With the release this month of the IWC Aquatimer Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month Edition “50 Years Aquatimer,” limited to just 50 pieces worldwide, the Schaffhausen-based IWC brand not only commemorates the 50th anniversary of its Aquatimer divers’ watch in grand style, but also punches its ticket to the exclusive (but steadily growing) club of watch companies that have introduced new materials into watchmaking.
IWC Aquatimer Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month Edition “50Yrs Aquatimer” – reclining
The new material in question is called Ceratanium, and it is ? as one might glean from its name ? a composite of ceramic and titanium, boasting the hardness and scratch-resistance of the former while also retaining the latter’s lightness and unbreakability; its distinctive matte-black surface also scores high for skin tolerance and corrosion resistance. IWC’s materials experts spent five years developing this alloy, and the desired result was achieved in time to debut it on this special edition celebrating the half-century mark for the Aquatimer, a pioneer among dive watches when it debuted in 1967 with its 200-meter water resistance and internal rotating bezel. The combination of ceramic and titanium in a new composite material is also apt, as IWC played a major role in bringing both materials to watchmaking in the 1980s.
The watch’s matte-black Ceratanium case is 49 mm in diameter and 19.5 mm thick, with a convex sa...