IWC Schaffhausen
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IWC Schaffhausen
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Design Highlights
The patented IWC bracelet quick-change system for the Aquatimer collection makes changing from a steel bracelet to a rubber strap or vice versa quick and simple. The bracelet is pushed into the locking bar from the top and engages audibly. It is released by pressing the lever on the underside of the strap outwards with the thumb and pushing the bracelet up.
Design Highlights
The sealing system offers effective protection against water, dust and other external influences. With water-resistance to 3 bar, the watch can be worn when swimming, and at 6 bar it will have no problem with snorkelling. Diver’s watches with a water-resistance of 12 to 20 bar are professional measuring instruments designed for scuba-diving. Special diver’s watches that are water-resistant to 100 or 200 bar are suitable even for deep-sea diving.
Design Highlights
In order to resurface safely, divers must always know exactly how long their dive has taken. The Aquatimer diver’s watches feature green and blue Super-LumiNova® luminescent coatings to ensure that the wearer is able to easily read the time underwater – and to greatly facilitate quick orientation on the dial in adverse visibility conditions. *IWC Schaffhausen is not the owner of the Super-LumiNova® trademark.
History
As diving as a sport grows during the 1960s, IWC reacts to this development with the launch of its first diver's watch, the “Aquatimer”. Its case is watertight down to a depth of 200 metres, and the rotatable bezel for adjusting the diving time is situated under the glass to prevent it being moved accidentally during the dive.
In March of 1968, the successor model, Reference 816AD/1816 was launched. Its distinctive feature were the colourful dials: a red or a blue shadow, as well as a traditional black one. It was also water resistant to 30 atmospheres.
The cooperation between Porsche and IWC lasted from 1978 until 1998 and resulted in a revolutionary new material for watchmaking: titanium. In 1982 the Porsche Design Ocean 2000 with its epoch-making design was launched. This diver’s watch could withstand high pressures down to a record depth of 2000m due to its construction and the use of titanium alloy.
The Reference 3519 is a non-magnetic watch designed for mine clearance divers. This watch needed to have a minimal magnetic field to prevent it from detonating the mines that the divers were defusing. It was therefore equipped with a special movement made from a non-magnetic material: the IWC 3755AM calibre, also known as the IWC 3755 Amag calibre.
The GST Aquatimer, Reference 3536, was a classic diving watch. With a large diameter of 42 mm, it was available in steel or titanium, with either a bracelet or a Velcro strap. It also was water resistant to a great depth of 2000 meters. In addition, it was notable for its clean, no-nonsense design and particularly, its bezel.
A very special diving watch was introduced in 1999: the Reference 3527, called the “Deep One”. It was the product of an especially clever watchmaking and engineering design. Powered by the IWC Calibre 8914, the watch included a unique complication. The Deep One had a mechanical depth gauge that showed the diver how deep he had descended.
In 2004 IWC produced a world’s first movement: the Aquatimer Minute Memory, Reference IW3723. This model has a minute rattrapante chronograph which allows elapsed time to be told in three ways: by way of the internal bezel, with the chronograph or via the patented minute fly-back hand. This is useful in determining intermediary elapsed time while diving.
In 2009 the new Aquatimer family featured increased case dimensions of 46 mm, and featured the rotating diving bezel, now located externally. A 4-mm wide sapphire crystal ring lies above a thick layer of Super-LumiNova®* luminous pigment applied in six coats, so the luminescence and legibility are optimal under all conditions of visibility. *IWC Schaffhausen is not the owner of the Super-LumiNova® trademark.
In 2014, IWC re-launched the Aquatimer. A star of the new collection was the Aquatimer Chronograph Edition “Expedition Charles Darwin”. The first watch in IWC’s history with a bronze case also featured the newly developed SafeDive system which prevents inadvertent changes of the dive time.
The Aquatimer Deep Three’s mechanical depth gauge displayed the wearer’s current depth and the maximum depth on a given dive at the same time. With this timepiece, IWC continued the tradition of mechanical depth gauge watches that was started with the GST Deep One in 1999.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of its diver’s watches, in 2017 IWC introduced the Aquatimer Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month Edition “50 Years Aquatimer” – the first wristwatch with a case made from Ceratanium®. This newly developed material combines the lightness of titanium with the hardness of ceramics.
IWC Schaffhausen
