How much protection against magnetic fields does the Mark XII have? I can't locate a reference that quantifies this protection. Some other watches incorporating such protection make their claims boldly, such as the Rolex Milgauss (in the name) and the Sinn 244 (80,000 A/m printed right on the face). The Ingenieur has had its level of protection advertised by IWC for most, perhaps all its various models over the years. I can't find a number for the Mark XII in the manual or in the old catalogs I have. Does anyone know the answer?
I'm wondering if IWC ever did quantify this attribute that featured so prominently in their marketing for the Mark XII (and in all their subsequent pilots' watches)? I note, for example, that IWC's website merely states the Mark XVII features magnetic protection without saying how much. The Mark XVII page then coyly continues with "many of the Pilot's Watches also offer optimum protection against the effects of external magnetic fields ... of up to 80,000 amperes per metre." Ok, so now we know it's a number between 0 and 80,000 A/m - pretty vague. The current Ingenieur Automatic is stated to have be protected to 40,000 A/m on IWC's site, so the vagueness does not seem to be an across-the-board policy.
It's not as if I plan to test out the level of magnetic protection or yell "Gotcha" if my watch doesn't meet the spec. However, Omega's recent announcement that it will soon release a watch that can withstand more than 15,000 Gauss got me to wondering what the Mark XII's spec is. Anyway, I'd love to hear from you if you have that number referenced on some old sales literature or whatever you have stored away.
