Hands-On With The New IWC Ingenieurs For Watches & Wonders 2025

It’s been two years since IWC introduced a new generation of its historic Ingenieur collection, bringing it back to its Gérald Genta-era roots, complete with an integrated bracelet design. The new Ingenieur launched in both steel and titanium, with a classic time-and-date feature set within 40mm confines. This year, IWC returns to the Ingenieur in a big way, with seven new references that welcome new complications, new materials, and new sizes. Each of the new watches build on the modern Ingenieur vision, which isn’t a throwback, but rather a new foundation that builds on Genta’s innovative 1976 design. These new Ingenieur references expand into new territory while utilizing IWC’s existing skill set. 

There’s a lot to digest with these new releases, so let’s take a brief look at each of the new watches below. You can expect more in-depth coverage of some of these watches in the coming months.  

Ingenieur Perpetual Calendar 41

The Ingenieur has had a checkered past (which dates to 1955) that has seen a broad range of designs and complications come and go, and while not all of them have worked, the perpetual calendar has always left an indelible mark on the collection when it’s made appearances. The most notable Ingenieur Perpetual Calendar, if you ask me, was the Reference 9240 from the early ‘90s. IWC has wisely chosen to take inspiration from this serene design for a new generation of the complication within the Ingenieur collection. That said, this is a very traditional perpetual calendar configuration, the likes of which we’ve recently seen in the Portofino and Portuguesier collections, and that’s not a bad thing. 

The newest Ingenieur Perpetual Calendar uses a 41mm steel case, and houses the brand’s Caliber 82650. This is not an integrated calendar mechanism, but it still manages a rather impressive total thickness of 13.3mm, and thanks to the integrated bracelet design, sits rather nicely on the wrist. Everything feels proportional here, which is more important than the stat sheet. The taper and articulation of the bracelet continue to be a standout feature, distributing the weight and size evenly across the wrist. 

The genius of this complication, as developed by IWC’s Kurt Klaus in the ‘80s, is its relative simplicity, both in number of parts, and in practical use. This movement allows the wearer to adjust all elements of the calendar via the crown, rather than pushers in the case. It may not be as thin as the high-end, integrated calendar movements out there, but it is intuitive and approachable, especially in the confines of a steel sport watch. 

There is no running seconds indication here, which is a welcome decision that keeps focus on the calendar, and doesn’t interfere with the basketweave texture on the background of the dial. The date and day can be found at 3 and 9 o’clock, respectively, while the subdial at 6 o’clock gets the month with a nested moon-phase aperture. There is no year display, but there is a leap-year indication hiding at the bottom of the day display. All of this is set within a dark blue dial akin to what was recently released into the regular Ingenieur 40 collection. The dial texture has been left out of the sub-dials, which get a radial brush instead. I think a move away from that texture, which is quite aggressive, would have been a suitable move with this one, which would have made comparisons to the original all the more forthcoming. 

It’s worth noting that IWC chose to launch this watch in steel and not precious metal or any other exotic material, setting the tone for this as a “robust sports watch” in its own terms. Whether buyers will see it that way or not remains to be seen, but this is about as sober an expression of this feature set you’re likely to come across. Until you turn it over, that is, to find an open view of the automatic Caliber 82650 within. A closed caseback would have made an even bigger statement, if you ask me, however buyers of such a complication are justified in wanting at least some sort of view at their disposal. 

The Ingenieur Perpetual Calendar 41 is available now, and is priced from CHF 38,000.

Ingenieur Automatic 35

Next, we find a new form factor for the Ingenieur, with three new references sized at 35mm in diameter. This is a welcome new size for the design that launched in a 40mm case, as the integrated bracelet represents a departure from the classic proportions we’ve come to expect from a watch on the wrist. As a result, the move to a 35mm case offers a very different (very comfortable) experience. Further, this isn’t a watch that feels like 35mm, and I’d suggest that, even if you’re more accustomed to watches in the 40mm range, you may be pleasantly surprised with just how well this size works with this particular watch. 

