How much should I pay for an IWC GST Chrono Rattrapante

[harps100]

Hi,
I've seen one of these IWC GST Chrono Rattrapante (IW3715) going for £3750 pre-owned, it's in good condition, boxed and with all papers. I was just wondering if anyone has any opinions on whether its a good watch and whats a reasonable price to pay for it.
Thanks in advance

[baz1950]

I have a family member to this just five weeks old and (cough) for sale if it interests you? A lot less than £3.7K as well, though i think it's probably about right assuming you need the split second timer?

The one on the left

Edited by baz1950 on Sunday 13th July 10:11

Edited by baz1950 on Sunday 13th July 10:12

Edited by baz1950 on Sunday 13th July 12:20

[cyberface]

The IWC at the top has the doppelchronograph movement, which is a very cool complication. The normal Spitfire / pilot chrono has a standard Valjoux 7750 IIRC (though finished to IWC standards, of course). The complication alone made me seriously consider one, but unfortunately both the doppelchronograph and the OP's watch are too big for my wrist

The IWC at the top (can't be arsed to write the full name on a phone) is significantly bigger than both of Baz's watches - which are around 40mm (since one is a Daytona)...

[Pesty]

Baz how much are you looking for

[harps100]

Baz, is that the Spitfire Chrono you got for sale?
How much you looking to sell that for?

[baz1950]

Yes guys, both watches pictured are for sale. The IWC is a 42mm watch and only weeks old as indicated.
As selling is not permitted on this part of the forum, mail me at [e-mail] please.

[baz1950]

cyberface said:

The IWC at the top has the doppelchronograph movement, which is a very cool complication. The normal Spitfire / pilot chrono has a standard Valjoux 7750 IIRC (though finished to IWC standards, of course). The complication alone made me seriously consider one, but unfortunately both the doppelchronograph and the OP's watch are too big for my wrist

The IWC at the top (can't be arsed to write the full name on a phone) is significantly bigger than both of Baz's watches - which are around 40mm (since one is a Daytona)...

FWIW the IWC is 42mm, the Daytona is 40 as you suggest. AFAIK the 'doppel' and pilot are the same case chassis size. My IWC in the picture is clearly bigger than the Daytona.

[cyberface]

baz1950 said:

cyberface said:

The IWC at the top has the doppelchronograph movement, which is a very cool complication. The normal Spitfire / pilot chrono has a standard Valjoux 7750 IIRC (though finished to IWC standards, of course). The complication alone made me seriously consider one, but unfortunately both the doppelchronograph and the OP's watch are too big for my wrist

The IWC at the top (can't be arsed to write the full name on a phone) is significantly bigger than both of Baz's watches - which are around 40mm (since one is a Daytona)...

FWIW the IWC is 42mm, the Daytona is 40 as you suggest. AFAIK the 'doppel' and pilot are the same case chassis size. My IWC in the picture is clearly bigger than the Daytona.

They've changed the pilot size to larger then since I tried them on - the doppel was clearly bigger case and whilst the 'normal' pilot size fit my wrist OK, the doppel didn't.

Thinking about it - and looking at your photo again - my cousin has a new Spitfire chrono and it's huge - the size of the old doppel. Which must be 42 mm as you say because it's bigger than the pilot chrono the sales guy tried to fob me off with when I wanted a doppel.... They definitely used to have different case sizes, perhaps that's not the 'case' now.

[baz1950]

Agreed. The earlier non chronograph Pilots were definitely 39mm iirc, whereas the chrono versions were 42mm.
Either way it's a fabulous watch (imo)

Edited by baz1950 on Monday 14th July 13:05

[markomah]

harps100 said:

Hi,
I've seen one of these IWC GST Chrono Rattrapante (IW3715) going for £3750 pre-owned, it's in good condition, boxed and with all papers. I was just wondering if anyone has any opinions on whether its a good watch and whats a reasonable price to pay for it.
Thanks in advance

I love the Chrono Rattrapante and you don't see a lot of them about (at least in my neck of the woods). They do wear big, though, so I'd recommend that you try one one before committing to the purchase. I wear a Portuguese and it's about as big as I can fit under my shirt cuffs - the Chrono Rattrapante I tried was too big under them. My memory is that the dial is 43mm but I speak subject to correction.

Can't help price-wise but if it's of any assistance I think the price for a new watch from the AD was in the region of £6,500.

[harps100]

markomah said:

harps100 said:

Hi,
I've seen one of these IWC GST Chrono Rattrapante (IW3715) going for £3750 pre-owned, it's in good condition, boxed and with all papers. I was just wondering if anyone has any opinions on whether its a good watch and whats a reasonable price to pay for it.
Thanks in advance

I love the Chrono Rattrapante and you don't see a lot of them about (at least in my neck of the woods). They do wear big, though, so I'd recommend that you try one one before committing to the purchase. I wear a Portuguese and it's about as big as I can fit under my shirt cuffs - the Chrono Rattrapante I tried was too big under them. My memory is that the dial is 43mm but I speak subject to correction.

