IWC - Automatic for the people
I have great trouble explaining Baselworld to anyone who's not been. Seriously - is it possible to understand even remotely the galactic scale and Faustian ambition of Hall 1.0 without actually seeing it?
And what of the transient decadence of the pavilions (the word 'stands' is now etymologically insufficient for some brands, I gather)? How do you justify the cost of these things against the time they're actually of any use?
Or the people - oh, so many extraordinary people. Drawn from all corners of the globe as if answering the Siren's call, they are a perfect study in the peculiar diversity of the luxury world.
And how exactly does one insert into this inadequate explanation the preponderance of pushchairs? Yes, pushchairs - incongruous, incorrigible and infuriating, they trundle into the path of whirling wordies with inevitable frequency. Do they not know we have hopelessly ambitious appointment schedules to keep?
There is, I have concluded, little a dull-eyed Baselworld graduate can do to convey its majesty and its madness.
By contrast, what I can allude to with considerably more lucidity is the nature of the wristwatch that accompanied me on my annual Baselworld pilgrimage this year.
Rather like the fellow at school who always wore non-regulation shoes, I went off message and travelled with one of my picks from this year's SIHH strapped to my ulna - the IWC Ingenieur Automatic (black dial, for the record).
I've liked this watch ever since I first laid eyes on it, and judging by the reactions I got as it peeked out from under my cuff at the fair, I'm far from alone. The consensus among those prepared to offer a view - which, given this profession attracts the firm of mind, was most - was that it was the standout piece in IWC's line-up this year.
There was a caveat to the appraisals, mind. Its superiority, so went the rationale, owed as much to the aesthetic paucity of the other nine pieces in the revamped Ingenieur line, as to its own excellence.
Which will be an uncomfortable sentiment for IWC. While I don't agree with it entirely - I had the black-dialled version of the Double Chronograph Titanium on my wrist for a few days earlier this year and found little wrong with it - I'm happy to argue the case that IWC tried to do too much with the Ingenieur reboot. It felt overthought and overwrought.
No little irony then, that the one thing they didn't do was make all the new pieces antimagnetic - that quality has been attributed only to the Automatic. Which was perplexing. The Ingenieur is one of the great antimagnetic watches of the last 60 years, but without its original trick it feels like a Land Rover without four-wheel drive. It stops making sense.
On top of that, it's a missed opportunity. Anti-magnetism is big this year and I'll happily nail my colours to the mast and say technical developments made in this area will prove to be the most significant over the course of this decade - just as the use of silicon was in the last. IWC could and should have shared in the antimagnetic spoils this year - and probably will further down the line - given it's a brand that rightly prides itself on its engineering creds.
But enough of that. Because what I really wanted to say is how good the Automatic is. As well as being antimagnetic, its proportions are nigh on perfect (on my wrists, an extra millimeter on the 40 would have been handy - but I'm nitpicking); its bracelet is a lesson in ergonomics and very simple to adjust; and because it's a faithful restyling of the late, great Gerald Genta's 1976 IWC Ingenieur SL, its kudos is guaranteed.
I'd suspected as much beforehand, but Baselworld confirmed it - the IWC Ingenieur Automatic is one of this year's standout watches.
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