Written by: Travis Farris

IWC, the International Watch Company has been making watches for over a century, a fantastic achievement and one that lends a great deal of credibility to any product they release. The Vintage Ingenier Mens Wristwatch IW323301 is a very impressive addition to the line up, a quiet but strong product that maintains a functional, simple elegance.

The functional part of that assessment should be noted and elaborated upon. Bearing a water resistance of 120 meters, the Ingenier is quite welcome in its ability to easily endure near-surface water exposure, able to be worn during shallow swimming or snorkeling.

The watch dial is almost artistic in its design. A black face is dotted by subtle steel markings on the hours, one line on each – two on 12 hours – and ticks between for the seconds. A few inevitable logos mar the design in my opinion, but they are white and unobtrusive. The minute and hour hands look fantastic, diamond-shaped steel coming to fine points at the tips; the hour hand’s point brushes the points of the hour markers while the minute hand’s point glides over their opposite edge. The second hand is tipped with a small arrow that hovers perfectly over the tick-marks between hour markers. Subtle alignments like these catch my attention, and I’m very impressed by this one. The date is also displayed in its more-or-less usual place near the 3 hours-mark.

Well-suited as a relatively inexpensive luxury item that would serve the wearer well in everyday life, the Vintage Ingenier is a spectacularly-designed product, engineered for precision and reliability. With a plethora of luxury watches available for purchase, this would be well worth the look for someone looking for an item with a subtle flair rather than obtrusive flash and glamor.