New IWC Ingenieur

[SpecialK888]

Picked up my white dial Ingenieur last week and initial reaction is I love it. I did have a little buyers remorse for a short while as it is a lot of money for what it is, but having spent time with it I think it will be my daily for a long while to come so I can live with the concept of maybe having 'overpaid' a little at the outset.

In the flesh the watch is beautiful and you can tell they spent a long time on getting the look and feel right, and the bracelet and butterfly clasp look great. Also wears really well on my 6.75" wrist.

I wish it had an exhibition case back. Whilst I realise it is meant to be closed case back for its anti-magnetic qualities, the reality is you don't need a Faraday cage anymore to achieve that so I think an open case back would've been a plus, plus they already went away from tradition with the crown guards (which I think actually look pretty good). Also, I never liked in the pictures how the single digit dates had a zero before the number, 07 for example, but I actually quite like that little touch now.

The biggest gripe is that this is my first full bracelet watch without a micro adjust, and you really miss it in the current weather as the wrist swells during the hottest part of the day. I'm going to be going back to the AD to try more link options. The bracelet does come with a mixed combination of full and half links but I think they need to give you more links to try and find the perfect fit (it came with very few extra links compared to other bracelet watches I have owned). Currently I can only get it too loose or too tight. Given how long it took them to design the watch, why couldn't they just work on an adjustable end link like in the VC Overseas or the new Nautilus? I've seen they will provide an adjustable clasp (for additional cost I believe) but the one I have seen which I think is from the Pilots watch will just butcher the beauty of the bracelet. An adjustable end link is definitely the biggest miss of this watch in my opinion.

On packaging, I think IWC have gone too far down the environmentally friendly route, just a cardboard box containing a nice travel pouch. It's a nice execution with the hidden compartment for the link changing tools (which is really easy by the way) but for the asking price I would prefer a tree to be chopped down to make me a nice mahogany box.

I'm new to this forum so will now attempt to post some pictures.

[Batmannr1]

Congratulations, very nice incoming.
The watch is overpriced, but it is definitely a looker.

[alonsowwss]

Congrats on your watch, if you like it it’s all that matters.

[djona]

Looks great. Congratulations!

[shammad10]

Congrats, looks really nice and thanks for the review.
It's disappointing at the lack of micro adjust at the price point- but the watch certainly looks lovely.

[10XRolex]

Originally Posted by Batmannr1

Congratulations, very nice incoming.
The watch is overpriced, but it is definitely a looker.

Say what you want, but aren't they all overpriced.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[JPBlackBay]

Congrats on the new watch. It looks great. Did you see any other dial colors? Just curious how the others looked and if you preferred the white over the black?

[TTSubforMe]

I haven’t warmed up to it yet as I’ve only seen pictures. Will be looking at it when I have time to visit AD.

[SpecialK888]

Originally Posted by JPBlackBay

Congrats on the new watch. It looks great. Did you see any other dial colors? Just curious how the others looked and if you preferred the white over the black?

Thank you. I saw the black dial as well which also looked really nice, just personal preference. I always wanted the white dial as that was missing in my collection. Apparently the aqua / teal dial is taking a lot longer to produce as hand painted (although I don't know if that is true or how that differs from the other dials).

[nickorette]

Congrats! Have a black dial on order as well, can't wait!

[vandyologist]

Originally Posted by SpecialK888

The biggest gripe is that this is my first full bracelet watch without a micro adjust, and you really miss it in the current weather as the wrist swells during the hottest part of the day. I'm going to be going back to the AD to try more link options. The bracelet does come with a mixed combination of full and half links but I think they need to give you more links to try and find the perfect fit (it came with very few extra links compared to other bracelet watches I have owned). Currently I can only get it too loose or too tight.

I have the same issue! I've ordered another "small link" to replace one of the "large links" and hope that it will make it fit like I want it to. I will get the adjustable clasp once it's available. I'm loving the white dial and think that the overall execution is great. It doesn't feel at all overpriced to me.

[Batmannr1]

Originally Posted by 10XRolex

Say what you want, but aren't they all overpriced.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

Don’t get me started…
The price is not preventing me to put my name on the list for the IWC Ingenieur Aqua and stalk the boutique for a speedy delivery.

[SpecialK888]

Originally Posted by vandyologist

I have the same issue! I've ordered another "small link" to replace one of the "large links" and hope that it will make it fit like I want it to. I will get the adjustable clasp once it's available. I'm loving the white dial and think that the overall execution is great. It doesn't feel at all overpriced to me.

Looks great on you. I've seen the adjustable clasp on a Watch Advisor video but not a big fan. Fortunately the really hot weather doesn't last too long here and the fit is almost perfect otherwise. Just seems such an oversight to not have an extending end link either side of the clasp. Even if it didn't look great it wouldn't be a huge issue as only ever used in extremis. Fingers crossed they'll work it out in due course as it's the only thing preventing a great watch being a perfect watch in my opinion.

[brandrea]

Very nice, congratulations

[John Doyle]

Congrats! Lovely watch at 40% of the current retail price (excluding taxes too). Will wait for the multiple pop ups on the secondary market to potentially grab one.

[dr.ns23]

Congratulations again and thanks for sharing the pictures! I love it and I hope you wear it in great health.
I paid a deposit for the black dial and am still waiting to receive it - it seems it will take some time though!
I respect everyone's opinion, but personally I don't think it is overpriced.
Enjoy it!

[samson66]

Great looking watch. It's always tough getting a perfect fit on butterfly clasp bracelets but they are hard to beat in terms of looks and lack of bulk at the clasp. You'll probably have to fool with a few different link combinations but eventually you'll get a good fit. Looks like it fits your wrist really well. Congrats!

[SpecialK888]

Originally Posted by samson66

Great looking watch. It's always tough getting a perfect fit on butterfly clasp bracelets but they are hard to beat in terms of looks and lack of bulk at the clasp. You'll probably have to fool with a few different link combinations but eventually you'll get a good fit. Looks like it fits your wrist really well. Congrats!

Thank you for your kind words. Yes, will be popping into the AD, but having had a good look at the bracelet there are different size links (small and medium) so now feeling confident I will get the right fit after a bit of trial and error. It would be a lot easier if they gave you a few more links to work with as standard though.

[Grayblack]

Congrats on the beautiful piece! How long ago did you place your deposit?

[DGP]

Congratulations.
I picked mine up in the middle of May but my wrist was too large for the bracelet. It took about a month for Geneva to send two extra links required ! I find it incredible and having spent so much money developing and launching the watch that IWC did not issue each boutique with extra links before beginning to dispatching the watches.
But now I can finally wear it, I absolutely love the watch and I’ve been wearing it for the last couple weeks. As for price/value everyone has to make up their own mind, but I think pitched midway between a Rolex sub Mariner and Blancplain 50 fathoms seems fair to me.

[stormshadow]

Very nice piece and it fits your wrist well; enjoy! On the fence in requesting one at the moment. The white faced one you have is 2nd on my list if I can't get a Ti one.