IWC - The Classic Amongst Classics
The International Watch Co.
Ever since it became a centre of precision engineering, Switzerland has been synonymous with the highest standards of watch making. It is hardly surprising that the fastidious Swiss should have raised this sector to such high levels of precision and artistry, for as the ultimate perfectionists they have married design and technology to create a delicate art form. Among the many illustrious names to have come out of this small Alpine nation is the International Watch Company of Schaffhausen.
Founded in 1868, it was to become one of the world’s finest watch makers, building a devoted clientele that today counts people as diverse as business tycoons, diplomats, international stars and such sporting icons as footballer Luis Figo. The ambition to become a manufacturer of the finest watches available in the world has defined the company’s philosophy throughout its 140 years of existence and continues to do so today. Now technological innovation and artistic tradition live side by side in the ancestral headquarters of the company on the banks of the Rhine, just a few kilometres upstream from the famous cascades and waterfalls of Schaffhausen.
The Ultimate Classic
Although thoroughly updated and modern in its facilities, the company’s HQ still exudes a rich air of tradition and breeding, an ambience that perfectly suits a watchmaker of this standing. It is this same mix of timeless styling and avant-garde micro engineering that produced the first digital watch of its kind in 1885, the Pallweber Lépine. Today it is highly collectable, and viewed as both a timeless classic and a marvel of modern technology.
Way ahead of its time, it was superseded by analogue watches, only to reappear on LCD displays almost a century later, but the model set the tone for a wave of innovations that were to follow, including stylish early wristwatches that still work today, fashionable rectangular Art Deco watches of the 1920s and the first aviation watches with antimagnetic mechanism. The latter, launched in the 1930s, formed the vanguard of high-altitude watches that were to set the standard, just as the marque’s later deep sea diver’s watches would do. First launched in the late 1960s, they continue to be the reference point for reliability and underwater performance, trusted by divers and researchers the world over.
Timeless elegance
By the late 1940s IWC was at the forefront of developments, whilst producing a range of products that satisfied both classic and modern tastes. The Ingenieur range of 1955 was to become another masterpiece featuring timeless design and a level of precision engineering that remains unsurpassed, while with the Beta 21 of 1969 the company had produced one of the first and most reliable Quartz watches in the world. The Quartz Electronic Beta 21 produces an almost incredible 8192 oscillations per second, making it surpassed in precision only by an atomic clock.
Subsequent models followed the trends of the times and became increasingly rugged and robust, as exemplified by the GST Deep One diver’s range and the titanium Titan model designed by Porsche and manufactured at Schaffhausen. A long list of illustrious model ranges would follow, many of which are sought-after collector’s items these days, but among the most popular of today’s ranges are the manly Aviator and Spitfire ranges, the detailed Da Vinci, the elegant simplicity of the Portofino range, the rugged, modern Aquatimer diver’s watches and the timeless charm of the Portugués range.
The latter is a revival of an original commission of watches from Portugal that came in the 1930s and in which IWC was requested to supply wristwatches that had the reliability and size of a pocket watch. The result is a legendary range of large-faced watches that has proved to be very popular in recent times. Meanwhile IWC continues its tradition at the forefront of research and technology, producing watches that blend innovation and quality as readily as it excels in both modern and classic designs. It is exactly this blend that personifies the International Watch Co. of Schaffhausen.
Visit IWC online at www.iwc.com
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