IWC Da Vinci Chronograph

What belongs together comes together. IWC Schaffhausen is treating its chronograph movement to a ceramic case made of zirconium oxide. Entirely in the spirit of its namesake Leonardo da Vinci, the Da Vinci Chronograph Ceramic embodies innovation and first-class engineering in perfected form.

The world owes a great deal to Leonardo da Vinci. The universal genius from Tuscany created incomparably beautiful works of art, investigated and documented natural laws, and designed buildings and machines which were often far ahead of their time. Innumerable sketches also provide evidence of his enthusiasm for watchmaking.

Many of his pioneering discoveries in the area of helical and bevel gears and complicated screw transmissions are to this day component parts of many machines – including watches.

Fascinated and inspired by the spirit of Leonardo, the watchmakers of IWC Schaffhausen have given the name Da Vinci to particularly innovative models at regular intervals in the past. The Da Vinci model from1985, for example, made watchmaking history.

IWC Da Vinci Chronograph

At a stage when quartz already appeared to have superseded mechanics in the measurement of time, the Schaffhausen company focused its attention on the beauty and strength of mechanics and built a mechanical chronograph with a perpetual calendar, which played a part in the renaissance of the mechanical watch. The design of the complicated mechanism and its user-friendly operation can be summarized as being ingenious in their simplicity.

Only one year later, in 1986, IWC Schaffhausen provided further proof of its love of innovation by building the first watch with a case made from the extremely hard, scratch-resistant and impact-resistant ceramic, zirconium oxide. This milestone of case engineering also bore the name Da Vinci.

In the year 2007, when IWC Schaffhausen presented its newly developed flyback chronograph movement, this appropriately made its debut in the completely redesigned Da Vinci family.

The IWC-manufactured movement is conspicuous with a number of design features that are unique. Particularly noteworthy is the display of the recorded time, which has bid farewell to all its classic predecessors in the interests of improved user-friendliness. The recorded hours and minutes can now be read on a counter in the 12 o’clock position like a second time display.

The 89360 calibre also stands out with a new double-pawl winding system and a flyback function: actuation of the lower button during a timing function causes the recorded time to return to zero and restart immediately, but without stopping the stopwatch mechanism.

Such an extraordinary movement also merits anextraordinary case, in addition to a see-through sapphire-glass back; after all, the Da Vinci family is still inspired to this day by the special ability of Leonardo to think and act innovatively and imaginatively both technically and creatively.

The tonneau-shaped design, which draws its strength from the interaction between edges and curves, between convex and concave forms, has now been translated into an exceptional material combination of ceramic and titanium in the new Da Vinci Chronograph Ceramic.

The central section of the ceramic case of the new Da Vinci Chronograph Ceramic consists of zirconium oxide, which was first used in a watch case in 1986 – in a Da Vinci. This model was produced in only very small numbers because of the enormous difficulty in machining the hard material. Over the years, however, the technicians and engineers have acquired a lot of experience in the manufacture and machining of this extremely scratch-resistant, non-magnetic and acid-proof ceramic.

The case blanks can now be formed more efficiently and with greater accuracy than before from the mixture of zirconium oxide powder and a binder. They are sintered at temperatures between 1500 and 2000 degrees Celsius followed by cooling in a complicated process to enable the material to attain all of its outstanding properties. Diamond tools are required for the intricate finishing of the blanks. At this point, the specialists at IWC possess such thorough mastery of this technology that the new Da Vinci Chronograph Ceramic will be available in unlimited numbers as a model in the collection.

What is more, the case stands out with a technical highlight that is admired by experts. It is manufactured with such precision that the movement can be fitted directly into the ceramic case – without a movement security ring.

The bezel, back, buttons and crown provide a colour contrast in the form of ultra-hard titanium grade 5, which, unlike the titanium alloys formerly used by IWC, can be polished and satin-finished. These two materials, titanium and ceramic, are not only extraordinarily robust and scratch-resistant, but they also have an extremely pleasant, silk-like feel.

