Picture this: in 2016, you felt inclined to buy one of these strictly limited-edition-only IWC Ingenieur watches, thinking it’s a one-time opportunity to get a new-old take on the Ingenieur… Well, worry not if you haven’t, because IWC cheap replica watches today is launching essentially the same watch with a few basic aesthetic tweaks along with three completely new models – a time-only, two chronograph models, and a chronograph perpetual calendar – in what is now a new IWC Ingenieur collection.
As a newcomer and the entry-level model, we have the IWC Ingenieur Automatic 40 as seen above, with references IW357001, IW357002, and IW357003 starting at just under $5,000 and going up from there as you upgrade for a steel bracelet or a solid 18k red gold case. Inspired by the IWC Ingenieur reference 666, the very first Ingenieur that dates back to 1955, the silver dial version on black leather looks closest to its predecessor.
It’s a little-known fact that before the Ingenieur was launched in 1955 IWC had produced some military IWC pilot series fake watches with soft-iron cages so as to protect the movements from the ever stronger magnetic fields present in the ever-more developed and better-equipped cockpits of the 1940s. Ditching the pilot watch DNA the IWC Ingenieur was a handsome-looking dress watch designed more for – you guessed – engineers than pilots. The collection received its most notable overhaul in 1976 when Gerald Genta redesigned it – but that’s a different story.
All this was to say that things are going back to basics in the same way as we discovered with the old-new Da Vinci (hands-on here): the IWC Ingenieur Automatic 40mm, closest to the original among the four new models, offers a good conservative size (most notably the same as a Rolex Submariner) with an “IWC caliber 35111” beating inside. The 35111 is a base Sellita SW300 which in turn is an ETA 2892 clone, which helps explain some of the price difference between the Ingenieur Automatic and the Submariner. It runs at 4Hz and offers 42 hours of power reserve, ensuring that it won’t be a top pick for those looking for a more modern movement in this price segment.
The IWC Ingenieur Chronograph is basically the non-limited re-release of last year’s limited editions – references IW380802, IW380801, and IW380803 as seen above. They are a modest 42mm wide, clad in stainless steel or 18k red gold and sport what is an ample 120m depth rating. Inside is what we’re told to be an all-new movement called the IWC Caliber 69375.
It is designed to be a relatively high-quantity-production automatic chronograph caliber with a 7750-like layout but having a column wheel replacing the cam-actuation system being the most notable difference. Operating frequency remains 4Hz, and power reserve is 46 hours so other specs are quite close to the famed workhorse chronograph caliber. Aesthetics-wise what’s new about it compared to last year’s limited edition is that it now has the massive and always impressive IWC winding rotor with large cutouts and beveled edges as opposed to the rather underwhelming stamped piece that was present on the 2016 models. Based on last year’s comparable models expect the IWC Ingenieur Chronograph cheap fake watches the price to start from around $7,200.