At last SIHH 2014, IWC released a slew of new models in its revamped IWC Aquatimer collection of luxury divers’ replica watches. For fans of vintage watches — and vintage IWC watches, specifically — we highlight here five important IWC Aquatimers from the brand’s history.
In 1967, IWC reacted to the growing popularity of amateur scuba diving and launched its first divers’ watch. The first Aquatimer (Ref. 812AD) was water-resistant to 200 meters and became the foundation of a successful new watch family for the watch brand from Schaffhausen.Working closely with designer Ferdinand A. Porsche, IWC began producing the Ocean 2000 sports divers’ watch (Ref. 3500) in 1982. For a time replacing the Aquatimer in the collection, It was the first series-built divers’ watch in titanium, with a tested water-resistance to 2,000 meters.In 1998, IWC reinstated the traditional Aquatimer name and launched the IWC Aquatimer GST Automatic 2000 Replica Watch (Ref. 3536), in a titanium case water-resistant to 2,000 meters, as part of a new line of sports watches.In 1999, IWC unveiled the Aquatimer GST Deep One Replica (Ref. 3527). Also in a titanium case, it was the first IWC divers’ watch to incorporate a mechanical depth gauge, with a flyback hand for the maximum depth, and an internal rotating bezel to display dive times.In 2004, with the Aquatimer Split Minute Chronograph Replica (Ref. 3723), IWC launched a divers’ watch equipped with a world-first function: a split-minute hand that operated separately from the chronograph and could be activated or deactivated underwater, to a depth of 120 meters.In 2009, the Fake Aquatimer Deep Two (Ref. 3547) from IWC Schaffhausen succeeded the GST Deep One. It included a precise mechanical depth gauge that showed current dive depth as well as the depth attained during a dive, to a maximum of 50 meters.
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