IWC Mark XII Saab Limited Edition on the Day that Saab Starts Production Again

When I wrote about the IWC Mark XII Saab ‘Mellow Yellow’ a few years ago, nobody could have suspected that Saab would start up production again. Well, today they started up production in the Saab factories in Trollhättan, Sweden. As an avid Saab driver, this makes a perfectly good reason to celebrate this with my own IWC Mark XII Saab.

As an avid Saab driver – I’ve owned quite a few 900 classics and several 9-3’s – I couldn’t resist when I saw a used IWC Mark XII Saab for sale, earlier this year. I had actually been looking for one for several years, but as these things go, available budget and a good one, complete with all boxes and papers, for sale, somehow never “aligned”. As I previously wrote, that watch could well become the only Saab that holds its value and when looking at today’s market prices it looks like my prediction is still correct.

Only 210 were made in 1997, and they were delivered together with a special yellow Saab 900 CE cabrio (convertible), nicknamed Mellow Yellow. The IWC Mark XII came in a titanium case and featured a grey dial with the words “Saab – automatic” instead of “Mark XII – automatic”. Another remarkable feature is the 12 o’clock marker, which in this case is is the number “12”. On the normal Mark XII and on most (but not all) limited editions the 12 o’clock marker is a triangle, as usually can be found on pilot’s watches.

And the strap…. the original strap is yellow, to match the yellow Saab cabriolet exterior. I’m however not so keen on wearing a watch with a yellow strap, so I bought some NATO straps in various colors and black seems to be my favorite.

What do you think? Wear it on the black NATO strap or switch to the original yellow?