The special three-dimensional design of the dial with a réhaut volant – a tonneau-shaped minute display, which appears to float above the dial – adds to the attractiveness of the latest Da Vinci model. This flying chapter ring, a first for IWC, arcs in parallel with the sapphire glass and in so doing visually reduces the height of the inside of the bezel.

The overall appearance is rounded off by a high-quality calfskin strap, to which a special finishing technique imparts a surface structure resembling that of a high-tech woven fabric. With the new Da Vinci Chronograph Ceramic, IWC Schaffhausen has achieved an impressive combination of high-tech and elegance.

IWC Aquatimer watch family 2009

Thanks to its robustness and dependability, the diver’s watch remains the sports watch of choice to this day and doubles as a reliable reserve as the indispensable underwater back up system, even if the dive computer now relieves the underwater sportsman of most of the necessary calculations. Once again, IWC Schaffhausen has extensively revised, both technically and aesthetically, its family of diver’s watches, first introduced in 1967 under the name Aquatimer and since then further developed on a number of occasions. This step coincides with a new partnership in support of environmental and marine conservation, which IWC has entered into with the Charles Darwin Foundation in Galapagos to mark the Darwin bicentennial year in 2009. One of the new Aquatimer models, the Aquatimer Chronograph Edition Galapagos Islands, is dedicated specifically to this commitment.

This new environmental commitment by IWC will start in the Darwin anniversary year – 2009 – in which the scientific world will celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of the great British biologist and behavioural scientist, Charles Darwin. He made his fundamental observations on the origin of species mainly on Galapagos, the unique archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, which was never in contact with the mainland at any time in the history of evolution. Specific animal and plant species not to be found anywhere else on earth evolved here through natural selection as a result of the differences in living conditions – even from one island to the next.

This is also true of the marine life. Yet this “laboratory of evolution” is massively endangered by settlement, by illegal fishing and by the introduction of animals that are destroying the basis of existence of the indigenous species.

The non-profit Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) has more than 100 interns actively engaged in the conservation of this UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is on the “Red List”. IWC not only backs this cause in non-material ways, but also through a considerable financial contribution to support the CDF in this worthy endeavour.

New watch models in the Aquatimer family The Aquatimer family will include the following watches from 2009 onwards:
– Aquatimer Deep Two
– Aquatimer Chronograph Edition Galapagos Islands
– Aquatimer Chronograph
– Aquatimer Chronograph in red gold
– Aquatimer Automatic 2000

All have the following features in common: the case dimensions have increased slightly to 44 mm, and in one particular instance even to 46 mm. Another immediately obvious feature shared by the revised family is the rotating diving bezel, now located externally once again.

IWC has always incorporated two possibilities for measuring dive times in its diver’s watches. The first Aquatimer was equipped initially with a rotating inner bezel, which was operated via the second crown. The system is particularly secure as far as unintentional adjustment is concerned, although it is not so user-friendly Fresh from the laboratory of progress Overview of the Aquatimer watch family 2009 when the diver is wearing gloves. The OCEAN 2000 watch model dating from 1982 – a result of the collaboration with Porsche Design – had already adopted an external rotating bezel, which the GST Aquatimer from 1997 also retained.

The Aquatimer generation of 2009 embraces this technology once again in the form of an external rotating bezel of an entirely new design. This can be rotated even when wearing gloves – and for safety reasons only in the anti-clockwise direction.

In this case, a 4-mm wide sapphire crystal ring lies above a thick layer of Super-LumiNova®* luminous pigment applied in six coats. This means that the luminescence and legibility are optimal under all conditions of visibility. The revised family picks up the yellow-black and blue-orange signature colours of the previous Aquatimer family in a number of models, but it also introduces new and interesting colour combinations for the dial, hands and indicators.

