The Ingenieur IWC Collections

IN RECENT YEARS IWC has been updating its various collections, one per year, and unveiling the revamped models at SIHH. This year it was the Ingenieur collection’s turn.

The new watches show a strong automotive influence, the product of IWC’s recent partnership with the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 team. The Ingenieur Constant-Force Tourbillon is the keystone of the collection.

You can see the constant-force mechanism through the tourbillon window at 9 o’clock. This device uncouples the escapement from the gear train in order to maintain the balance at a constant amplitude.

The Constant-Force Tourbillon is powered by manually wound manufacture Caliber 94800, which has two barrels to provide a 96-hour power reserve.

The watch also features a Northern and Southern-Hemisphere moon phase display at 2 o’clock and a power reserve display between 4 and 5 o’clock. The 46-mm case is made of platinum and ceramic and has a see-through caseback, held in place by titanium screws.

The Ingenieur Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month has not only a perpetual calendar but also a chronograph. The case is made of titanium aluminide, a light and tough titanium alloy frequently used in race cars.

The date and month are shown in large digital displays at 9 and 3 o’clock, respectively. Each of these subdials is covered in a semi-transparent sapphire glass inlay, so you can see the turning of the disks.

The chronograph has not only a central seconds hand but also a “watch within a watch” at 12 o’clock, which can count the elapsed hours and minutes in a clear two-handed display.

In an homage to Formula 1 racing, the manufacture movement, automatic Caliber 89802, has a “quick-action switch”: it siphons off energy when the date display advances each night, so that no energy is lost and timing is not affected when all five display disks turn at the end of the year.