First IWC - Ingenieur Automatic Carbon Performance (Yellow)!

So I finally bit the bullet and bought the watch. Didn't really plan on buying it, but I was traveling and, well, after seeing it a year ago and for this and that reason, I left a boutique with it on my wrist.

I have some questions about the durability and ruggedness of the watch (case and strap) that I'm hoping some of you could help to shed some light on.

• How durable is the CF case as a daily watch? I know CF scratches easily, but how about taking a bump/harder bump? Does CF or the case crack easily? I don't abuse my watches but I do everything with my watch on and my previous watch for 9 years, an Omega Seamaster (Bond model) took it in stride. I guess I'm asking will the case crack/fail easily.

• Can the CF case and rubber/nylon/calf skin strap (all three materials used in the strap) survive for years if it's exposed to water, shower, soap, take a swim in a pool (chlorine) or beach (salt water)? Like I said, I take my watch everywhere, and stainless steel Ingenieurs are built tough for any environment, but what about CF and the strap it comes with?

• Anyone else with an Ingenieur: does your crown unscrew easily by itself? It's happened a few times already. I screw the crown tight, but not very tight after it's locking point.

I love the watch so far, it's light, (surprisingly) quite inconspicuous in terms of overall design (definitely not in size) - won't catch your eye like gold, and very active/sporty looking. I think the yellow type and thread go perfectly against the black CF (what really caught my eye first time I saw it/the overall design).

Thanks in advance for any info on the durability of CF as a case material!

Francis

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congratulations! one of my favourites from the recent new ingenieurs.

how about sharing some wrist-shots of your new beauty. here's mine when testing it out upon release:

[](s1164.photobucket.com/user/teeveetee9/media/SIHH%202013/P1000086_zps8750c6af.jpg.html)

i'm sure those with CF watches comment on usage/durability.

wear it in good health!

regards,
thang

Congratulations. Nice to see the CF model being picked up. I have the AMG Black Ingenieur and I have had no problems with the crown unscrewing. Once I tighten it, it stays that way. I'm an F1 fan so I love the new Ingenieur's, I think they are great.

Cheers,

Jarrod

Would love more pics!! That watch is stunning!

Absolutely stunning!

I would imagine, the Carbon Fibre to be tougher and certainly more resistant to shattering than the ceramics.

To the best of my knowledge, we have not had any stories here of crowns not staying locked down - so possibly you are not tightening it sufficiently or could be that the O'ring in the crown is damaged/missing. We can't (and don't) discuss service issues here, as it's impossible to diagnose remotely. If your are in doubt, stop by any AD and ask them to check it.

You have a very handsome yet at the same time sporty timepiece there - where it in good health.

Big congratulations, this is one stunning watch really!

Congratulation. That is a great and special watch indeed. Hard to capture the beauty in pictures. Wear her in good health!

Thanks for the nice words! It really is a fantastic watch with just the right splash of color on a watch that is not easy to notice and it is comfortable to wear! If anyone has any info or experience on how a carbon fiber watch case lives up to daily wear that'd be appreciated!

How do I post pictures directly from my laptop? I'm using the "add picture" icon linking to a file in my laptop, but that doesn't seem to work. Or am I only able to display pictures that have a link to a website copy and pasted? Thanks.

Welcome to the Forum and congrats to your new Ingenieur. Enjoy it.

Congratulations to this watch, wear it in good health & also welcome to the Forum, Francis!
You made me come to the decision where I have to go out and try the carbon Ingenieur in flesh - a watch line which I couldn´t follow so far. What is the fascination all about? Was it an aesthetic reason for picking it up? Or was it more a functional cause?
Best,
-Christian

Hi Christian,

Thanks! Honestly it's the overall execution of the watch combined with the important fact that I think it looks good on my wrist and I was able to pull it off. I never really cared for a carbon fiber case, but what I liked was that up close it gives the case a different kind of character but far away it just looks like a any random black watch (could even pass for a Casio). My friends haven't really noticed it but those that do and see it up close are like "wow, that's really cool." Another important thing for me were the yellow highlights (on an otherwise boring black watch) that provided good contrast and some character. The red and green colors and threading were not my thing.

Aesthetic reasons were important since I thought this 46mm watch looked good on my wrist and to me is distinctly an Ingeneiur externally. I guess this time wanting something that is different won. I originally wanted to buy the beautiful Portuguese Hand-Wound 8 Days, but when I put them on (stainless steel and gold models) I just felt like it was an older man's watch and just made me look older.

Functional I don't think was as important. It wasn't an impulse buy since I saw it a year ago, and there are certainly better price:value IWCs available, but there just wasn't another one I wanted more. Besides I wanted an Ingenieur and I need a watch I can be active in. I still trust stainless steel/titanium as a better case material since it can take more impact/heat/temp change etc (maybe I'm wrong), but this is a really really light watch and surprisingly I like the feeling; I always preferred stainless steel to titanium due to the heft.

I didn't care too much for the limited production of 100 pieces in yellow and 100 pieces in red. It is nice that it is, but of course that helps to justify the ridiculous exorbitant price charged for it. It does kind of suck that the 200 piece carbon fiber series is being diluted with this year's 1000 piece carbon fiber/ceramic green threaded series but oh well.

In summary and very short, I think what it is is that I simply found a watch I've wanted for a while and that works for me and fits me.

Hope this helps!

PS If someone can tell me how to upload pictures (clicking the picture icon and pasting a link isn't working of me), I'll upload some pictures of the watch

It seems you solved the picture posting problem as the is a nice shot in your post above. Very nice IWC. Congratulations and welcome to the forum.

For future reference, here's how to post multiple mixtures in one post without using the picture icon.

[QUOTE="Bill B. "][QUOTE="FWK"]

For future reference, here's how to post multiple mixtures in one post without using the picture icon.

Hi Bill,

Thanks for the info. The picture above is linked to another website's picture. Not sure if the photo credit was displayed or not since I had to input a link for the picture to show.

Finally some pictures!

[](s1288.photobucket.com/user/asdfiwc/media/2014-06-04210755_zps17f17cc3.jpg.html)

[](s1288.photobucket.com/user/asdfiwc/media/2014-06-04210828_zpsed52f0cd.jpg.html)

[](s1288.photobucket.com/user/asdfiwc/media/2014-06-04210921_zps07c1dedd.png.html)

Looks really cool. I like how it looks mostly black from a distance. You should be pleased it is 1/100. There will only ever be 99 others. And the new one is completely different with the contrast of the bezel and the change of colour. It's cool to see pics of it and that it is getting some appreciation here.

Cheers,

Jarrod

Beautiful watch! I fell in love the moment I saw it. What wrist presence! What a price!

There's a pretty good chance you'll never see another one in the wild!

Enjoy it.

Larry

Thanks Larry!

Haven't seen another one yet, but I've only had it for 2 weeks. Hope I do see another one, preferably red or green, out in the wild soon!

Finally got around to taking some pictures of this performance machine! I tried out my friend's macro lens (put my 85 1.2 next to the watch later cause I liked the contrasting bright yellow and red) and, even after looking at this Ingenieur daily for 7+ months, the detail is nothing short of amazing. The sun wasn't really out so I couldn't get more detail, but when the watch is in sunlight the play and dance of the sunlight off the carbon fiber is so...awesome.It really gives the watch a layered look. I'm not a CF expert, but the way the CF is laid on the watch, especially in direct sunlight, the pattern is noticeable very subtle but oh so interesting to look at. Enjoy the photos!

[](s1288.photobucket.com/user/asdfiwc/media/IMG_8485_zpsa475bgem.jpg.html)

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