The Ingenieur Automatic 35 is being released in two metals, and three unique dial colors. Two of them are rendered in steel featuring black and silver dials, while a third makes the move to precious metal, featuring a pink gold case and bracelet. That last one gets a tone-on-tone gold dial, which really pushes it over the top. All three of these references get a polished center link, and each gets an exhibition caseback revealing the automatic Caliber 47110 inside. 

The general design and features of the newest generation of the Ingenieur remain untouched, including the dial pattern that appears on each. I do think the full, pink-gold reference offered an opportunity to use a clean, or vertically brushed dial to start expanding the new Inge’s identity a bit, and bring a slightly less aggressive vibe to this watch specifically. That said, I think the texture works just as well with these, and surely we’ll see that evolve at some point down the line. 

The Ingenieur Automatic 35 is available, and is priced from CHF 10,500 in steel, and CHF 37,400 in pink gold. 

Ingenieur Automatic 42

Yes, this year the Ingenieur is welcoming three new size options in total, with the largest also being the most distinctive, the Automatic 42 in full black ceramic. To be clear, this is not the brand’s proprietary ceramic alloy, Ceratanium, but rather, zirconium oxide ceramic (ZrO2) the likes of which we’ve seen elsewhere in the industry, from Omega to Formex. This Ingenieur again embraces the black-on-black look, and scales the original design up to 42mm in diameter, which it can get away with on account of the much lighter material in use. 

IWC is showcasing its ability to finish this notoriously finicky material in interesting ways by using three different finishing techniques: satin, sand-blasting, and polishing. The result means that these different textures come together to create the only real contrast to be found. This is a multi-part construction, so the different pieces can get their own finishing and polished bevels prior to final assembly. This is a striking design in the metal that takes on a highly dynamic quality in this material and execution. 

The black-out theme continues around the back with this reference receiving a smoked exhibition sapphire caseback, revealing a shaded view of the brand’s Caliber 82111. This is a higher-end caliber that can be found serving duty in the Portugieser family, and comes complete with the brand’s Pellaton winding system, which allows the oscillating weight to wind the mainspring regardless of which direction it happens to be spinning. Some components of this movement which are subjected to higher stresses are made in ceramic, which keeps it even more on-theme in this package. 

The Ingenieur Automatic 42 (side note, could we get more descriptive names for these?) is available now, and is priced at CHF 20,000.

Ingenieur Automatic 40

Finally, we find a pair of new Ingenieur Automatic 40 watches, which join the existing collection of 40mm references. The first example features a unique, warm green dial with gilt accents that serves as a nod to Joseph Kosinski’s upcoming F1 movie starring Brad Pitt. IWC’s involvement with Formula 1 is set to expand beyond its relationship with the AMG Petronas Mercedes team thanks to its appearance on the fictional APX GP team in the film, which releases this summer. This Ingenieur will feature on the wrist of Pitt’s character, Sonny Hayes.

The watch itself is quite striking in person, with a dial that falls somewhere between green and mustard, but in a good way. There’s something old-school about the color in person, and I suspect that quality will not fully show through in images. It’s a great look, but may be polarizing to broad audiences, which I’d call a good thing. 

In addition to the steel reference, pink gold has also found its way into the 40mm case, featured here with a black dial. This is a slightly more masculine take on the example seen in the 35mm for factor, but the pairing works quite well in person, even if the dial is slightly difficult to read at a glance.

The rest of the watch follows the same formula as the original released in 2023, with a case measuring 40mm in diameter connected to an integrated bracelet with brushed center links. (See my full owner's review of the watch right here.) I actually feel that the green colorway would have worked well in the 35mm proportions given the slight throwback nature of the color itself. Here’s hoping we see those options expanded in the near future. 

The Ingenieur Automatic 40 with green dial is available now, and is priced at CHF 13,200 while the pink-gold reference is priced from CHF 47,800.