IWC's 2025 new releases were full of outstanding pieces. Setting aside personal preferences, if I were to choose the best IWC model of the year, it would have to be the ceramic-cased Ingenieur Automatic 42. Not only is it lightweight and has a high-quality exterior, but it's also equipped with the Caliber 82110.
Text by Yuto Hosoda (Chronos-Japan)
[Article published on January 22, 2025]
The Ingenieur Automatic 42 with a ceramic case
IWC had a booth that highlighted their partnership with the movie "F1," which will be released this summer. Naturally, many of their new models, especially pilot's watches, were symbolic of this partnership.
However, the one that has attracted the most attention from watch magazines is the Ingenieur Automatic. With the addition of various variations, from perpetual calendars to different sizes, the collection seems to have become even more solid. If you had to choose the best of the many new Ingenieur models, which would it be?
Personally, I would recommend the 35mm and 40mm 18KPG models, but I can't ignore the black ceramic Ingenieur Automatic 42. That's how much effort went into this model.
Automatic movement (Cal. 82110). 22 jewels. 28,800 vph. Power reserve approximately 60 hours. Ceramic case (diameter 42 mm, thickness 11.5 mm). Water resistant to 10 bar. Price: 2,145,000 yen (tax included).
Equipped with the long-awaited Cal.82000 series
The Ingenieur Automatic 42 is equipped with the Caliber 82110. The winding wheel and pawls are made of ceramic, and it uses an improved Pellaton automatic winding system that has significantly improved durability, and the balance is free-sprung. It is a movement that boasts features worthy of being IWC's flagship caliber.
To be honest, the 40mm Ingenieur's Caliber 32111 is thin, boasts a long power reserve of approximately 120 hours, and even features a Magic Click automatic winding system, making it flawless. However, as a three-hand stainless steel model in the upper 1 million yen range, it somehow lacked sex appeal. The selection of the Caliber 82110, which makes up for this weakness, is very good news.
For this reason, it is inevitable that the case diameter will be 2mm larger. Happily ever after...I was about to put my pen down, but then a few things started to bother me. The movement is 1.2mm larger, at 30mm, than the 28.8mm diameter Cal. 32111, so it seems reasonable to increase the case diameter by 2mm. But is that really the case?
What is the case construction of the Ceramic Ingenieur?
How can they fit it into this size while maintaining 10 bar water resistance, changing the case material to ceramic, and even increasing the size of the movement? Because, when you want to achieve high water resistance with a ceramic case, you can't thread the ceramic itself, so you have to insert a metal inner case inside and screw that in. This means that the ceramic case is a size larger than a metal case.
IWC, unwilling to allow the case size to increase, is now using Ceratanium cases for its pilot watches, while still producing ceramic cases. To digress a bit, Ceratanium is a material made by adding zirconium to titanium and firing it to form a ceramic layer. This means that it can be made smaller than a ceramic case while still taking advantage of the scratch-resistant properties of ceramic.
Let's get back to the main topic. Generally speaking, ceramic cases are larger than metal cases. Furthermore, in the Ingenieur 40, the movement is encased in a soft iron inner case to achieve magnetic resistance of approximately 4 A/m. If the movement were changed to the Cal. 82110, the inner case were encased, and the case were made of ceramic, it would be impossible to fit it in with just a 2mm increase.
So how did they respond? Simply put, it appears that the soft-iron inner case has been omitted from the Ingenieur Automatic 42. As a result, there is no mention of magnetic resistance in press releases or on the official website. Some may be saddened by this, seeing it as a downgrade in specs.
However, it is also true that the Cal. 82110 can now be enjoyed from the case back. Furthermore, because the movement is not enclosed in an inner case, the increase in case thickness has been kept to a minimum. The Cal. 32111 movement is 4.2mm thick, while the Cal. 82110 is 5.95mm, which is 1.75mm thicker. However, comparing the case thickness, the 40mm case is 10.4mm, while the 42mm case is 11.5mm, a difference of only 1.1mm.
Thanks to this, the exceptional fit is not compromised at all, even with the larger case. In fact, coupled with the lightweight feel of the ceramic case, it feels even better on the wrist.
By the way, the nearly all-black color scheme gives the watch a compact impression, so unless you compare it with a 40mm watch, it's hard to notice that the case is larger. It would be a shame to shy away from this watch just based on the spec size. I encourage you to actually try it on your wrist and see how it feels.
