Making A Strong Case

The latest Ingenieur models show how IWC's integrated approach to design and manufacturing is defining the future of the collection.

- Words: Haziq Yusof

What makes a design stick? For watch enthusiasts, it comes down to the smallest of details: the silhouette of a case, a bracelet taper, or the texture of a dial.

That's why any watch designer knows the stakes are high when unveiling a new model, especially when the task is to reinterpret an icon.

IWC knows this well. The Schaffhausen-based watchmaker has long been pushing the boundaries of watch design and engineering, a pursuit reinforced in 2018 by the opening of its Manufakturzentrum, the brand’s integrated manufacture. The facility—located on the outskirts of Schaffhausen—brings designers, engineers, and watchmakers into a shared space, allowing ideas to move quickly from sketch to prototype and from prototype to parts.

“As designers, we are closely involved with manufacturing throughout the whole process of creating a new model,” says Christian Knoop, chief design officer for IWC. “From the first design sketches to the finished watch, many specialists from various fields are involved, including watchmakers, movement engineers, and material experts.”

It is this structure that fuelled the return of the Ingenieur in 2023. Drawing from Gérald Genta’s 1976 Ingenieur SL, IWC introduced the Automatic 40: a watch that kept the visual language of the original but revised its proportions, updated the bracelet, and refined the case construction.