Brand Spotlight IWC Schaffhausen – A Story of American Innovation and Swiss Craftsmanship

Owning an IWC Schaffhausen watch is something that every luxury watch enthusiast should experience at least once in their lifetime. The manufacturer’s timepieces represent technical excellence, stellar craftsmanship and, above all, pure, unadulterated beauty. And if it happens to be this kind of horological absolute you are looking for in a watch, but you lack the time to research the brand thoroughly, you needn’t worry. Here at Jura Watches, we’ve compiled a quick and straightforward guide detailing all the bestselling lines for which this prestigious manufacturer has become globally renowned. Today, we’re shining the light on IWC Schaffhausen - monarch of the traditional pilot’s watch and master of the Portugieser, the Portofino, Ingenieur, Aquatimer and much more.  

The Pilots Watch  

If you’ve taken up any small amount of interest in pilot watches, IWC is bound to have popped up on your radar at some point. Over the years, the brand has dedicated much time to growing, refining and evolving its diverse Pilot’s Watch range. As such, many of its designs push the needle and go hard on colours. The series can be categorised into smaller sub-collections like the Spitfire, the TOP GUN, the Le Petite Prince, the Antoine de Saint Exupery, and the Big Pilot's Watch. However, the most popular are its Big Pilot’s Watch designs, favoured for their large cases and ability to create huge wrist presence.

IWC Schaffhausen offers various designs, from ceramic models to perpetual calendars and even tourbillons. Some of the brand’s earliest pilot watches were those like the Mark 11, which the Schaffhausen-based brand continues to pay homage to in its modern pilot tools today. The watch supported the Royal Air Force during the 1940s, featuring the distinctive oversized Arabic numeral hour markers and the triangular reference point at 12 o’clock. 

Alternatively, the Spitfire watch is inspired by the British fighter plane created by Supermarine, while the TOP GUN designs take inspiration from the Navy Fighter Weapons School. Most attractive about these pilot watches is their legible, simple, no-frills dials. Each model is fortified by a blend of hard-wearing, long-lasting materials and a range of in-house developed movements for uncompromised performance.

The Ingenieur 

IWC’s skills are not limited to pilot watch designs alone. The manufacturer also offers an incredible range of sports watches designed by Gerald Genta. The Ingenieur is known for its remarkable magnetic resistance and has been equipping the wrists of steel sports watch lovers since 1955. Thanks to an inner soft iron cage, which IWC also uses in other designs, the movement equipped to the heart of the Ingenieur is protected from damage caused by magnetic fields. The Ingenieur has a distinctive, almost barrel-shaped case, an integrated bracelet, a round bezel and five drilled holes. Powered by in-house movements, this collection comprises perpetual calendars, flyback chronographs and tourbillons for those wanting to level up with something more technically refined.  

The Portugieser 

The IWC Portugieser watch collection is the place to explore if you want an elegant chronograph model. That said, there’s also a vast range of three-handed models to choose from, too. Taking its name from two Portuguese businessmen who commissioned IWC to make a wrist-worn timepiece with the accuracy of a marine chronometer, the chronograph models of the line are some of the brand’s bestselling designs, characterised by legible Arabic numerals, elegant leaf-shaped hands and a small seconds sub-dial at 6 o’clock. The Portugieser chronograph also comes in a Rattrapante version as well, with a split-second mechanism that can time intervals thanks to a push-piece at 10 o’clock on the case. IWC Portugieser watches showcase decades of expertise and meticulous engineering. Designed by Kurt Klaus, they also offer day, date and moonphase functions, while the perpetual calendar complication promises accuracy for the next 480 years.

The Portofino 

Perhaps the most elegant of all IWC watches are those from the Portofino collection, named after the picturesque Italian fishing village. The models from this range are classic, elegant and stylish dress watches, excelling in formal environments with their slim profiles and timeless dials. Portofino watches are best described as minimalist and delicate, yet the materials IWC experts choose for these watches are far from flimsy. These models are designed to pair beautifully with formal or professional attire and are characterised by narrow, leaf hands, long indices and traditional Roman numeral hour markers. Price range: the Portofino watch collection caters to all budgets, from entry-level designs to finer complications like tourbillons and perpetual calendars. Portofino watches from IWC capture the essence of the classic dress watch with a noble and freshness that appeals to purists far and wide. For more indulgent designs, the Portofino watch is offered in gold versions, while the Complete Calendar models boast an attractive bi-compax layout, with sub-dials unusually placed in the northern and southern hemispheres of the dial. These models also combine calendrical features with an attractive moon phase display that tastefully tracks the moon's positioning as seen in the night sky each evening.

The Aquatimer 

The Aquatimer is the brand’s dive watch offering. Perfectly engineered to resist aquatic conditions, these models boast robust stainless steel cases integrated with ample water resistance. Some of the top models in this range are capable of withstanding 2000-meter depths underwater, each one faithfully carrying the distinctive hallmarks of the range. The Aquatimer is far from a pie-in-the-sky design. Its affordability is among some of its best features. The models are characterised by their internal rotating dive bezels for tracking elapsed time underwater, while the dials are classic, clean and ultra-legible. For those without intentions to dive with this watch, the Aquatimer is equally as appealing as a sporty daily beater. IWC offers a range of models in stainless steel bracelets or supple rubber straps, with a core design inspired by the Porsche Design Ocean 2000 from 1982.

Ready to experience IWC Schaffhausen on the wrist? Call and speak to our sales team at Jura Watches on 01335 453453 for more information on our stock today. And if you’re looking for a specific reference, why not ask our team to source it directly from IWC for you? Email us today at help@jurawatches.co.uk.