3312 IWC Yacht Club II Jumbo Quartz

A few years ago, I read Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. Somewhat contrarily, I didn’t find it terribly enlightening. But I do think it had one of the greatest titles of the last decade. Because everyone’s flirted with idea of embracing the carefree, that ‘stop caring, start living’ mantra you’d see on a Subaru bumper sticker or something. The watch equivalent is clear: a mechanical hardliner throwing caution and judgement to wind in favor of kindling deserved love for well-made quartz. Just as there’s a difference between a Seagull and a Lange chronograph movement, there’s a gap between G-Shock and 9F. And the 3312 Yacht Club II is decidedly toward the latter, a 80s quartz that’s equal parts Germanic and Genta. And they’re kind of insane value today.

The Yacht Club II was available both as an automatic and this buzzing electric crystal. The quartz models sold at premium and, as this was decidedly a luxury Swiss watch, most sales leaned in that direction in period. Yacht Club IIs, Polo Club SLs, and Golf Club SLs are being pulled up aggressively by the market as Ingenieurs are entering widespread watch enthusiast consciousness. 2022 was the year of the Ingenieur awakening. But the quartz models haven’t seen the stratospheric rise yet. Sure, the IWC calibre 2250 is essentially an ETA 3303 but it has perlage! And this Genta case design that can make an Oysterquartz look pedestrian on bracelet well under 10K? That’s worth noting, not even approaching modern Oysterquartz yet, particularly as this market is only just starting to get hot. And this 38mm is the full monty size-wise.

Despite how cool the H-links on this bracelet are, it was an option. The Yacht Club II was actually intended to be sold on rubber. Like much of 80s IWC, scholarship on these pieces is quite scarce. They simply were not produced in large numbers and have only just re-entered collector zeitgeist. 90s, and by association 80s, IWC is on a steep uptick of interest. This is like buying an Oysterquartz or ref. 6005 Royal Oak 10 years ago; you’re on your own, but that’s where all the fun is. I give a f*ck about a lot of things. But mechanical-only is not one of them, contrary to the name.

This one has a great case that saw a professional touch up but they did solid work. Its lightly textured black dial is undamaged, with great tritium. I really, really like these and honestly haven’t seen many this minty. It comes from a well-regarded German retailer, watch only.