IWC Schaffhausen

In Honor of Swiss (Santa) Klaus Day, A Message from IWC's Kurt (Santa) Klaus

Date — 6 December, 2011

In a special interview for the Holiday Season, Kurt Klaus, IWC Ambassador, Master Watchmaker and the inventor of the Perpetual Calendar, takes time to talk about complicated watches.

And, in a rare nod to his relative in the North Pole, he also spreads holiday wishes and cheer.

IWC: “With the creation of the Grand Complication, IWC was catapulted in the ranks of true haute horlogery. Could you explain why this masterpiece marked such a special point?”

Mr. Klaus: “Everything in a watch beyond the noting of hours, minutes and seconds is a “complication”. To combine a chronograph, a minute repeater and a perpetual calendar in one watch, therefore, was a incredible achievement for the engineers and watchmakers from Schaffhausen. Only very few companies are even able to master the greatest and most demanding innovations in watchmaking. I am very proud that IWC is among them.”

IWC: “In the watch world it is well known that you invented the legendary IWC Perpetual Calendar, which took endless hours on the sketch board and on the actual prototypes before it came to life. How did you feel when you finished the first pieces, and what was the reaction when it was presented?”

Mr. Klaus: “At that moment, and in the following days- there was no great sensation. I didn`t imagine that my invention would have success in the future, in fact. The real moment of happiness came at a later stage, when Mr. Günther Blümlein, at that time CEO of IWC, invited us to dinner to celebrate 500 Da Vinci Perpetual Calendars, which were produced then as a special edition. Then I realized what we had achieved. And the rest, as they say, is history.”

IWC: What would you like to wish our fans on your special day, Klaus Day?

Mr. Klaus: “First: I wish you happiness, health and all the best for the holiday time and the next year and second: may many of your wishes and dreams of the wonderful IWC timepieces come true. Sometimes, you have to patiently wait – but when you finally get that one masterpiece you always wanted it`s a really magical moment. I wish you all that.”

Wishing you a great start to the Holiday Season,

IWC Schaffhausen

Everything in a watch beyond the noting of hours, minutes and seconds is a complication

—Mr. Kurt Klaus