By Meor Amri Meor Ayob
The IWC Ingenieur series is one of the most iconic and classical looking watch that one can find today. Created approximately 60 years ago, its DNA was further enhanced back in the 1976 by the legendary watch designer Gérald Genta when he designed the Ingenieur SL, Reference 1832. The masculine shaped Ingenieur remains true to this day. I was fortunate to have the IW323604 in my own personal collection.
On 9 May 2014, IWC Schaffhausen unveils two new additions to the Ingenieur watch family. Of interest is the Ingenieur Dual Time (Ref. IW324402/IW324404) which comes in a stainless-steel case that has a strong resemblance to previous IW323604 Mission Earth model.
IWC Ingenieur Dual Time IW324402 and IW324404
The new Ingenieur Dual Time is available with a black (ref. IW324402) or a silver-plated (ref. IW324404) dial. The case measures 43 mm in diameter and 13.5 mm in height. Water resistant has been rated to 120 meters. The dial is protected by a flat sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on both sides. The case-back is solid steel. The large screw-down crown connects to an automatic Calibre 35720 operating at 28,800 vibrations per hour. The power reserve is approximately 42 hours.
The external appearance is similar to my own IW323604 Mission Earth model (see below), even to the signature bezel with five striking bores holes. Since the Dual Time does not have the anti-magnetic feature, it was designed slightly smaller than the 46 mm wide and 15 mm height Mission Earth model. This is a very nice size.
The Dual Time displays a second time zone, indicated by a hand with an arrowhead tip on the outer 24-hour ring. To make it easier to differentiate between day and night, the top half of the ring, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., is darker than the lower half. Similar to the system used by Rolex, the adjustment for a different time zone is done by changing the hour hand while keeping the GMT hand pointing at home time. The time can be advanced or turned back in one-hour steps via the crown.
There is a date window at 3 o’clock position and is linked to the home time.
I personally like the Dual Time. The original pedigree of the Ingenieur and Gérald Genta remains obvious and this appeals to me. If given a choice, I will choose the silver plated dial. For more info, please visit iwc.com
Meor Amri Meor Ayob – Contributing Editor
Meor Amri is a passionate watch collector from Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. Having bitten by the horology bug in 2010, he has written extensively about the watch scene and has assembled a large collection of watches (excessively!!) on his own free time.
His blogs on the same subject are: Watch Collection Hobby & My Horological Photos