A further characteristic element of the new family of diver’s watches is the innovative bracelet replacement system. The new Aquatimer is equally suitable as a sporting all-rounder and for professional underwater use. For example, a lightweight hook-and-loop strap is appropriate when diving to allow the watch to be worn over the neoprene diving suit. Wearing such a strap out of the water would be unusual, to say the least. Some prefer this lightweight material to a solid steel bracelet, but would like to change from time to time. To bring together all these preferences under a single hat, all Aquatimer models have been equipped with a new bracelet quick-change system. In response to finger pressure on the underside of the bracelet/strap lug, a lever disengages the lock ing mechanism and separates the bracelet or strap from the case. When being worn on the wrist, how ever, the watch cannot be separated from its bracelet or strap, even inadvertently. The replacement bracelet or strap (whether synthetic, rubber or steel) is then introduced into the bracelet/strap lug and engages there. This simple operation can be performed without tools in a few seconds.

IWC Portuguese Tourbillon Mystère Squelette

Time in its most beautiful form

This watch preserves time. The new Portuguese Tourbillon Mystère Squelette from IWC Schaffhausen is a generously dimensioned, precision mechanical masterpiece, whose origins can be traced back to centuries past.

The movement combines the pinnacle of watchmaking, the tourbillon, with the traditional craftsman’s arts of skeletonising, engine-turning and engraving. It is housed in a classic Portuguese case. Watch lovers have the choice between platinum, rose gold and white gold, in each of which only 50 examples of this exclusive watch will be manufactured.

The Portuguese not only discovered Madeira, the Azores and the Cape Verde Islands, but they also established where the best watches could be found: in Switzerland. This is what brought the two Portuguese businessmen Rodrigues and Teixeira to Schaffhausen in 1936 where they asked the International Watch Company to supply a timepiece to be worn on the wrist but with the qualities of a marine chronometer. It had to be a large watch, contrary to the contemporary trend, and it was also required to provide precise timekeeping.

Rodrigues and Teixeira also demanded optimal readability and the greatest accuracy from the watches ordered from IWC. With this in mind, the latest Portuguese Tourbillon Mystère Squelette can be perceived entirely as a contemporary interpretation of the original Portuguese watch. However, it is much more than that. It combines the old craft skills of skeletonising, engraving and engine-turning with the tradition of watchmaking, all in perfect refinement.

An impressive example of the successful combination of the art of the watchmaker and the art of the finisher is the tourbillon, which rotates in a hand-engraved window in the dial of the new Portuguese watch. Making it true to its classic role model, IWC engineers have designed a cage that rotates about its own axis once
every minute and accommodates the entire escapement with its Breguet balance spring and screw balance. This whirlwind, for that is the precise literal translation of the word tourbillon, sets the rhythm. And in a quite eye-catching position: the tourbillon functions as an “animated twelve”. It is supported in a bearing only on
its underside, which gives it the illusion of floating.

This is a major technical achievement as is the fact that it weighs no more than 0.443 g despite having 81 individual parts. This filigree assembly leaves the observer in no doubt as to why the tourbillon is still regarded as the pinnacle of watchmaking.

The underlying movement is the IWC-manufactured 5000 calibre, which is characterised by its seven-day power reserve. The wearer can read the actual remaining power reserve on the indicator in the five o’clock position. The spring barrel takes its energy from the patented automatic Pellaton winding system.

Although there is little scope for improving the design of the powerful, highly accurate movement, its appearance has been enhanced. And there are times when less can be more. All that now remains of the dial is a small ring with minute indices, while the plates, cocks and even the winding rotor have been reduced to their absolute essentials both mechanically and statically.

Anything that is not necessary has been omitted in order to provide an unobstructed view of the refined mechanism. The hand of a master – in the truest sense of the word, for not more than a handful remain in the whole of Europe – has been at work here. The master engraver and engine-turner Jochen Benzinger has held almost every part of the movement individually in his hand, not only to carve it out, but also to engrave it by hand. He also worked individual components on his engine-turning machines, which date from the 18th and 19th Centuries.

The sapphire glass and glass back permit an unobstructed view of the movement. This micromechanical masterpiece is housed in a classic, round Portuguese case. The watch lover has a choice between platinum, rose gold and white gold. Only 50 examples will be produced in each material, which further emphasises the exclusivity of this timepiece.

