How IWC is turning its "most brilliant failure" into a modern icon
Those in business tend not to enjoy failure. So it might surprise you to know that the IWC Ingenieur, which saw a big focus this year from the Schaffhausen manufacture, was once dubbed a failure by the brand. Fair caveat: the exact phrasing is 'most brilliant failure'. Here's how the story goes.
In the 1950s, after the end of the war, the world was at a turning point. The Space Race was soon to come, technology was making leapfrog progress, and certain occupations, as a result, became valorised. Engineers, technicians, physicists, chemists and doctors were among these men of progress, who were shaping the tools and technologies that would guide the world for years to come. Courtesy of IWC
So in 1955, IWC Schaffhausen designed and introduced a timepiece targeted at these men. The original Ingenieur—that's both German and French for 'engineer'—from 1955 was powered by the brand's first in-house automatic winding movement. It came with a distinct feature: an antimagnetic soft-iron inner case so that the delicate timekeeping components wouldn't be upset by the professional activities of engineers or scientists.
Fast forward to the 1970s and we encounter the Ingenieur in its recognisable modern form. The brand commissioned a little-known watch designer by the name of Gérald Genta to give its timepiece a facelift. In 1976, IWC released the Ingenieur SL—the archetype of this collection as we know it today. Retooled with five recessed screws on the bezel, an integrated H-link bracelet and a full-steel construction, it was IWC's hat in the ring around the time the luxury steel sports watch category was being invented. IWC's lineup of 40mm Ingenieur Automatic models gets new materials this year like lustrous 5N gold and black ceramic. Courtesy of IWC
But the Ingenieur had been designed for and marketed towards such a specific niche that it, perhaps unsurprisingly with hindsight, never found mass appeal. In its history, IWC had only produced and sold little more than 1,000 pieces. Only later did it become a cult collector's favourite, a sought-after nugget of horological history for those in the know. That's precisely how it earned its moniker as IWC's 'most brilliant failure', a bon mot that the brand has gamely embraced.
And what an embrace. Just two years ago, IWC set about relaunching and reintroducing the Ingenieur collection in what might be its most definitive contemporary form. This year, it's introducing vital additions to the collection. The Ingenieur, a typically steel sports model, debuts black ceramic. Courtesy of IWC
Key among them is the Ingenieur Automatic 42mm model that's the first in the line to be crafted in full black ceramic. It applies a luxury level of finishing normally found on steel or gold—a mix of brushed, sandblasted and polished edges—to ceramic, a kind of hyper-contemporary material. The Ingenieur collection sees its first perpetual calendar model this year in a 41mm stainless steel model. Courtesy of IWC
This year also sees the introduction of the first complication to the modern collection, in the form of the Ingenieur Perpetual Calendar 41. The choice of a perpetual calendar won't come as too much of a surprise for connoisseurs of IWC: 1980s head watchmaker Kurt Klaus was a pioneer in elegantly simplifying the manufacture of this horological complication.
The Ingenieur also gets far more universal this year with a new range of models in a 35mm case size. This rolls out with three references: full steel with either a silver or black dial, and full 5N gold with a matching gold-coloured dial. The core line-up of 40mm models, previously offered in either full steel or titanium, also welcomes its first model in full 5N gold. Ingenieur Automatic 35 in stainless steel, $14,500 Courtesy of IWC Ingenieur Automatic 35 in stainless steel, $14,500 Courtesy of IWC Ingenieur Perpetual Calendar 41 in stainless steel, $52,600 Courtesy of IWC Ingenieur Automatic 35 in 5N gold, $53,600 Courtesy of IWC Ingenieur Automatic 40 in 5N gold, $66,100 Courtesy of IWC Ingenieur Automatic 40 in stainless steel with a green dial, $18,300, limited to 1,000 pieces Courtesy of IWC
But what IWC is no doubt looking forward to is an upcoming cultural moment that will put its Ingenieur on the big screens. F1 , the film directed by Joseph Kosinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, is the summer blockbuster that's shaping up to be the most loving and accurate render of the sport of Formula One so far. Brad Pitt stars as Sonny Hayes, a former race car driver who is coaxed out of retirement to join the fictional IWC-sponsored APXGP racing team. The brand has created a collection of high-performance models inspired by the film, but the one that has caught the most attention so far is an Ingenieur that Pitt was seen wearing while filming. The 1,000-piece limited edition Ingenieur Automatic 40 with a green dial, inspired by a bespoke IWC watch worn by Brad Pitt in this summer's F1 the Movie blockbuster. Courtesy of IWC
What the actor had on his wrist was, in fact, a prop watch based on the original Genta Ingenieur SL Automatic Ref. 1832 from IWC's archive and customised with a green dial. Perhaps anticipating some level of fervour, the brand has smartly released it as a limited edition Ingenieur Automatic 40 with a green dial and gold appliqués, with just 1,000 pieces.
The Vogue Man 2025 'Gold' issue is available online and at newsstands.
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