IWC 5011

Cal. 5011 is an oversized in-house eight day movement in the Cal. 50000 family produced by IWC since 2002.

History

On its release in 2000 in the limited-edition IWC Portugieser 2000, IWC's Cal. 5000 was lauded by the brand's followers. It marked the restart of completely-in-house watch movement development for the company and brought back the legendary Pellaton winding system. The movement was seen as a landmark in other ways, with 8-day power reserve, automatic winding, and a massive 16.75 ligne (38.2 mm) diameter.

In 2002, IWC introduced the Big Pilot's Watch, Ref. 5002 with a new version of the Cal. 5000. The new Cal. 5011 brings central seconds and a date window to the movement family for the first time. The circular power reserve indicator dial at 3:00 remains, giving watches using this movement a unique appearance. Cal. 5011 was updated in 2006 with faster 21,600 A/h operation to become Cal. 51110, and was used in the new Big Pilot's Watch, Ref. 5004. This was further updated in 2008 as Cal. 51111, which continued in Ref. 5004 and was also used in Ref. 5009 after 2012.

The fact that Cal. 5000 uses a single mainspring and barrel has impacted the reputation of this movement. As admitted by Richard Habring and other IWC staff, the watch was meant for "weekend wear" and is thus tuned to keep time accurately over a week. But the single mainspring does not deliver power consistently, so the movement runs quite fast for the first two days, more predictably for the next few, and slows down at the end. This causes issues for timing, maintenance, and daily wear. The next-generation Cal. 52000 family used double barrel construction to deliver more consistent torque and timing throughout the week.

Applications

• Cal. 5011 (2002-2006) 18,000 A/h
  • IWC Big Pilot's Watch 5002 (2002-2006)
• Cal. 51110 (2006-2008) 21,600 A/h
  • IWC Big Pilot's Watch 5004 (2006-2008)
• Cal. 51111 (2008-present) 21,600 A/h
  • IWC Big Pilot's Watch 5004 (2008-2014)
  • IWC Big Pilot's Watch 5009 (2012-present)
  • IWC Big Pilot's Watch 5019 (2012-2015)
  • IWC Big Pilot's Watch 5020 (2016-2018)
• Cal. 51113 (2007-2011) 21,600 A/h
  • IWC Big Ingenieur 5005 (2007-2012)

Description: Automatic movement Bi-directional winding (Pellaton winding system) on spring-mounted rotor, cam disc, ruby wheels and 2 latches on ratchet wheel, gear reduction: 175:1 Escapement: stone lever Yoke winding system Breguet hairspring Incabloc shock protection Two-armed screw balance with 16 weight srews and 2 adjustment eccentrics on the escapement arms Hairspring Nivarox 1 with Breguet bending IWC precision adjustment: hairspring stud and regulator adjustable with eccentric Bridges and plate nickel coated, engravings gilded, decoration of type "Côtes circulaires" Weight segment IWC-style (without gold medaillon) with gilded Probus-Scafusia engraving, plate wheel, crown wheels, ratchet, barrel lid and differential gear with solar grinding Functions: Hours, minutes, central seconds Hacking seconds Power reserve indicator at 3:00 Date window at 6:00 with Quickset date feature Data: 16,75 lignes Ø 37.8 mm Height 7.6 mm 42 jewels 18,000 or 21,600 A/h Power reserve 204 h, limited to 168 h Production period: Production: 2002-Present Successor: IWC 52110

Weblinks

• IWC’s New Calibre 5011, iwcforum.com, Michael Friedberg, April 2002
• IWC Forum: Calibre 5000 & 5011, iwcforum.com, Richard Habring, January 29, 2003
• IWC Reference 5001