All Portuguese watches have their classic, timeless style in common alongside their striving for horological perfection. In the masterly Tourbillon Mystère Squelette, watch enthusiasts can appreciate the full skill of the engineers, watchmakers and engravers, experience the long tradition of IWC as a manufactory and breathe in the history of a great seafaring nation. One thing is certain: Rodrigues and Teixeira would also have bought it.

Technical Specifications

Ref. IW5043
Mechanical movement, skeletonised, engraved and engine-turned by hand, floating minute tourbillon, automatic Pellaton winding system, power reserve display, small seconds hand at nine o’clock, Breguet balance spring, skeletonised and hand-engraved rotor with 18 ct. yellow gold medallion

Movement
Calibre 50910
Vibrations 19,800/ h / 2.75 Hz
Jewels 44
Power reserve 7 days (168 h)
Winding automatic

Case
Material platinum, rose gold, white gold
(each limited to 50 examples)
Glass sapphire, convex, antireflective
Water-resistant 3 bar
Diameter 44.2mm
Height 14.2mm

Weight
Watch in platinum with crocodile leather strap 165 g
Watch in rose gold with crocodile leather strap 136 g
Watch in white gold with crocodile leather strap 135 g

Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month

Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month

The latest model in the Da Vinci collection is another milestone in haute horlogerie: its digital displays make not just every day, but every month too, into a significant event. Its flyback chronograph sets the standard. This watch harks back to the earliest digitaldisplay timepieces from Schaffhausen of
more than a hundred years ago. The name remains a watchword: in its tonneau shaped case, the Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month continues the proud tradition of the calendar chronograph with which IWC Schaffhausen played a decisive role in heralding the renaissance of the mechanical watch in 1985.

Not with big letters but with big numerals: for the first time ever, an IWC timepiece with a perpetual calendar that has a large format date display, and also turns the correct changing of the month into a large scale digital event on the dial. The watchmaker’s ingenuity was required yet again in order to showcase the two main ca lendar indications in such a prominent fashion. However, the Schaffhausen manufactory is known worldwide for solving difficult mechanical problems – and it is not completely unfamiliar with digital displays, either.

To put this into historical perspective, we have to go back 125 years in the company’s history. That was the start of the licensing agreement between inventor Josef Pallweber from Salzburg and IWC in Schaffhausen, opening up an important chapter in the story of watchmaking. However, IWC pocket watches with a digital time display were only a short-lived phenomenon, and the new Da Vinci model follows only indirectly in the footsteps of the “Pallweber watches”, which are now highly prized collectors’ items.

For it does not digitally display the time but rather the date and month of its mechanically programmed calendar – innovative, highly practical and, above all, clear and easy to read. Two years after the Da Vinci in its tonneau shaped case made its mark with the new IWC chronograph as a complication, this new model adds a major supplementary function to the existing Da Vinci range. For in addition to the chronograph and also the perpetual calendar, it now has a large format date and month shown in digital form, plus a digital display of the four yearly leap year cycle. The Da Vinci has arrived in the digital age.

As the name of the watch says, the calendar is programmed for perpetuity. However, owners of the new Da Vinci model need to understand the special rules governing leap years under the Gregorian calendar. Every fourth year is, of course, a leap year. Each hundredth year is not a leap year unless it is divisible by 400. For owners of the watch, this means that it has to be advanced by one day only once every 100 years, with the exception of years divisible by 400. After advancing the date by one day on 1 March 2100, its owners need not adjust the calendar again for another 100 years.

In months that have fewer than 31 days the calendar also changes automatically by one nonexistent day – or at the end of February in nonleap years by three days – to the first of the next month. At the same time, the two-digit month display (01–12) is moved forwards. This is consistent with the way in which the month is now normally written. The mechanically programmed autonomous mechanism is a special feature of the Schaffhausen made watch, named after Italy’s Renaissance genius. It is, after all, to him that we owe many of today’s practical applications of mechanics.

