Every year at SIHH, IWC is known to renew one family of watches from its massive collection. This year, at SIHH 2016, it is the turn of Aquatimer IWC watch collection. Last year, IWC reinvented their Portugieser collection. The last time Aquatimer watches got a makeover was way back in 2012. So it was about time for IWC to modernise the lineup of their Aquatimer family! For SIHH 2016, the International Watch Company has given us a sneak peek of three new watches that will be added to the Aquatimer set. For the new Aquatimer watches, the basic design and the architecture remains the same. But IWC has added some new styles and colours to the already popular line.
WHAT’S NEW?
- Three new cool and sporty dive watches from IWC. Aquatimer Automatic 2000, Automatic & Chronograph
- 2016 IWC Aquatimer will be launched in Blue dial + silver hour markers & in Black dial + yellow hour markers
- IWC Blue dial “La Cumbre Volcano” available in a limited edition of only 500.
- The IWC Ref. IW358001 is the reissue of the original Aquatimer Automatic 2000.
- Aquatimer Automatic 2000 is a professional diver’s watch.
IWC Aquatimer Automatic 2000 (Ref. IW358001)
The new 2016 IWC Aquatimer Automatic 2000 draws inspiration from the original Aquatimer designed by Ferdinand A. Porsche (from Porsche cars), himself . The design of the bezel and the hour indexes of the 2016 IWC Aquatimer watch are similar to the original edition. But, the watch now features a new eye-catching color combination of bright yellow hands and numerals.
‘2000’ in the name of the watch denotes the meters of depth to which this watch is operational. This is a serious piece of equipment made for today’s amateur as well as professional divers! The large 46mm wide titanium case offers easy readability. A clean black dial and contrasting yellow appliqués makes the readability an easy task especially when under water. Under the hood, the IWC’s caliber 80110 can be found beating at 4 Hz. The self-winding movement has approximately 44 hours of power reserve. The sporty dive watch look of Aquatimer Automatic 2000 is completed with a black rubber strap having a titanium pin buckle.
Diver’s IWC Aquatimer Automatic Watch “Expedition Jacques-Yves Cousteau” (Ref. IW329005)
Similar to Galapagos Islands, IWC have also had a special association with Cousteau. IWC have previously launched few special edition watches as a tribute to the French naval officer, scuba diving pioneer and an oceanographer. Being a partner with the Cousteau family, IWC supports and contributes to the restoration of Cousteau’s renowned research vessel Calypso. The watch comes in a 42 mm stainless steel case which is water resistant up to 300m. The rear of the case is engraved with Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s face wearing his trademark beanie.
The matt grained finished dial or grey IWC watch dial has a lovely deep blue colour with white indexes and hands. The hands, hour markers and the internally rotating bezel have all being heavily treated with luminous material. Caliber 30120 inside the case is a self-winding mechanical movement. It is a modified version of the ETA-2892 movement with 42 hours of power reserve. The black rubber strap with stainless steel buckle completes the cool sporty look.
Aquatimer IWC Chronograph Edition “La Cumbre Volcano” (Ref. IW379505)
This dive watch is named after a shield volcano on Fernandina Island in the Galapagos Islands. That explains the matte rubber coated stainless steel case with red accents on the dial. The new Aquatimer IWC Chronograph Edition “La Cumbre Volcano” watch, comes in a limited edition of only 500 pieces.
The red and black big dial IWC watch features the IWC’s in-house caliber 89365 with flyback chronograph function. The 44mm wide case is operational even 300m under water. The self-winding mechanical movement comes with a power reserve of 68 hours. The IWC men’s 2016 watch features a special IWC designed internal rotating bezel, which can be used to set and measure the dive time.
*Words by Yogen Bobde
