 This is the latest addition to my watch collection, the IWC Spitfire Automatic. I absolutely love this watch and I'm gonna tell you why I think it is so great. First question you probably have is, why did I choose this particular watch? So as many of you may know, I'm an active duty soldier in the United States Army. For the past 19 years, I've been proud to be a member of the US Army Field Band from Washington, DC. Played the saxophone, I do the announcing for the group, done a lot of media stuff, been to all 50 states overseas a couple times, played for presidential inaugurations. I mean, like so much stuff over the years, I could talk for hours about it, but the main point here is I'm in the military. And being in the military, I have always wanted a military watch. So the holy grail of military watches for me would be a Rolex 5513 or 5517 mil sub. But, you know, there were like 1200 of those issued. And I think that only about 180 of those now are thought to be around today. So they're rare, they're coveted, they're very expensive, and it kills me that most of the people who own these watches today were probably never in the military. So mil sub aside, I have looked at some vintage Hamilton and Omega British military watches, which are definitely way more affordable, but I don't know, there's something about them just doesn't do it for me. Size wise, I feel they're a little small and I don't mind a 36 millimeter watch, but I don't know, it just does feel a little too small for me as a sportier watch like that. And then there's the fact that I know from previous experience that although I love the idea of vintage watches and I appreciate them, as far as wearing a vintage watch, I just found that it really wasn't my thing. I owned a Rolex GMT master at 1675, that was from 1977. And over time I found that, you know, I wasn't wearing it as much and you just kind of have to know yourself. And a vintage watch on my wrist just kind of didn't feel like me. I thought about this a lot though, because I've always really, really liked the IWC pilots watches, specifically the Mark 18. And that one is one that I've considered off and on for probably the past five or six years. I love its simplicity, I love the tool watch aspect of it, I love the legibility, I love its versatility, but I always felt like there was just something missing from it beyond the movement because that's another story, but just missing something that was enough to keep me from pulling the trigger. And I know for those of us who like these watches that Mark 18 versus Spitfire is kind of a common conundrum, you know, trying to decide between the two. I have to say though, now that I own the Spitfire myself, I feel like if I had gone with the Mark 18, that I would have had some serious buyers or more. So there's just so much I love about this watch. And we'll talk about that in detail, but first I wanna tell you where this watch actually came from. So this watch is brand new. It's got box, papers, original tag, but I did not buy it from the boutique. So this is a $4,800 watch, brand new, and I actually found it for $4,150, brand new box, papers, tag, everything on eBay who was kind enough to sponsor today's video. This is not the first watch I've gotten on eBay, my Omega Speedmaster, first Omega in space, it's also from eBay. And I know from comments that I've gotten both on Instagram as well as here on the channel that there are some of you who worry about buying a luxury watch on eBay, specifically knowing whether or not it's legit. So having gone through this process twice now, I can tell you that there is absolutely nothing to worry about, but you have to make sure that you are buying a watch through their authenticity guarantee service. And super easy to tell whether this is the case or not because you'll see a big blue check mark next to the listing that lets you know that this particular watch is 100% authentic. I'll say it again, my Spitfire came with the original box, original papers, warranty card, and tag. Any watch you get from eBay's authenticity guarantee service will come with a card and you can actually tap it to your phone and you'll get information about your specific authentication as well as an explanation of how the program works. All of this should give you peace of mind that you're actually getting what you think you're getting. eBay's got a huge assortment of watches online, everything from new to vintage with a wide variety of price points. So if you're looking for something specific, maybe something that's not available in the boutique, which honestly is a lot of watches these days, definitely search for it on eBay because you could potentially find a really great deal like I did. To start your search and to find your own authenticity guaranteed watch, go ahead and click the first link down below in the description. So that's where this watch came from. Now let's take a closer look at the IWC Spitfire Automatic in detail. First I'm gonna focus in on the color scheme here. We've got a steel case, black dial, and olive green textile strap. Very deliberate choices. The watch is inspired by the famous World War II plane, the Super Marine Spitfire. It was a British single seat fighter plane used by the Royal Air Force and other allies before, during and after the war. And the color scheme is meant to evoke the cockpit of that plane. The white numbers are reminiscent of the instrument clusters and even little pop of red in the Spitfire signature is also present in the plane's cockpit. I'm gonna skip for a second. The Fotina on the hands and around the dial we'll get back to that. To also mention that this watch was inspired by the design of the IWC Mark 11 navigation watch which was produced from 1948 onward for the British Royal Air Force. Moving on now, let's talk a little bit more about the case. So as mentioned, this is a stainless steel case. It is 39 millimeters in diameter and 10.8 millimeters thick. 39 millimeter case is awesome. Compared to the Mark 18, which is 40 millimeters. I mean, it seems like a millimeter can't really make that much of a difference, but in this case, I have to say that it does. I really prefer how the Spitfire wears on my wrist over the Mark 18. On the side of the case is a screwed on crown. Case back is closed because you've got a soft iron inner case around the movement to protect it from magnetic fields. Not sure if you're gonna need that on a daily basis, but it's a nice little conversation starter. Some people might not like that the case back isn't see-through because the movement is a new in-house IWC movement. But I think, you know, given all the vintage vibes that this watch throws off, it kind of makes sense even from a design perspective. Speaking of the movement, as I mentioned, it is an all new in-house automatic movement from IWC caliber 32110. That comes with a pretty nice 72-hour power reserve and also features a silicon escape wheel and lever. The dial, this thing just looks so good. I absolutely love the look and design of the dial. It does what it's supposed to do as a tool watch. It's easy to read. So we've got hour and minute hands, a hacking sweep seconds hand, Arabic numerals and minute indices around the edge of the dial. We've got the IWC signature, Spitfire in red. There is a date window at three o'clock, which I happen to like. You know, date windows can be a touchy subject for some. And if you look even closer, what I really love about this date window is that it's kind of like two-tiered. So there's a really neat element of depth there. The dial itself is a matte finish that has a really nice texture to it. Subtle, yeah, but it's there and it's just a really nice touch. Let's talk about the Fotino. I said we would on the hour and minute hands, the triangle above the IWC signature and the 12, three, six and nine indices. I will say that on some watches, I really hate Fotino. It's like the watch equivalent of trying really hard to look cool, but not really pulling it off. A lot of vintage tribute watches, I don't like for that reason. Having said that, I think it really works on this watch. It seems seamless. It doesn't seem out of place. I don't feel like this is a watch that's trying to be something that it's not. And it's honestly one of the features that I think makes the Spitfire really stand out compared to the Mark 18. This is a great everyday casual watch. It's so easy to wear. This is the watch that I like to wear when I'm wearing my OCPs. Obviously, very easy to swap out for a different color NATO. So, you know, tons of options in terms of styling. Everyone that's seen this has commented on it. It's a real crowd favorite and I absolutely love this watch. And when you consider that brand new, this watch with the in-house movement costs about the same or a little bit less than some configurations of the Mark 18, I mean, it's just an incredible value. New watch collection video will be coming up soon, hopefully, but as you now know, there have been some changes. Till then, why don't you click over there to see what the collection looked like last time and make some guesses in the comments about what's still there, what's new and what might be gone.