IWC Ingenieur Chronograph 50th Anniversary of Mercedes-AMG

Longtime sponsor of the Mercedes-AMG Team at the gruelling 24 hour Nürburgring Race, IWC is commemorating the 50th anniversary of Mercedes-AMG with a stunning GT-styled skew of its Ingenieur Chronograph in a limited edition of just 250 pieces.

The story

Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher founded AMG in 1967 in Großaspach, Stuttgart, with the company taking its name from the initials of each founders and the town.

Today, AMG is the performance sports car brand of Mercedes-Benz and independently develops models such as the Mercedes-AMG GT series.

As a major sponsor of the company's  Nürburgring Race efforts, IWC has launched several AMG special editions over the years – sporting features such as case materials like black zirconium oxide ceramic inspired by high-performance cars.

But this limited-edition Ingenieur Chronograph Sport Edition is arguably the most beautiful of them all, carefully channeling both the GT series and its racing cred.

The style

There's no try-hard in the vintage design of this sporty IWC chronograph: the elegant silver-plated face with bold black dial markings and hands does most of the work, aided by measured flashes of red.

IWC claims the look draws from the typical colour combinations of racetracks such as the Nürburgring, where the kerbs are dressed in red and white with black of course representing the asphalt.

A more deliberate nod to the chrono's track-born DNA is at the rear of the titanium case, with a sapphire-glass back revealing what looks like an AMG disc brake.

There's function as well as form here – this is actually the lower part of a soft-iron cage which protects IWC's 89361 calibre engine against magnetic fields, something it has in common with the first Ingenieur from 1955.

The engraving – "A tribute to one man, one engine" – is a reminder that the performance components from Mercedes-AMG are assembled "from the bottom up" in the engine manufacturing department by a single mechanic, putting not just his handiwork but his heart into every car.

The details

Ingenieur Chronograph Sport Edition "50th Anniversary of Mercedes-AMG"
Reference: IW380902
44mm case
68 hour power reserve
Titanium case with black calfskin strap: $17,100
For stockists, visit www.iwc.com/en/retail

David Flynn

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.