When it comes to watches, IWC has definitely made a mark in history, especially with their IWC Ingenieur models. But how did they come about? What’s their story? Today we shall look at the evolution of this great brand of watchmakers. Come along!

The Ingenieur watch family’s success story began back in the 1950s. An increasing number of technical appliances generated magnetic fields that adversely affected the accuracy of wristwatches. Engineers often worked in areas subject to magnetic fields. By this time, IWC had perfected protection against magnetic fields to the point that creating a new watch class especially for this profession seemed like a good idea. And so, the IWC Ingenieur was born.

Unveiled in 1955, the first Ingenieur was equipped with the first bidirectional automatic movement, developed by the then Technical Director, Albert Pellaton. The Pellaton system winds the movement when the rotor is revolving in either direction, making it significantly more efficient than conventional unidirectional mechanisms. In the late 1950s, the design of the movements used in these watches was successively improved.

In the 1970s and 1980s, quartz watches were the standard in the world’s watch markets. Even IWC equipped certain models with quartz-regulated oscillators. Technical masterpieces like the Ingenieur SL, which was just 10 millimeters thick, or the Ingenieur Automatic “500,000 A/m” were the outstanding achievements of this period in the watches’ history, as was the introduction of titanium for cases.

The IWC Ingenieur today

In 2005, the watch family saw a comeback. The Ingenieur Automatic assumed the cool, engineering-inspired aura of Gérald Genta’s Ingenieur SL. The IWC-manufactured 80110 caliber with its Pellaton winding system also featured an integrated shock-absorption system. To mark the partnership between IWC and Mercedes AMG, IWC unveiled two Ingenieur models in titanium.

Then came out the completely redesigned Ingenieur watch collection for 2013. This centered entirely on the cooperation with the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team. The technological highlight was the Ingenieur Constant-Force Tourbillon with its patented constant-force mechanism. Another example of exceptional design was the quick-action switch found in the Ingenieur Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month, which moves up to five display discs simultaneously. Its case is made of titanium aluminide, which, like carbon, ceramic and titanium, was inspired by the range of materials used in Formula One. These innovative materials are used in the current Ingenieur line, which is easily recognized by the ceramic screw heads in the bezel. In appearance, the classic design line with the stainless-steel case and characteristic drill holes are in line with the tradition of the Ingenieur SL launched in 1976. Elegant, functional and technologically perfect, it distils all that is best from almost 60 years of performance engineering in the IWC Ingenieur family.