Can't help price-wise but if it's of any assistance I think the price for a new watch from the AD was in the region of £6,500.

I tried it on the other week and it is pretty chunky but looks fantastic. But having said that I didn't try it under a shirt cuff.
Just happened to see it as I was browsing in town.
According to the shop, this watch is £7k brand new
I think p£3750 is reasonable for a watch that was £7k brand new but the price is a bit too rich for me, not sure what I should try to haggle them down to...

[markomah]

The amount of discount obviously varies hugely from dealer to dealer. If it was me, I'd probably offer them £3,000 to start with and hope to get them down to £3,250 or so.

The more I look at the photo of the watch, the more I like it. It's a beautiful design and if you can get the price to a point you're happy with, I say go for it!

[Cyclone1]

harps100 said:

markomah said:

harps100 said:

Hi,
I've seen one of these IWC GST Chrono Rattrapante (IW3715) going for £3750 pre-owned, it's in good condition, boxed and with all papers. I was just wondering if anyone has any opinions on whether its a good watch and whats a reasonable price to pay for it.
Thanks in advance

I love the Chrono Rattrapante and you don't see a lot of them about (at least in my neck of the woods). They do wear big, though, so I'd recommend that you try one one before committing to the purchase. I wear a Portuguese and it's about as big as I can fit under my shirt cuffs - the Chrono Rattrapante I tried was too big under them. My memory is that the dial is 43mm but I speak subject to correction.

Can't help price-wise but if it's of any assistance I think the price for a new watch from the AD was in the region of £6,500.

I tried it on the other week and it is pretty chunky but looks fantastic. But having said that I didn't try it under a shirt cuff.
Just happened to see it as I was browsing in town.
According to the shop, this watch is £7k brand new
I think p£3750 is reasonable for a watch that was £7k brand new but the price is a bit too rich for me, not sure what I should try to haggle them down to...

The watch is a stunner, I was in exactly the same position as you about 6-8 months ago, I pondered for ages as to whether I should buy the Rattrapante but instead opted to buy an IWC Aquatimer Chrono, the reason being that with the Rattrapante I was already pushing way past my original budget, plus the Aquatimer came in at around a £1k cheaper as the Dealer (IWC Dealer - Berrys Leeds) offered a fantastic discount. The watches are similar in aesthetic design but the Rattrapante is quite clearly the superior specced watch, both however look stunning and wear very well. With regards to wearing either under a shirt (as dimensionally they are similar), then only tight fitting cuffs do represent a problem, however 90% of my shirts are fine.

As said above, if you can get the Dealer to reduce the price to low £3k then for me this would be a bargain, the best I ever managed was £3.6k. If the Dealer won't budge then consider the Aquatimer Chrono in SS as an excellent alternative.

Hope this helps
Jules.

Edited by Cyclone1 on Tuesday 15th July 10:04

[Cyclone1]

harps100 said:

markomah said:

harps100 said:

Hi,
I've seen one of these IWC GST Chrono Rattrapante (IW3715) going for £3750 pre-owned, it's in good condition, boxed and with all papers. I was just wondering if anyone has any opinions on whether its a good watch and whats a reasonable price to pay for it.
Thanks in advance

I love the Chrono Rattrapante and you don't see a lot of them about (at least in my neck of the woods). They do wear big, though, so I'd recommend that you try one one before committing to the purchase. I wear a Portuguese and it's about as big as I can fit under my shirt cuffs - the Chrono Rattrapante I tried was too big under them. My memory is that the dial is 43mm but I speak subject to correction.

Can't help price-wise but if it's of any assistance I think the price for a new watch from the AD was in the region of £6,500.

I tried it on the other week and it is pretty chunky but looks fantastic. But having said that I didn't try it under a shirt cuff.
Just happened to see it as I was browsing in town.
According to the shop, this watch is £7k brand new
I think p£3750 is reasonable for a watch that was £7k brand new but the price is a bit too rich for me, not sure what I should try to haggle them down to...

The watch is a stunner, I was in exactly the same position as you about 6-8 months ago, I pondered for ages as to whether I should buy the Rattrapante but instead opted to buy an IWC Aquatimer Chrono, the reason being that with the Rattrapante I was already pushing way past my original budget, plus the Aquatimer came in at around a £1k cheaper as the Dealer (IWC Dealer - Berrys Leeds) offered a fantastic discount. The watches are similar in aesthetic design but the Rattrapante is quite clearly the superior specced watch, both however look stunning and wear very well. With regards to wearing either under a shirt (as dimensionally they are similar), then only tight fitting cuffs do represent a problem, however 90% of my shirts are fine.

