IWC watchmaker assembles Gérald Genta-inspired Ingenieur Automatic 35 IW324903 in 18ct 5N gold.

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Key Highlights

• IWC watchmaker Thomas Zimmermann assembles the Ingenieur Automatic 35 Ref. IW324903 by hand, step by meticulous step.
• The watch is powered by automatic caliber 47110, offering a 42-hour power reserve.
• The dial is a gold-coloured “Grid” design fitted with solid gold hands filled with Super-LumiNova®.
• Five functional bezel screws define the case architecture, directly referencing the design language of Gérald Genta.
• The case, case back, and bracelet are all crafted in 18ct 5N gold, with polished and satin-finished surfaces throughout.

A Manufacture at Work: IWC Schaffhausen and the Art of Assembly

IWC Schaffhausen has long positioned itself among the most technically rigorous Swiss watch manufactures, combining engineering precision with considered aesthetics. Founded on the banks of the Rhine in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, the brand has cultivated a tradition of in-house watchmaking that extends from movement architecture to the finishing of every individual component. The assembly of the Ingenieur Automatic 35 Ref. IW324903 offers a rare, uninterrupted look at how that tradition translates into a finished timepiece. Every stage — from lubricating the movement’s bearings to securing the bracelet’s final link — reflects a process driven by accumulated craft knowledge rather than automation alone.

Thomas Zimmermann, the IWC watchmaker at the centre of this assembly, works through each phase with visible confidence and care. He begins at the movement level, attending to the bearings before fitting the balance wheel and rotor to the caliber. These are among the most delicate operations in any assembly sequence; the balance wheel, as the regulating organ, must seat perfectly to ensure the movement’s timekeeping integrity. The rotor, responsible for winding the mainspring through wrist motion, must swing freely without impediment. It is a sequence that rewards patience and precision above speed.

The watch is then turned over to receive its dial and hands — both in solid gold — before the bezel screws are tightened and the case construction completed. This layered progression, from inside out, mirrors the logic of the timepiece itself: a mechanical core wrapped in a considered exterior, with each element dependent on the one preceding it.

The Gérald Genta Legacy in the Ingenieur Automatic 35

The design lineage of the Ingenieur Automatic 35 traces directly to Gérald Genta, the Swiss designer whose influence on integrated-bracelet sports watches during the 1970s reshaped the wider industry. Genta’s signature approach — integrating functional elements of a watch’s engineering into its visible aesthetic — is most clearly expressed in the Ingenieur through its five bezel screws. These are not decorative flourishes; they are structural fasteners that IWC has retained as an explicit homage to Genta’s original intent, where form and function were indistinguishable.

In Ref. IW324903, this heritage is rendered in 18ct 5N gold, a warm-toned rose gold alloy that brings a different register of luxury to a silhouette originally conceived for robustness. The gold-coloured “Grid” dial reinforces the architectural character of the case, its geometric patterning echoing the structural logic of the bezel above it. Solid gold hands, filled with Super-LumiNova®, ensure legibility is not compromised by the choice of precious materials — a balance that remains central to the Ingenieur’s identity across all variants.

The five functional bezel screws, tightened by Zimmermann as one of the assembly’s final visible acts, are the moment at which the Genta reference becomes most tangible. Their tightening is both a mechanical necessity and a gesture that closes the visual composition of the watch face, anchoring the bezel to the case in a manner that is immediately recognisable to anyone familiar with the Ingenieur’s history.

Caliber 47110 and the Finishing of Ref. IW324903

Beneath the gold dial sits automatic caliber 47110, which provides a 42-hour power reserve. Once the movement is cased and the dial fitted, Zimmermann inserts the crown — a small but critical component that must seal correctly to protect the caliber — before securing the sapphire case back. A sapphire case back is a considered choice, offering both a technical window onto the movement’s operation and a form of transparency that reinforces confidence in the manufacture’s finishing standards. For collectors who value the visible evidence of craft, it is a significant detail.

The final stage of the assembly is the bracelet, built link by link from the same 18ct 5N gold as the case. The combination of polished and satin-finished surfaces across the bracelet gives the piece its tonal depth on the wrist — alternating light reflection and diffusion in a manner that is characteristic of high-end integrated bracelet construction. Each link is placed individually, a process that underlines the cumulative nature of the entire assembly: no single component defines the finished object; it is the sequence, correctly executed, that does.

Why It Matters

For GCC watch collectors — a community with a well-established appreciation for both precious metal timepieces and horological heritage — the Ingenieur Automatic 35 Ref. IW324903 represents the meeting of two durable values: the credibility of a Genta-lineage design and the material authority of solid 18ct 5N gold construction. The transparency offered by this assembly film, published directly by IWC Schaffhausen, speaks to an audience that expects manufacture-level accountability from the watches it acquires at this level of the market. Seeing the caliber, the dial, and the bracelet come together under a single watchmaker’s hands is a form of provenance that no specification sheet fully replaces.

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