As the name gives away, the IWC Ingenieur was designed with this profession in mind. When modernisation was in full progress, more and more magnetic fields arose due to the ever increasing industrialisation. So especially in technical professions having a magnetically shielded watch would greatly benefit it’s proper functioning. IWC introduced their first Ingenieur watch in 1955 with reference 666 which was able to withstand influences of up to 1.000 gauss without affecting accuracy. The current line of the IWC Ingenieur, that was relaunched in 2013, recently got a new addition in celebration of the 50th anniversary of their automotive partner AMG.The IWC Ingenieur Chronograph Sport Edition “50th anniversary of Mercedes-AMG”.
Ingenieur Chronograph Sport
The IWC Ingenieur Chronograph Sport AMG Edition is encased in a 44.3 mm titanium case that resembles the clean lines of the first Ingenieur. It’s actually great to recognise much of the original shape which has been kept in this line of the Ingenieur. Even though it has been enlarged significantly to adept to modern times. Apart from the case design there are other details that remind of the original Ingenieur which are easy to compare when looking at the different versions.
Comparison of versions
Comparing the first IWC Ingenieur (image above) with the IWC Ingenieur Chronograph Sport AMG Edition. When looking at the base shape you can see how the round shape, smooth bezel and lugs remained in the design. So you get a bit of the vintage look with a modern twist to it. Of course a lot has changed but there are more details that remained like the Ingenieur logo and the luminescent plots at the hour markers. For the IWC Ingenieur Chronograph Sport AMG edition the hour markers on the dial have been replaced by second indicators for the chronograph function. Featuring a silver plated dial and red chronograph hands which makes this version a bit more sporty compared to the regular Ingenieur Chronograph Sport.
When looking at this regular version (below) you see the baton shaped hour markers like on the original Ingenieur. Apart from the dial design both watches have the same functionality with the standard central hour and minute hands. On 6 o’clock there is a small seconds shaped, shaped like lightning which you also see on the Rolex Milgauss. The chronograph has a central seconds hand and minute and hour hands displayed on the subdial at 12 o’clock. The chronograph has a start/stop button and reset button. When the chronograph is activated, upon reset it continues timekeeping because of the flyback function. On the rehaut of the watch a tachymeter scale can be found, useful to calculate speed for instance.
One man, One Engine
Powered by the 89361 calibre you get a power reserve of about 68 hours which is long enough to keep time going over the weekend. On the AMG edition the hand finished movement can’t be seen because the view is blocked by a brake disc shaped rotor. The text ‘One Man, One Engine’ refers to the fact that one mechanic works on the engine of an AMG from beginning to end. Something you also see in high-end watchmaking. As a result your AMG engine features a small plate with the name of the engineer on it as you can see below.
The sporty look of the IWC Ingenieur Chronograph Sport AMG edition works for us. With only 2 subdials it gives a well balanced and symmetrical look while keeping funcionality. Too bad these watches are only produced as a limited edition of only 250 pieces for the AMG and 500 for the ‘standard’ edition.
Technical specs of IWC Ingenieur Chronograph Sport Edition AMG 50th anniversary:
- Limited edition of 250 watches
- Mechanical chronograph movement
- 68-hour power reserve when fully wound
- Self-winding
- IWC-manufactured 89361 calibre
- Date display
- Stopwatch function with hours, minutes and seconds
- Soft-iron inner case for protection against magnetic fields
- Small hacking seconds
- Flyback function
- Hour and minute counters combined in a totalizer at 12 o’clock
- Screw-in crown
- Water resistant 12 bar
- Case height 15.9 mm
- Diameter 44 mm
- Retail Price 12‘600 CHF / 10‘450 GBP / 13‘000 Euro (incl. 19% VAT for Germany)
More info on the official IWC website.
