101st Auction
2019/11/16
Lot 144
International Watch Co., Schaffhausen "Ingenieur Automatic 500,000 A/m", Case No. 2447421, Ref. 9238, Cal. 37590, 34 mm, 136 g, circa 1990
A heavy, antimagnetic automatic wristwatch with date. In December 2016 the watch was given a general overhaul by IWC
Case: 18k gold, screw back, 18k gold IWC bracelet with deployant clasp, bracelet length 145 mm, total length 180 mm. Dial: gilt.
The Ingenieur 500,000 A/m stands for one of the most glorious failures in IWC's later history, and a failure she was in at least a commercial sense. During the early eighties, IWC had developed two exceptional amagnetic movements based on the ETA calibre 2892, the Porsche compass watch and a mine diver's watch for the German Bundeswehr. Now, IWC planned to commercialise the acquired technical know-how by developing an even more resistant calibre for a new leader model of their "Ingenieur" line. The goal was not to shield the movement against magnetic fields in a soft iron Faraday's cage as in the previous models, but to make the movement itself amagnetic. The expectations were even surpassed when the new calibre 35790 set a new world record surviving a field of 3.9 million A/m. These astonishing results were achieved by a set of technical innovations, including using rubies as rotor ball-bearings, a special amagnetic material for pallet fork and roller, as well as a new alloy (niobium-zirconium) for the balance spring. Only a small number of 137 pieces of this special timepiece were produced.
Source: www.moeb.ch, as of 07/16/2019.
A heavy, antimagnetic automatic wristwatch with date. In December 2016 the watch was given a general overhaul by IWC
Case: 18k gold, screw back, 18k gold IWC bracelet with deployant clasp, bracelet length 145 mm, total length 180 mm. Dial: gilt.
The Ingenieur 500,000 A/m stands for one of the most glorious failures in IWC's later history, and a failure she was in at least a commercial sense. During the early eighties, IWC had developed two exceptional amagnetic movements based on the ETA calibre 2892, the Porsche compass watch and a mine diver's watch for the German Bundeswehr. Now, IWC planned to commercialise the acquired technical know-how by developing an even more resistant calibre for a new leader model of their "Ingenieur" line. The goal was not to shield the movement against magnetic fields in a soft iron Faraday's cage as in the previous models, but to make the movement itself amagnetic. The expectations were even surpassed when the new calibre 35790 set a new world record surviving a field of 3.9 million A/m. These astonishing results were achieved by a set of technical innovations, including using rubies as rotor ball-bearings, a special amagnetic material for pallet fork and roller, as well as a new alloy (niobium-zirconium) for the balance spring. Only a small number of 137 pieces of this special timepiece were produced.
Source: www.moeb.ch, as of 07/16/2019.
estimated
8.000—11.000 €
Price realized
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