IWC. There is hardly a connoisseur of the art of watchmaking for whom these 3 letters mean nothing. The brand, founded in 1868 by American engineer and watchmaker Florentine Ariosto Jones in Switzerland, with the aim of producing high-quality watches for the American market, acquired in 1880 by the Rauschenbach family, owned and managed by 4 generations of the family until 1955. The brand, which was one of the first (as early as the end of the 19th Century) to begin producing wristwatches, is the undisputed originator of the so-called "pilot's watches," the first to use titanium for the cases of its chronographs and to produce unique works of horological art such as the representatives of the Portuguese and Ingenieur series.
Undoubtedly, the brand is better known for its pilot's models, but now we turn your attention to a relatively new series for the brand, namely Aquatimer – this series unites all of the brand's so-called "marine" watches, and the current one is one of its more complicated models – the IWC Aquatimer Chronograph Edition Jacques-Yves Cousteau IW376706.
The model was first presented at SIHH in 2010 and is a representative of the new Aquatimer series, launched in the same year.
Of course, special attention should be paid to the fact that the watch is part of the special Aquatimer series dedicated to the works of the legendary marine explorer and researcher Jacques-Yves Cousteau, and this blue color is used by the brand only for this Aquatimer model. And the watch's affiliation with this series, besides the color of the dial, can be seen on the case back, which is solid and, in addition to the watch's data, also shows in whose honor it was made.
The most impressive change in the new model (besides the fact that it has become larger overall), is the bezel, which has a sapphire insert. The markings are applied to the underside of the crystal using a special technology with generous use of Super-LumiNova®, which ensures that the dive time can be monitored even in unfavorable light conditions, and the massive edges of the outer flange of the bezel are easy to handle even with thick gloves. The bezel has a distinctly colored first quarter (between 12 and 3 o'clock), which gives the watch an impressive look – the color of the marking follows the tone of the minute hand and in this case, besides being white (the color that, in the case of this particular model, contrasts best with the rest of the watch's design), it glows in a yellow-greenish color during night use.
The watch's dial is very well-finished and truly creates the impression of a thoroughbred specimen – the hands are enlarged, the markers are applied, and together with the markings on the inner bezel, are generously coated with SuperLuminova, colored in different shades.
The movement of this watch is the Valjoux 7750, specially modified for the brand – which IWC calls IWC caliber 79320 – a movement tested in many brands and models, proven over time, and relatively easy and inexpensive to maintain – which for this brand is of the highest grade from ETA.
