IWC Marks 50 Years of the Genta Ingenieur With Two Limited Editions

The Ingenieur actually dates to 1955, but the watch most people think of when they say the name is the SL Jumbo of 1976, Gérald Genta's third integrated sports design after the Royal Oak and the Nautilus. And while some might say that those are three quite similar watches, and they are, the RO and Nautilus were a bit more angular than the rounded Ingenieur. And I've always had a soft spot for it. IWC has since killed and revived the line more times than is reasonable, and the variant we have today has been out since 2023. As you might have already gathered, 2026 is the 50th anniversary of Genta's design, and IWC is celebrating with two limited editions: the Ingenieur Automatic 40 IW328910 and the Ingenieur Automatic 35 IW324909.

Both use the current steel case, unchanged, with the screwed bezel and the same tight brushing and polishing we've come to know. The 40mm version, which is 10.8mm thick, adds a soft-iron inner cage for magnetic resistance and a solid caseback, which is a reference to Genta's original Ingenieur, while the 35mm (9.4mm thick) skips the cage and gets a sapphire caseback. Both have 100 meters of water resistance, about what you might expect from a watch like this.

The dial is where these separate from the regular models. IWC drops the grid texture in favour of a vertically brushed silver-plated finish, inspired by a rare late-1970s SL Jumbo variant. I would argue it changes the appearance of the watch a lot, moving from sporty to dressy. The applied markers are rhodium plated, the hands are filled with Super-LumiNova and there's a date aperture at 3 o'clock, clipping the corner of the marker on the 40 and replacing it entirely on the 35.

The 40mm has the calibre 32111, beating at 28,800vph with a 120-hour power reserve and a pawl-winding system. The 35 gets the calibre 47110 which drops down to 42 hours of power reserve. Since you can see it, the rotor is gold colored, and the movement is decorated with circular graining and blued screws. Both come on the familiar integrated three-link steel bracelet.