It’s the year of the Da Vinci for IWC Schaffhausen, and of three new introductions unveiled at a preview in New York yesterday, two are ladies’ timepieces, with more ladies’ pieces set to be introduced at the SIHH next month in Geneva. The introductions are a concerted effort by IWC to strengthen the brand’s ladies’ collections, according to IWC charming fake watches creative director Christian Knoop, who says “We are consciously trying to anchor the brand in the minds of women, who account for a significant proportion of watch lovers.” IWC’s iconic Da Vinci line, first introduced in the 1980s, has not been revised since 2007.
The first of the two new ladies’ watches is the Da Vinci Automatic 36 Ref.IW458312, in stainless steel with an intense blue dial that is a nod to a vintage ladies’ IWC. The company has been making ladies’ wristwatches since the 1930s; in fact, its first wristwatches were for ladies, since pocket Replica Watches were still the preferred timepieces for men. Although price points are not confirmed yet, part of the goal in this new model (of which there are five references), is to offer “competitive pricing,” says Knoop. The bezel of the steel model, shown above, is set with 54 diamonds totaling just under a carat. There are five references in the collection, including gold pieces with and without diamonds, and various colored straps, including raspberry and bronze. It contains the automatic IWC Replica Caliber 35111, with a 42-hour power reserve.
The new Da Vinci models maintain some of the line’s original design codes. The most important of these, especially from the ladies’ perspective, are the moveable lugs that give the watch a snug fit. Moveable lugs are distinctive to the Da Vinci collection, and do not appear on any other lines within the brand. “We spent the most time in development on this aspect,” says Knoop. “Although the concept of moveable lugs has always been signature to the IWC Replica Watches collection, they had to be completely re-engineered because the lugs on the new models were redesigned to be more streamlined – the older lugs were too long. In looking for a solution, we built 8-10 different prototypes, finally deciding on the one that we thought would be most contemporary and ergonomic.”
The new ladies’ Da Vinci watches are ideal daily wear pieces. As Knoop pointed out, “IWC is not a romantic, playful brand. The watches are very clean cut. We are a brand with roots in pocket watches.” At this particular moment, when luxury is struggling, people are shying away from anything too decorative, and this fits the bill perfectly. It also fits the more conservative trend in ladies’ Cheap IWC Replica at the moment. After a decade of ladies’ collections that have been vigorously designed as independent (from men’s) collections with purely feminine identities they are now beginning to look more like scaled-down classic men’s watches – a welcome relief. They also more often contain automatic movements, and are designed with smaller proportions. These new introductions are the perfect ladies watches for the spirit of the times.
