released a watch that set the standard for pilot’s watch design, the Spezialuhr für Flieger, or Special Pilot's Watch. Another would follow in 1940, the Beobachtungs-ühren (“observation watch”), which spawned an entire model line in IWC’s current collection called the Big Pilot. However, despite the Big Pilot’s current popularity, it was the Special Pilot’s Watch that would lay the cornerstone for IWC’s most iconic line: the Mark series of pilot’s watches.
IWC released the Mark XI in 1948 according to specifications set forth by the British Ministry of Defense. These watches had to be legible, compact, and able to withstand exposure to the magnetic fields emitted by instruments in an airplane’s cockpit. The Mark XI, therefore, had a black dial with large luminous Arabic numbers, while its incredibly robust Calibre 89 movement was encased in an iron cage. (Later, in the 1950s and 1960s, IWC would produce myriad dress watches in steel and gold based upon the Calibre 89 movement, which remain relatively plentiful on the vintage market.)
The Mark XI served as the basis for design inspiration for a robust line of pilot’s watches still being produced today – easily identifiable by their clean, uncluttered dials, robust cases, and outstanding quality.

A:S Guarantee

+

Our Pledge

Analog:Shift stands behind the authenticity of our products in perpetuity.

Condition

Since our pieces are vintage or pre-owned, please expect wear & patina from usage and age. Please read each item description and examine all product images.

Warranty

We back each Analog:Shift vintage timepiece with a one-year mechanical warranty from the date of purchase.

International Buyers

Please contact us prior to purchase for additional details on shipping and payment options.

Shipping & Returns

+

All of our watches include complementary insured shipping within the 50 states.

Most of our products are on hand and will ship directly from our headquarters in New York City. In some cases, watches will be shipped directly from one of our authorized partners.

We generally ship our products via FedEx, fully insured, within 5 business days of purchase. An adult signature is required for receipt of all packages for insurance purposes. Expedited shipping is available at an additional cost. We are also happy to hand deliver your purchase in Manhattan or you may pick it up at our showroom.

Returns must be sent overnight or by priority international delivery, fully insured and paid for by the customer. A restocking fee may apply. Watches must be returned in the same condition as initially shipped.

We welcome international buyers, please contact us prior to purchase for additional details on shipping and payment options.

Make it yours will fit standard 22mm watches

Big Sky Blue Nubuck Strap

Big Sky Blue Nubuck Strap

Regular price
$79
Regular price
$0
Sale price
$79
Islay Brown Suede Strap

Islay Brown Suede Strap

Regular price
$49
Regular price
Sale price
$49
IWC Aquatimer Cousteau Divers Limited Edition

IWC Aquatimer Cousteau Divers Limited Edition

Regular price
$7,850
Regular price
Sale price
$7,850
IWC Aquatimer Cousteau Divers Limited Edition