A few years ago there was a contest on the Timezone
IWC Discussion Forum - the participants were the new President of IWC and
had to design the flagship watch of IWC for the new century. My entry won first
prize, may I repeat that, first prize
Been There
February 1999
Yuck,
before I start on that new watch I'm gonna have to teach my new secretary to
brew a decent cup of coffee ... and .. tell her to get rid of those ugly paintings
Sarp left in my office. Man, that Blumlein is sure one tough cookie, a new IWC
flagship in less than three months, he wants the prototypes ready for Basel and
he wants something good, no, "something that will make my jaw drop, Mr.
Zbinden ...", jeez. Didn't go too well, that first meeting. "Mr.
Zbinden, get rid of that ugly watch, you are an IWC man now", How dare he
offend my baby, I'll show 'im ...
I got
the job by throwing around a lot of ideas, Da Vinci movement in a steel Grande
Complication case, big Mark XV (they were mightily impressed when I explained
why "XIV" was out), public factory tours instead of big ad campaigns,
rigorous control of the gray market (we had NO idea ... yeah, pfffft) and so on
... But never was a word mentioned about "the watch that will boldly take
the step into the next millenum", urrgh, marketing lingo sends shivers down
my spine.
OK,
the line needs another chrono like I need more of this disgusting coffee, dress
watch ? "Nothing that would conflict the interests of our sister companies,
Mr. Zbinden", ANOTHER pilot's watch ... I'm sure that would bring on big
cheers ...
But
wait a minute ! What's this frightened little sweetie in the back of the catalog
? Ingenieur ? They still make these ??? Hmmm, fabulously clean design, love the
bracelet ... but what's this loupe over the date ? Why is it so small ... hmmm,
hmmm, hmmm ...
"So
Mr. Zbinden, we all await your presentation with somewhat baited breath".
Ah, he must have noticed my flashy new suit, thought that would get to him, just
you wait, Buster ...
"Gentlemen,
Miss Kuenzi" (Miss Kuenzi is the schnuselig marketing assistant and today
wearing a particularly ravishing something, concentrate Hans !). "IWC once
had a most wonderful pearl in its treasure box, but you ..." I throw my
most lethal
stare in all directions ... "you let this pearl tarnish. I have spent the
last two weeks polishing this pearl and I assure you, you will be blinded by its
shine. In 1998, my predecessor came up with the GST, you will agree, not the
most exciting concept.
But now it's time to brace yourselves, ladies and gentlemen, because 1999 is the
year of BBB ... Big, Black and BAAAAAAAD !!!" Right on cue, Gina, my
assistant brings down the lights and hits the button of the overhead projector.
Aaahs, ooohs
and wunderbars fill the room and Mr. Blumlein's lips are twitching, good sign
...
"Let
me go through the features, you'll find all relevant information in the folder
Miss Lollobridgida has prepared for you. The case will be a bold 43 mm in
diameter made out of a titanium-tantalum alloy, depending on the light, this new
material will give the case a very dark, almost black color. Naturally, the dial
will be black too, I have spoken to our suppliers and they assure me that my
revolutionary idea can be realized. It will be made out of matt carbon fiber. As
you see, the raised hour indices and the IWC logo are molded directly into the
dial and filled with white tritium. This will create an incredible 3-dimensional
effect and make the
watch a cinch to read in any light, won't be cheap though, hi hi." The
chief accountant raises a brow.
I go
on and tell them about the thick, domed sapphire crystal, the heavier linked
bracelet, the newly designed spring clasp and the big, knurled crown made out of
pure tantalum. I'm aching for a cigarette but I've still got one big arrow left
in my
quiver ...
"So",
the chief watchmaker whose name I can never remember asks, "am I correct in
assuming that it will be fitted with our new 5399 auto caliber ?".
"Technically yes", I answer "but it will be a zbindenized
version, Gina ..."
It
takes them a full 5 minutes to calm down, understandably, because the image on
the projector screen would take out a raging buffalo with one shot. "Black
is the key word here, my friends, black. Black plates, black bridges, black
balance, black gears, black everything ... of course we'll play around with the
idea, perhaps the screws will be red or even the rotor, but basically, the
entire movement will be made out of black-anodized parts. I hate to say this,
but if we do it right, this 5399 will be pushing off the Lange movements from
the magazine covers this year". Mr. Blumlein looks worried.
"It
scares me" Miss Kuenzi pipes "how are we going to market such an
intimidating watch ? Do we call it the Ingenieur 2000, Ingenero (wow, a blond
with brains, nero is Italian for black) or just simply the New Ingenieur
???" "No, my dear" I say trying not to leer too much "all my
favorite IWCs have no-nonsense German names like Der Flieger- or Der
Doppelchronograph, this watch will follow the tradition and will be called ... Die
Bestie !" Miss Kuenzi pales.
Postscript I
IWC and its sister companies Jaeger LeCoultre and Lange & Sohne were sold to the Richemont Group in late 2000 for the sum of 2.3 billion Swiss francs. Gunter Blumlein now heads the group's entire watch division that includes brands like Vacheron Constantin, Piaget and Officine Panerai. Michael Sarp is still head of IWC and the company is experiencing an overwhelming success under his leadership. In the meantime, I've had the pleasure to meet with both gentlemen and convinced that they're are both doing very well without any interfering on my part. The Ingenieur in fact has been discontinued but strong rumors suggest that a larger (if most certainly not all black) version will be introduced in the near future. The "Da Vinci" movement is now available in a more modern case and IWC are actively inviting to tour the factory on their website. Also, the Italian jeweler "De Grisogono" has now presented a watch where the movement consists out of black anodized parts, I wonder where they got the idea from ...
Hans, April 2001
Postscript II
Shortly after taking over as head of Richemont's watch division, Gunter Blumleim fell ill to cancer and died in September 2001. A tribute to his work can be found here. Only a few weeks after Mr. Blumlein's death, Michael Sarp was dismissed at IWC and replaced by a Richemont manager with a background in distribution for TAG-Heuer. Rumors speculate that this could be the end of IWC as small and fine watchmaking company and that the future could see them in the business of mass-production.
Hans, October 2001