Mechanical power reserve ensures reliable switching
The switching operations at the end of each month use up a lot of power, synchronously moving two disc mechanisms (and three at the end of the year). The IWC designers wanted to ensure that the IWC manufactured 89800 calibre movement would provide reliable switching over the whole power reserve period without any perceptible loss of amplitude. Thus for the Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month they designed an instantaneous jumping date indication to carry out this function. This is done by means of a separate mechanical power reserve: throughout the month, a tiny amount of the energy used to change the date each night is diverted and stored. This energy is discharged precisely when it is required: when, at the end of the month, the month disc has to be moved forwards in addition to the date. Through this clever design the watch can now enter the digital age with two extra large calendar displays.

In technical terms – briefly – the date interlocking wheel that turns once each month is fitted with a spiral cam, on which is positioned the additional switch lever. Every night, the cam raises the switch lever a fraction higher, until at the end of the month it reaches its maximum position. At the end of the month, the switch lever on the cam of the date interlocking wheel drops from its highest position down, via a step, to the “beginning” of the month. This activates the stored energy of the “jumping indication”, which is transmitted to the programme wheels of the month display. A ratchet mechanism ensures that only one month is advanced each time.

Like its famous predecessor, the new timepiece in the Da Vinci family remains true to the principle of providing functions that are practical, ideal for everyday use and easy to operate. It begins with the new IWC manufactured 89800 calibre movement, a precision mechanical movement with the IWC double-pawl automatic winding system for the most effective automatic winding. It continues with the integral shock absorber of the spring-mounted rotor. The integral flyback chronograph with column wheel switching for easy, precision operation shows stop times of more than one minute on a single dial in normal analogue style – it’s like having a second time display. Aggregate times have never been so easy to read off. The movement of the watch is designed so that the stopwatch function can run continuously with no perceptible effect on the accuracy. Even with its calendar indications, the dial remains clear and easy to read.

The case of the Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month is a modern interpretation of the classic tonneau shaped design, and measures 44 mm/52.8 mm, with a case height of 16.3 mm. The watch is water-resistant to 3 bar, and the convex sapphire glass is antireflective on both sides. It is available both in rose gold and in platinum – the latter limited to 500 pieces.

Both variants have silver-plated dials and rhodium-plated or gold-plated hands and indices.

A modern calendar chronograph, it is a worthy successor to the Schaffhausen “time machine” that brought the complicated mechanical watch back into favour in 1985.

IWC Pilot’s Watch UTC Edition Antoine de Saint Exupéry in platinum. © IWC

The exclusive Pilot’s Watch UTC Edition Antoine de Saint Exupéry in platinum went under the auctioneer’s hammer for US$ 46,700

Schaffhausen, 16 December 2008 – The hammer has fallen: Following the high bid of US$ 46,700, the exclusive platinum Pilot’s Watch UTC Edition Antoine de Saint Exupéry from IWC Schaffhausen has a new owner. Many watch aficionados around the world followed the conclusion of the IWC online benefit auction with feverish excitement. After enthusiastic bidding, the exclusive watch, which has been donated, is going to an owner in the Czech Republic. The proceeds of this charity auction will benefit the association Sipar, which aims to eradicate illiteracy in Cambodia in particular by publishing books for children and by setting up school libraries.

The minimum offer was high. US$ 39,000 had to be beaten if someone wanted to enter the bidding to own these two sought-after rarities. And the temptation was great: Besides the Pilot’s Watch UTC Edition Antoine de Saint Exupéry, a first-class, much-coveted and truly unique platinum timepiece, an edition of his novel “Terre des Hommes” (“Wind, Sand and Stars”) personally signed by the author was also put on the virtual auctioneer’s podium. This may have led to watch lovers and enthusiasts of the French writer keeping their eyes on the development of the auction on www.iwc.com between 8 and 14 December somewhat more frequently. With numerous bids, watch aficionados from all around the world bid on the two desirable items in memory of Antoine de Saint Exupéry. A bid from the Czech Republic won the bidding.

IWC Schaffhausen will donate the entire proceeds to the French association Sipar, which has set for itself the goal of increasing the educational level of children in Cambodia by publishing books and promoting reading, and with these efforts it aims to eradicate illiteracy in that country. IWC CEO Georges Kern is excited by the positive result of the auction: “I congratulate the owner of this truly unique watch.”