IWC, REF. 866, INGENIEUR, A VERY RARE STEEL WRISTWATCH WITH “MILITARY-STYLE” DIAL AND DATE

The present lot, IWC reference 866 Ingenieur is a very rare steel timepiece featuring a “military-style" dial. Internally named at IWC as the “Mark XI dial” based on its similarity to the UK military-issued Mark XI Pilot’s watch, these dials were manufactured in the late 1960s with the present lot produced in 1967, as confirmed by the IWC Extract from the Ledger.

Only a handful of these “military-style" dial reference 866s have been found. Some were sent from Schaffhausen to IWC Germany, and it is rumored that they were prototypes for the German Bund (Army), however not issued by them.