In Conversation With Christoph Grainger-Herr pt 1

By Watches of Switzerland Group | 1 minute read

As part of series interviewing the leading minds from luxury watch brands, we were delighted to sit down with the IWC CEO, Mr. Grainger-Herr, at this year’s Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie. Leading with the launch of the exciting new Pilot collection for 2019, this episode explores the brand’s rich heritage in creating exquisite timepieces alongside recent innovations including the new IWC-manufactured calibres.

Mr. Grainger-Herr explains, “we have a long history in Pilot’s watches going back to all the way in 1936 and actually our owners in those days - the Homberger family – their sons were not only Olympic medal rowers, but they also won the Henley regatta, and one of them qualified as a pilot in Croydon. He came back to Schaffhausen and said, “Dad, we need a special watch for pilots”, and that’s how it really started. It followed a long line of iconic pilot’s watches, such as the Mark XI for the Royal Air Force and later on the Chronographs, Double Chronographs of the 1990s and then of course, the Big Pilot in 2002.”

The episode also uncovers the use of IWC’s proprietary material - Ceratanium - that combines the toughness of ceramic and the lightweight and durable nature of titanium – Mr. Grainger-Herr mentioned that IWC “were the absolute pioneers in terms of use of titanium for watch cases which is already a material that is fairly difficult to machine, it’s also highly flammable when it’s being machined…”

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In Conversation With Christoph Grainger-Herr pt 1