IWC Cal.853 Calatrava Style

Vintage IWC Cal.853 in Calatrava style. Housing the brand’s signature Pellaton’s winding automatic movement, the first bi-directional winding rotor, this IWC is somewhat of a cult classic due to its timeless design and its affordability. If you fancy “In-house movement”, this is a good starting point for your vintage collecting journey.

THE PELLATON’S WINDING SYSTEM

The system of automatic winding we know as the “Pellaton winding system” was developed by Albert Pellaton, who served as the technical director at IWC (International Watch Company) at the time. The patent for this system was secured in 1946, and its development was completed in 1950. IWC introduced the first movements equipped with the Pellaton winding system, namely Cal. 81 and Cal. 85, in 1950. Remarkably, this winding mechanism remained in use even during the quartz crisis and saw a revival in the 2000s when it was reintroduced in the Cal. 89000 family.

Contrasting with direct gearing between the rotor and barrel, the Pellaton winding system employs pawls, offering the advantage of isolating the gear train from shocks. Unlike Seiko’s magic lever system that utilizes one pawl to “pull” and another to “push” the barrel, the IWC Pellaton system features both pawls pulling on the barrel, leading to a more efficient winding process.