IWC Special Edition to Celebrate Mercedes-AMG 50th Anniversary
A childhood dream has come true. Thanks to Mercedes-AMG and IWC Schaffhausen who teamed up at the Nürburgring 24-hours race to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the performance sports car brand of Mercedes-Benz, which took it’s name from the initials of the founders Hans Werner Aufrecht, Erhard Melcher and the town where it all began, Großaspach (Stuttgart) – AMG.
IWC Special Edition Mercedes AMG 50th Anniversary
IWC and Mercedes-AMG have already started their first collaboration in 2004 and every since then bring happiness to men with passion for strong performance cars and mechanical watches. It really is something different to watch a car race like this in TV or acutally being there, right on the track, hearing the deafening sound of these monster engines, inhaling the sharp smell of petrol, hot oil and smoking breaks and feeling the heat of the race. We believe the north loop track known as the “Green Hell” has deserved its name. We not only discovered the new IWC anniversary timepiece but also had the chance to test-drive some incredible cars which experience we share with you on attached videos & pictures.
IWC Special Edition Mercedes AMG 50th anniversary watch
How do cars and watches fit together?
Well, first of all, back in the days the tachymeter scale on the watch was used to define the speed of a car – before the technical revolution. With this technique a driver was able to calculate the speed by stopping the time within a certain distance. But besides all the technical advantages, cars and watches combine precision engineering with exclusive design, which simply fascinates. IWC has already launched various Mercedes-AMG special editions with features such as a case material like black zirconium oxide ceramic, inspired by high performance cars.
IWC Ingenieur Chronograph Sport Edition 50 years Mercedes AMG
For the 50th anniversary of Mercedes-AMG the manufacture from Schaffhausen has produced a limited edition of 250 “Ingenieur Chronograph Sport Edition – 50th Anniversary of Mercedes-AMG -” timepieces (Ref: IW380902) which was presented at the 24-hour race on the Nürburgring end of May. The watch has some remarkable features. The calibre is IWC’s own manufacture with flyback function. The case is made of titanium and features a soft-iron cage for protection against magnetic fields. This is especially interesting, since IWC developed this technique 1955, when the first Ingenieur collection was launched. At that time, due to the rapid technological developments (radio, TV, calculators etc.), which caused heavy magnetic fields, the precision of mechanical watches was affected. Thanks to a soft iron case developed by IWC, the watch now was protected.
The new IWC Ingenieur collection
The dial design of the IWC timepiece is modelled on the typical colour combinations of racetracks – with red and white for the kerbs and black for the asphalt. However, not only IWC revealed a novelty. Also Mercedes-AMG presented an exclusive special edition of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Edition 50 (650 PS), which is limited to five cars. Every buyer of the car will also receive the anniversary watch from IWC. Who does not want to spend 380.000,- Euro can buy the watch at a price of 13.000,- Euro.
650 horse power: Mercedes-AMG GT3 Edition 50 (Photo by Lukas Schulze/Getty Images for IWC)
Clocks, canons and propellers – we usually know bronze from these engineering heavyweights. And finally, the watch industry celebrates a comeback of this industrial material. What makes Bronze so special is not only it’s toughness, but also that it develops it’s very individual patina over the time by being used. That makes every Bronze watch…
In April, Norqain — arguably the youngest brand in the history of the fair — will make its second appearance at the prestigious Watches and Wonders. To mark the occasion, Norqain will present, among other highlights, two new models from the Independence Skeleton Chrono collection, as well as a total of four new models from…
From complicated Chinese calendars and ground-breaking diver's watches to serene Villeret moonphase models, Blancpain has long been a master of not only horological finesse, but also design. Now, the brand is opening a new chapter with the introduction of three new Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Quantième Complet Phases de Lune variations, alongside additions to its three-hand…
At this year's Watches & Wonders, Swiss watchmaking giant Rolex is proving that whatever they're doing is, as always, working – at first glance, many of the latest Oyster Perpetual additions keeps things pretty much to the status quo. Highlights include: an Air-King with new crown-guards, a GMT-Master II with a new colour scheme, a…
‘Candyman’ is not only a horror movie from 1992, but also the movie’s main character that appears when people look into a mirror and call his name five times. The watch reality in 2019 is less supernatural though, but almost as creepy: In real life, you might even stand in front of the Patek Philippe…
In 2012, the young and independent watchmaker Rexhep Rexhepi founded the brand “AkriviA”. When we first discovered him two years later, he was still mostly unknown in the watch industry. But at the latest since he won a prize for best men’s watch with his Chronomètre Contemporain at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in 2018, there…
The luxury goods group LVMH has just promoted Frédéric Arnault to CEO of the LVMH Watch Division, and Julien Tornare to the new CEO of TAG Heuer, as the group continues to massively expand its competencies in the watch segment. But what impact might this have upon the entire watch industry? What is owner of…
Many brands have an iconic model at the forefront of their portfolio: few, however, hold the key to such a storied history as the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso. No wonder, then, that the brand used this year’s Watches and Wonders trade fair to bestow several creative new pieces upon us, drawing up on the horology house’s own…
It has recently become quite obvious throughout the watch industry that many brands dig deep in their archives and recall on their heritage. But why does everyone seem to wallow in memory of the old times? It is probably just an instinctively reaction in times of change, and without doubt the watch industry – just…
For means of being transparent, this article must start with a confession: the author of this story is not exactly unbiased. Blue, in all its many shades, is his colour – starting with his admiring view of the oceans, and not ending with a slowly but surely exuberant selection of jackets and shirts in every…
Victor Lance Vescovo is a special person in many ways. While visiting the Greek island of Mykonos for the 75th anniversary of the Omega Seamaster, Swisswatches met this titan of a man; slender as a whip, with a white beard and long white hair held scraped back with a hair tie, he looks like a…
The new OMEGA Speedmaster Apollo 11 50th Anniversary model has exceeded every reach of any watch we published so far. Only just launched, it has already become the talking piece of the watch community and will hit the stores in July. Just a little bit of time left for some history class. 50 years of lunar landing…
Do you remember the Golden Ticket from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, carefully hidden inside a Wonka Bar and promising the lucky finder an exclusive adventure? Echoing the enchantment of the Golden Ticket, the strictly limited Panerai Experience watches act as the key to an extraordinary journey, one that will remain etched in the memory for…