Old IWC Ingenieur ref.666 cal.8531 / 1970 Gay Frères Bracelet

— Wearing a contemporary dignity —

An early Ingenieur with an original Gay Frères bracelet made in 1970.

The early Ingenieurs generally found on the market have bullet indexes or simple baton indexes with a round rice-bead bracelet; this example has cut baton indexes and a squared rice-bead bracelet, which makes it a slightly more contemporary piece.

Wearing a Gay Frères rice-bead bracelet made in 1970. Hairline on the top surfaces crossing with beautiful mirror polish. IWC's own celebrated automatic movement, with the house's traditional bidirectional winding. An enduring masterpiece where historical romance and practical beauty meet, born of a challenge to a rival.

— Cut batons that catch the light, and a close-set design —

The cut baton indexes are hairlined on top, with the cut side faces mirror polished above and below so that they catch the light.

The dial is silver sunray, with the date display known as the "close-set" type as its feature.

The calendar disc sits inward, a design very much IWC's own.

— A distinctive mechanism: Cal.8531 and the Pellaton system —

The movement is the celebrated Cal.8531 with date.

It has a distinctive and complex construction — the bidirectional winding system known as the Pellaton — which winds efficiently from even a small movement of the wrist.

— An impregnable wall: the soft-iron inner case —

The greatest feature common to the early Ingenieurs is a double construction that protects the movement with a thick stainless case plus soft-iron covers below the dial and inside the caseback.

This gives it extraordinary antimagnetic performance: 80,000 A/m, or 1,000 gauss.

That is twice the antimagnetic performance of the standard Ingenieur IWC currently offers.

Newer, it seems, is not always better.

It can fairly be called the result of pursuing antimagnetic performance in order to surpass its rival, the Rolex Milgauss.