Fresh to the market, this heavy gold complicated bracelet watch is one of the classic versions of the iconic IWC Da Vinci. The Da Vinci reference 9252 with gold bracelet is seldom seen at auction today and rarely in such good condition. The present watch having been carefully preserved by its owner is furthermore accompanied by the full set of accessories.

In the early 1980s, IWC's head-watchmaker Kurt Klaus set out on an engineering journey to translate the Gregorian calendar with its many irregularities into a mechanical program for a wristwatch. His ingenious perpetual calendar, which debuted in the Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar in 1985, comprises only about 80 parts and displays the date, day, month, year in four digits, and the moon phase. The smart mechanical program automatically recognises the different length of the months, and even adds a leap day at the end of February every four years. The moon phase display is so precise that it will deviate from the actual phase of the moon by just one day after 577.5 years. All displays are perfectly synchronised and can be adjusted simply by turning the crown. Some models come with an additional century slide, so the watch can continue showing the date until 2499. The calendar only needs a small adjustment in those centurial years that skip the leap year, which is the case in 2100, 2200, and 2300.

Introduced in 1985, the Da Vinci ref. 9252, along with ref. 3750, is fitted with this highly innovative perpetual calendar mechanism. Very much in the tradition of complicated pocket watches, it was a spectacular novelty at the time and ingeniously all the settings could be done via the crown. Critically acclaimed, the module would grow out to be the most widely sold perpetual calendar mechanism – not only fitted to the Da Vinci collection, but in adapted form in IWC watches such as the Novecento, the GST, the Pilot’s Chronograph and also various models by JLC, including the Master Ultra-Thin Perpetual.

It would also serve as the base for the IWC’s Grande Complication and their masterpiece of the time, the spectacular Destriero Scafusia. Imbued with a noble and aristocratic flavour, the Da Vinci model is now one of the most instantly recognizable watch designs in the world and continues to be a standard bearer for IWC.