IWC’s Ingenieur was launched in the 1950s and the original version had classic dress watch looks.
It was, however, much tougher than it looked.
It was shock and water-resistant, along with a soft-iron cage around the movement to protect it from magnetism.
This more than justified the “Engineer” name and made the watch a favourite for people working in industrial conditions.
The version we know today owes much to a 1970s revamp by Swiss design-meister Gerald Genta.
That gave it the integrated-bracelet look that has been carried down into the present generation.
The latest version of the Ingenieur Automatic 40 – introduced last year – has been given a striking blue dial.
It has a grid structure of small lines and squares, stamped onto the iron base at high pressure before the blue color is applied with PVD-coating.
The rhodium-plated baton hands and applied metal markers are all filled with Superluminova for maximum legibility.
The dial is new, but the round bezel with five screws is familiar.
The caseback is solid steel, to enhance the anti-magnetic properties that are an important part of the Ingenieur’s story.
It is powered by IWC’s Calibre 32111 automatic movement with central hacking seconds and a reassuring 120-hour reserve.
The 40mm stainless-steel case is water-resistant to 100m.
The IWC Schaffhausen Ingenieur Automatic 40 Blue Dial costs $11,700.