New requirements for a new age

Today, watches have to meet a wide variety of requirements. It should be as many functions as possible in a small case, but the watch should also be light and attractive. One can sometimes get the impression that a watch is designed more for appearance than for accuracy. IWC's Ingenieur models are designed for precisely this accuracy. The IWC Ingenieur was developed under the condition that electronic fields have no influence on the mechanics of the watch. Perhaps the IWC watchmakers had prophetic abilities when they brought the first generation of engineers onto the market in the 1950s. At that time, the clock was quite unspectacular and limited itself to the usual. Nevertheless, the engineer was a revolution for that time. This revolution was the type of construction in which magnetic fields no longer influenced the accuracy of the watch. Today one may smile about it, but in the 1950s magnetic fields were hardly an issue. Smartphones were far from being available and other electrical devices were not yet widespread. For this reason, watchmakers did not consider it necessary to shield their creations from magnetic fields. However, the engineering profession depended on watches that were very accurate and not influenced by magnetic fields.

The origin of the engineer and today's models

The original engineer was created by Albert Pellaton, IWC's technical director in the 1940s and 1950s. However, the look of today's models goes back to Gerald Genta, who completely revised the look of the watch in the 1970s. The multi-part cases of the watches remain round, but take on a tonneau shape. Various movements are used in the watches. The standard engineer receives the caliber cal. 79350, the large engineer chronograph the movement cal. 89360. special models of the luxury watch such as the "Vintage Collection" or "Mission Earth" are equipped with movements in caliber cal. 80111 or caliber 80110. Almost all models of the luxury watch engineer are non-magnetic up to 80,000 A/m. However, this only applies to models with a solid base. The models with a sapphire glass base accept a reduction in aMagentism. Further features of the watches are the automatic Pellaton winding mechanism with shock-absorbing spring bridge and as sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating. In addition, the watches are water resistant up to a water pressure of 12 bar (e.g. reference IW323906). This corresponds to a water depth of 120 meters, which also allows divers to enjoy the engineer. Depending on the model, the cases are made of stainless steel, white gold or pink gold. Limited editions are also available in platinum. The bracelets are made of stainless steel, rubber or alligator leather.