Fresh from the showcase here at SwissWatchExpo.
We're going to discuss a little bit, just a little bit about Bauhaus design.
Bauhaus design is something that just sort of infers that there's a design simplicity
that comes out of the country of Germany.
A lot of people don't realize that there are watch companies in Germany, and we have them
here at SwissWatchExpo.
One of the company's name is Glashutte.
Now you've probably heard A Lange & Sohne and a few others in the marketplace, but these
are some of the most important because there's some of the most intricate and there's some
of the oldest, with old designs and modern designs mixed, but there's another company
that's somewhat some thing that resembles German, even though it's just across the Rhine
river in Switzerland in Schaffhausen, which is IWC.
And so I'm going to talk about the Bauhaus design because from, from IWC to Glashutte,
you get some similar influences that German simplicity and point of fact, IWC was begun
by an American.
And then subsequently of course, was purchased by the Swiss, but with direct German influence.
So let's start with this extraordinarily interesting design from IWC.
This is what looks like the Caraccio - that's the name.
He was a German race car driver for Mercedes in the 1930s.
And this is the IWC Ingenieur.
So the Ingenieur is a watch that was developed for the idea of being resistant to magnetism
and having a lot of shock and vibration resistance because it was supposed to be used by engineers.
And the idea was is that if you have a laboratory setting where you've got a watch, this was
pre-quartz, in digital days, you needed a watch that would rate, retain its accuracy,
no matter what kind of magnetism you were around, or what kind of science experiments
you may have been doing.
Also, it was beneficial when it had a chronograph for a lot of different things for tests and
that sort of thing, but it was also adopted and adapted for automotive racing too, because
of its durability.
Now Mercedes and IWC are very intricate partners, and that is why that I'm holding in my hand,
the IWC is the German Caraccio or the Caraccio edition.
And when you turn this, watch over, it's got the visual case back, which a lot of the Ingenieurs
prior to now did not have a case back where you could see the internal movements they
were sealed in the back.
All of these watches of course, are water resistant and extraordinarily durable for
everyday use, which is very nice.
Now this particular watch is not horribly thick, but it is a lot thicker than your average
watch and your average chronograph - the case, the robustness lends itself to that.
So again, you get that very simplistic German Bauhaus design for in a design that was, uh,
for this particular piece, a throwback to a German race car driver.
So it all sort of ties together.
Now this particular watch is interesting because it has a little bit of the satin finish.
It's a very straight line edge, almost like a coin edge on the side of this Ingenieur.
So this was introduced in 2016 when the complete design of the Ingenieur changed.
The previous design of the Ingenieur was a watch that looked a whole lot like Gerald
Genta's design because it was.
And that was from the 1980s to around the mid 2000s.
Prior to that this particular Ingenieur design was the one that was the most popular.
So they, this is a throwback to the original design of the Ingenieur, the round shape,
if you will.
So this one has a very unique bezel design.
Uh, the pushers are very unique, they're rectangular, and they have a very nice, smooth engagement.
There's a lot to like about this watch, but not the least of which is the strap.
It has a diamond tucked perforated style strap, not wholly unlike a lot of the seats and some
very high end Mercedes.
So this diamond tuck design is something that you don't see very often in cars let alone
on straps of watches.
So this is all tying together in that sort of German, aficionado style.
And this one has a really cool, uh, gray sort of slate, gray dial.
It's a beautiful watch.
It comes, it becomes silver, it becomes dark gray.
It sort of looks smoky gray at times.
It's just a beautiful watch.
And for the price that you pay, the value is huge, especially as compared to the price
new.
So if you want a really cool watch that doesn't break the bank, this IWC is definitely it.
And there's a lot more Ingenieurs like this.
So let's talk about the Glashutte for just a moment.
The Glashutte this open work I've talked about in previous videos, but I keep going back
to this because of the bridge work in it and it in the open design of the movement.
Now, the interesting thing about a lot of the German designs is that in the open work
for this one, they tend to use a very small dial somewhere situated in within a dial.
So it's a dial within a dial and this one's not any different.
The date is in a very strange place.
It's up near the one position.
Sometimes you find them over near the nine or the 10, sometimes, most watches in, in
most other manufacturers wind up being at the three position or the six o'clock position,
or even between four and five.
Well, with the German styles that date can literally be anywhere on this dial.
There can be all kinds of different indicators that are used in various in-congruent places,
but yet when you look at the dial, it's very symmetrical it, even though it may be out
of place, there is symmetry to it.
There's art, there's design, but it's very, very simple.
Again, it's that Bauhaus style.
This watch is very indicative of that.
At some point, you look at it and go, wow, there's a lot of intricate detail, but at
the same time, it looks very simple in it's design.
Now the very back of this watch is similar as well.
So the watch has a very simplistic movement from the back.
It has.
It's an automatic, it's a very thin rotor on the backside.
And you'll notice a lot of watches.
The rotors are very thick and heavy and they don't seem to fit very well within the glass
that you're looking at.
They'd seem to be clunky.
This one fits as if it was designed within the sapphire crystal and it's extraordinarily
thin.
It's a really great look.
So then we're going to move on to this other Glashutte.
Now this is a Panograph.
So this watch has a few hands that do a retrograde style movement on the side.
And again, offset dials.
Okay.
Offset date.
Now this date happens to be down near the five o'clock position.
So as I said, with German design, things can move around the dial - a lot.
And even though it looks a little incongruent at first, there is symmetry to it.
It does make sense once you start to look at it.
So both of these watches have a lot of detail.
For example, this one has that sort of that satin finish on the edge.
The bezel is got, it's got a double beveled bezel on the sides, say that 10 times fast.
And then when you open up the case back, this is where the real design begins.
This watch is decorated more than I believe this is a manual wind movement.
And it's decorated more than any other Glashutte I've ever seen.
I don't know if we can get a good photo zoom in of that, but there's a lot of design and
a lot of intricate detail.
But when you look at the movement, you think, geez, there's, there's a lot there, but it's
very simplistic.
So you can really get a jeweler's loupe out and spend an hour looking at all the different
little things that are going on inside this.
And every single detail is decorated.
So that's a little bit about the German Bauhaus design and the IWC.
Again, IWC being just on opposite side of the Rhine river from Germany, that's where
they have gotten a lot of their influences over the years, and they continue to get their
very simplistic design influences.
And in the next series, uh, that I'll be doing.
And we're going to bring out some other IWCs and we'll talk a little bit more about how
Bauhaus design influences a lot of other IWC watches in addition to the Glashutte.
So if you have any questions, give us a call here at SwissWatchExpo.
Ring the bell, subscribe, leave us an email.
We'll get back to you with all the information that you need to be able to make a great decision
for an amazing German Bauhaus design in your collection.