The Return of the Ingenieur

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The Return of the Ingenieur - IWC Schaffhausen
Interview with Christian Knoop, Chief Designer at IWC Schaffhausen

On the occasion of Watches and Wonders Geneva 2023, WorldTempus gets to talk to Christian Knoop, Chief Designer at IWC Schaffhausen, regarding the new launches in the Ingenieur collection.

IWC Schaffhausen is a brand with several distinct collections, each with different identities, so what message is IWC Schaffhausen prioritising this year by focusing on the Ingenieur?
First, the Ingenieur collection is important to us and our history. It reflects our way of making watches, very much driven by engineering and forward-looking design. And second, we believe in the future of the Ingenieur in the 21st century, as a modern watch. It has its place in the IWC collections, because we are missing the steel integrated bracelet watch in our portfolio.

The Return of the Ingenieur

Did you feel any pressure to work on a watch that was redesigned by Gérald Genta, a famous watch designer that created icons like the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak or the Patek Philippe Nautilus?
We have always had to deal with collections and watches that haven been designed by someone else. But as soon as you have such a big name there, it's always a bit of an exciting moment, because you're about to modify what someone did in the past. However, we are not replacing a product in an existing collection. The situation is thus completely different as we are not creating a new design. I'm not removing the agenda design that we have been selling since 1976. Here, we have a watch that was created in the past, that was paused for a long time ago, and that is now being revisited.

What you frequently hear while approaching something like the Ingenieur is that it can be more difficult to refresh, rather than starting from zero, because that’s already an icon. Personally, how do you approach such a delicate task?
Nowadays, the watch market is so crowded, you have so many watches coming out every day and every week. The average level of design is thus very, very high. What makes the difference between a successful and non-successful watch is if you you're able to give a character and identity to a product that is recognizable, that you can relate to a brand and that really sticks in people's mind. It's all about the recognizability of the product. And in that sense, a product that is already established, with a recognizable DNA, has a major advantage. And I think in the case of the Ingenieur, the design is very recognizable but still leaves enough room for interpretations. But you need to make sure not to lose the connection by not getting too far from the original design. The line is thin.

The Return of the Ingenieur

So, in the case of the Ingenieur, what are the essential features of the Ingenieur that must be kept to remain an Ingenieur watch?
Definitely the shape of the case, the bezel with the five screws, the dial with baton hands, the indexes, and the treatment on the dial surface. And, of course, the proportions of the watch.

What was the biggest challenge you faced while working on the new IWC Ingenieur Automatic 40?
What I enjoyed the most was really working on the case. The biggest challenge came from ergonomics and the balance of the dial. This was hard work, but it was necessary to get a better and viable product.

The Return of the Ingenieur

When you look at the design of this new Ingenieur Automatic 40 watch, what are you the most proud of?
What I am the most proud of is that we managed to not only have a beautiful technical watch, but we also gave it a certain premium quality in the appeal, that previous watches (including the original) never had as they were designed as very functional watches. Now, we have a watch that can be appreciated not only by people that like the IWC history, but also people that are sensitive to product only and that can see the level of detail and craftsmanship that went into the watch. I'm really proud of that.

How would you describe the new Ingenieur collection in a few words?
This new Ingenieur collection is about turning a historic watch that has always reflected the IWC values into a 21st century luxury watch.

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