Throwback Thursday: IWC Ingenieur

The IWC Ingenieur was launched in 1955 during a period of economic boom and a thirst for new technology. The name comes from the German Ingenieure which means engineer. The original model (Ref. 666) had an automatic movement with bidirectional winding, developed by IWC’s technical director at the time, Albert Pellaton. What became know as the Pellaton winding system was particularly efficient and gave IWC a decisive competitive edge. The watch was also uniquely anti-magnetic.

In the mid-1970s, freelance designer Gérald Genta designed the next iconic model, the Ingenieur SL (Ref. 1832). Instead of concealing the bores for the screws that held the bezel in position, he made them a design feature which became the hallmark of the watch family.