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How one of Gérald Genta’s most iconic sports watch designs was stubbornly marketed to “engineers”, fell into obscurity and was only rediscovered many years later: the incredible story of the Ingenieur SL, Reference 1832, from IWC Schaffhausen
IWC Schaffhausen: Ref. 1832 - The “most brilliant failure”
— The Ingenieur Automatic 40 with green dial (Ref. IW328908)
In the 1970s, the Swiss watch industry was shaken to its foundations by the Quartz crisis and skyrocketing gold prices. In this environment, IWC Schaffhausen turned to renowned Geneva watch designer Gérald Genta to re-design its Ingenieur. Originally launched in the 1950s, this anti-magnetic tool watch had specifically been developed for professionals who were exposed to strong magnetic fields, such as scientists and engineers.
On the height of his creative period, Genta created the Ingenieur SL, Reference 1832, featuring a bezel with five recesses and an integrated bracelet. Other watch manufacturers, who had commissioned watches from Gérald Genta, saw the signs of the times. They positioned their integrated bracelet designs as stainless steel luxury sports watches, establishing an entirely new product category in the industry.
With the modesty and sobriety of a tool watch manufacturer, IWC chose a different approach and marketed the Ingenieur SL exclusively to engineers in the years to come. However, for this target group, Genta’s design was simply too bold and too visionary. And so, between 1976 and 1983, only 598 pieces were produced and sold.
In the short film, the true story of the Ingenieur SL as IWC’s “most brilliant failure” is intertwined it with a fictional storyline about one specific model with a green dial. The short film tells the story of this particular watch as an example of the stories that each of the 598 Ingenieur SL watches ever produced could tell today.
— The Ingenieur SL (Ref. 1832) designed by Gérald Genda
Legendary watch designer Gérald Genta
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Scene from the short film
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Scene from the short film
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“The super-antimagnetic Ingenieur SL” from 1977 catalogue
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DISCOVER THE NEW INGENIEUR COLLECTION
Nearly 50 years after Gérald Genta created the Ingenieur SL, IWC Schaffhausen re-launched the iconic design in 2023. The modern IWC Ingenieur is a faithful distillation of the original design with the proportions, ergonomics and striking visual balance of a sports watch for the 21st century – perfected and refined down to the smallest detail.
