IWC Ingenieur Chronograph Sport Edition “76th Members Meeting at Goodwood”

On March 18, while much of the watch industry was packing or boarding planes for Baselworld, IWC Schaffhausen was hosting its own major launch event at the 76th Goodwood Members meeting in West Sussex, England, the traditional kickoff of the year’s historic motor racing season. In fact, the launch was twofold: the debut of the IWC Racing Team and also the limited-edition timepiece that it inspired: this week’s Watch to Watch, the IWC Ingenieur Chronograph Sport Edition “76th Members’ Meeting at Goodwood.”

The establishment of its IWC Racing Team, which will compete in classic car races such as the Salvador Cup in Goodwood in which it debuted, makes the Swiss brand the first watch company to race in such events with its own team and car. That car, a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL “Gullwing,” is an icon among vintage-car enthusiasts, manufactured by Daimler-Benz between 1954 and 1967 — the same era that gave birth to IWC’s original Ingenieur timepiece. The historical connection, along with IWC’s partnership with Mercedes-AMG, which inspired the recent revamp of the modern Ingenieur collection, made that watch model ideal for this limited edition commemorating the Racing Team’s historic debut at Goodwood. This new Ingenieuer, which is limited to 176 numbered pieces, has a 44-mm titanium case that offers exceptional protection against magnetic fields thanks to its soft iron inner cage. The lower part of this protective cage is visible through the caseback and designed to resemble a brake disk; a “76” in honor of this year’s 76th Goodwood Members’ meeting, is inscribed in its center.

Beating inside the antimagnetic cage is IWC’s manufacture Caliber 69380, which is equipped with a column-wheel chronograph mechanism, a 46-hour power reserve, and IWC’s innovative, bidirectional pawl winding system. The silver-plated dial, with black subdials at 12, 9, and 6 o’clock, an outer tachymeter scale, and blue chronograph hands, offers a high-contrast look that stands out from the Ingenieuer Chronograph Sport models. The blue of the hands is also used subtly in the stitching of the watch’s black calfskin leather strap. The IWC Ingenieur Chronograph Sport Edition “76th Members Meeting at Goodwood” is priced at $8,600.