IWC Marks 50 Years Of The Ingenieur SL With Two Anniversary Editions And An Interview With Gérald Genta's Family

Gérald Genta designed the Royal Oak for Audemars Piguet and the Nautilus for Patek Philippe. He never called himself a watchmaker. Rather, he preferred being called an artist. In 1976, he designed the Ingenieur SL, Reference 1832, for IWC Schaffhausen, a watch that sold poorly at launch. Between 1976 and 1983, IWC made only 598 of them. Steel sports watches with integrated bracelets were still an unproven category at the time. Today the SL ranks among the most sought-after references in IWC's history. Fifty years on, IWC has released two anniversary editions of the Ingenieur, alongside an interview with Genta's wife and daughter.

The Watches

IWC relaunched the Ingenieur in 2023, carrying over the SL's five-screw bezel, structured grid dial, and integrated bracelet into a contemporary case. The two anniversary pieces, the Ingenieur Automatic 40 50th Anniversary (Ref. IW328910) and the Ingenieur Automatic 35 50th Anniversary (Ref. IW324909), are each limited to 1,150 pieces. Their brushed silver-plated dials are copied from a rare 1970s variant of the SL; most original pieces carried a structured finish instead. The lightning bolt usually printed beneath the Ingenieur name is replaced with the number 50 on both watches.

The 40mm runs on IWC's 32111 calibre, built with a double pawl winding system and 120 hours of power reserve, with a soft-iron inner case, the same magnetic protection the original SL used. The 35mm houses the Calibre 47110, visible through a sapphire case back, finished with circular graining, Geneva stripes, and a gold-plated oscillating weight.

The Interview

IWC released a film titled The Design of Gérald Genta, an interview with Evelyne Genta, Gérald's wife and longtime business partner, and their daughter Alexia, who run the Gérald Genta Heritage Association. Both reviewed prototypes of the Ingenieur before its 2023 relaunch, and returned to IWC's booth at Watches and Wonders Geneva in 2026 for the unveiling of the first Ingenieur tourbillon.

In the interview, Evelyne and Alexia describe a man who obsessed over proportion in every part of his life, down to how he arranged food on a breakfast plate. To Genta, the Ingenieur was one continuous sculptural line running from case to bracelet to clasp, designed at a time when stainless steel was still considered a compromise material in luxury watchmaking.

"The Ingenieur began life as a technical watch, but it was transformed through the creative eye of an artist," Evelyne says in the film. "Gérald would be incredibly happy to see how IWC has respected and preserved the DNA of his original design. It confirms that Gérald's artistic vision, fifty years ago, was absolutely right."

"Fifty years have passed since my father created the Ingenieur SL, and it amazes me how his work continues to inspire so many people decades later," Alexia says.