Explore IWC

IWC’s design vocabulary is easy to read: clear numerals, purposeful hands, and cases that give the dial room to breathe. Its aviation watches make the point most directly. The Mark XI, introduced in 1948 for military aircrews, paired a spare black dial with protection against magnetic fields. The Big Pilot’s Watch takes a different approach, with an oversized crown rooted in the practical demands of flying gloves.

Behind those instruments is a Swiss manufacture with an American beginning. Florentine Ariosto Jones founded IWC in Schaffhausen in 1868, seeking to combine American production methods with Swiss watchmaking skills. The Portugieser tells another part of that story: its origins lie in large, pocket-watch-movement-powered wristwatches made for Portuguese customers in the late 1930s. Arabic numerals and railway minute tracks remain defining features.

The Ingenieur brings a more architectural character, especially in the integrated-bracelet design Gérald Genta developed for the 1976 Ingenieur SL. For diving, the Aquatimer trades cockpit restraint for prominent timing scales and underwater legibility.