As said above, if you can get the Dealer to reduce the price to low £3k then for me this would be a bargain, the best I ever managed was £3.6k. If the Dealer won't budge then consider the Aquatimer Chrono in SS as an excellent alternative.

Hope this helps
Jules.

Edited by Cyclone1 on Tuesday 15th July 10:04

[jac-in-a-box]

IWC Rattrapante? Beautiful watch and one that takes pride of place in my collection.

FWIW I think the asking price is too high, especially for the blue faced version - of course the colour is a personal choice. For a pre-owned Rattrapante in blue I wouldn't part with more than £2.7k and it would have to be in just about perfect condition.
The model was discontinued, IIRC in 2004 and its last list price was £6.3k. I doubt you'll find any IWC dealer with any new (or used) ones available...had a couple of friends in the watch trade search for me.

If you're ever in the US, buying from here is worthwhile:
http://www.europeanwatch.com/fiwc.htm?gclid=CK_h4J...
I've bought a couple of watches from them while visiting (wouldn't risk posting to UK though) Great people and their stock is as described - absolutely spot on. They currently have a white faced Rattrapante at a very affordable price...nice too!

I looked long and hard for a rhodium faced model and they're not easy to find, blue's and blacks are a little easier to come by, but none of the models are thick on the ground! Many of those I looked/enquired after were pretty poor.

The watch is very thick at IIRC 17mm, if wearing it with a shirt make sure you have big cuffs. The "thickness" soon disappears though and it becomes a very unobtrusive and comfortable watch to wear

A few pics of mine...patience and perserverance secured me this one in unworn condition from a collector for £1.5k less than you're being asked to pay;)

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Edited by jac-in-a-box on Thursday 17th July 02:01

[lowdrag]

Baz, I'm surprised you are selling the Spitfire so soon; I thought you found it very easy to read and liked it a lot! To settle an argument above, the Spitfire Chrono is now 42mm, the same as the Doppel, but nevertheless it sits well on my puny wrist. I couldn't wear bigger though.

[baz1950]

lowdrag said:

Baz, I'm surprised you are selling the Spitfire so soon; I thought you found it very easy to read and liked it a lot! To settle an argument above, the Spitfire Chrono is now 42mm, the same as the Doppel, but nevertheless it sits well on my puny wrist. I couldn't wear bigger though.

I do like it a great deal and i can read it easily /well even in poor light with poor vision, so not exactly looking to part with it as such. In truth a Panerai still beckons and i suspect, when i buy one the IWC will go back in it's box and remain there.

Just offered it up as an option tbh, but very happy to keep it also.

FWIW, re sizing, indeed the Pilot Chrono use the same 42mm case as the doppel now. The Spitfire name seems only to apply to the silver dial models, and are known as the 'Pilots watches Spitfire' collection, whereas, according to the IWC 2008 year book, mine is from the 'Pilots watches Classics' collection, despite them being much the same watch.

[936ADL]

baz,

YGM!

Andy

[baz1950]

936ADL said:

baz,

YGM!

Andy

You have a response

[harps100]

jac-in-a-box said:

IWC Rattrapante? Beautiful watch and one that takes pride of place in my collection.

FWIW I think the asking price is too high, especially for the blue faced version - of course the colour is a personal choice. For a pre-owned Rattrapante in blue I wouldn't part with more than £2.7k and it would have to be in just about perfect condition.
The model was discontinued, IIRC in 2004 and its last list price was £6.3k. I doubt you'll find any IWC dealer with any new (or used) ones available...had a couple of friends in the watch trade search for me.

If you're ever in the US, buying from here is worthwhile:
http://www.europeanwatch.com/fiwc.htm?gclid=CK_h4J...
I've bought a couple of watches from them while visiting (wouldn't risk posting to UK though) Great people and their stock is as described - absolutely spot on. They currently have a white faced Rattrapante at a very affordable price...nice too!

I looked long and hard for a rhodium faced model and they're not easy to find, blue's and blacks are a little easier to come by, but none of the models are thick on the ground! Many of those I looked/enquired after were pretty poor.

The watch is very thick at IIRC 17mm, if wearing it with a shirt make sure you have big cuffs. The "thickness" soon disappears though and it becomes a very unobtrusive and comfortable watch to wear

A few pics of mine...patience and perserverance secured me this one in unworn condition from a collector for £1.5k less than you're being asked to pay;)

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Edited by jac-in-a-box on Thursday 17th July 02:01

Jac, just had a look at your watch and it looks fantastic. I had a look on that US company's website and I am considering getting that white faced Rattrapante.
Is there any reason why you wouldn't get them to post over to the UK?
Will they negotiate their price?