Renaissance of the Da Vinci

Renaissance of the Da Vinci

"In rivers, the water that you touch is the last of what has passed and the first of that which comes; so with present time."

Leonardo da Vinci, Notebooks XIX

Leonardo da Vinci stands as the quintessential Renaissance Man. Perhaps more than any other person in the history of civilization, da Vinci was responsible for the rebirth of both science and art. The man was an artist and an inventor, an engineer and a philosopher.

For many years, IWC named its flagship watch model “Da Vinci”. It is an altogether fitting name, paying homage to both the science of watchmaking and to the art of design. The name connotes new discoveries, technically and aesthetically. There perhaps has been no other watch name that has been as symbolic of the modern IWC and representative of its renaissance.

IWC’s first Da Vinci watch model charted new territory, with a new movement and a new case design. Developed in 1969 and introduced in 1970, that watch was a Beta 21, the world’s first quartz wristwatch. That first Da Vinci represented an engineering feat and made a philosophic statement. It paired a new invention with a new aesthetic, and commenced a new era in horology.

Throughout history, the Swiss lever escapement was the fundamental technical design underlying virtually all wristwatch movements. That changed in the 1960s when a revolutionary electronic quartz wristwatch movement was developed. In 1968, a group of Swiss watch manufacturers joined together to produce this first quartz movement. IWC participated in that project and began designing its first Beta 21 watch in 1969. In 1970, its first quartz Beta 21 watches, like those of other companies, became available in very limited quantities.

It was also appropriate that a revolutionary new movement should be housed in a new case design. Moreover, it was decided that such an important watch should not be known simply as Reference 3501, but also by a name. While IWC then named very few models, in this instance the company chose the name “Da Vinci” for its first electronic watch. This made perfect sense. With a new movement in a new case design, the watch commenced a rebirth in timekeeping, reflecting new discoveries in science and new frontiers in design.

While IWC was at the cutting edge of the Beta 21 revolution, like most Swiss watch companies it was also slow to abandon mechanical watches. But IWC apparently discovered that it had an excellent marketing name. In the mid-1970s, IWC also used the “Da Vinci” name on a second generation series of watches. All of these constituted a new “Da Vinci Line” or, when combined with a bracelet, the “Da Vinci Line SL”.

Instead of using the bold new Beta 21 (and subsequently Beta 22) quartz movements, these watches used traditional manual-winding movements. While traditional in that sense, it was noteworthy that these models did not have traditional round or rectangular cases. Instead, they all employed longitudinal or transverse case designs.

The manual-winding Da Vinci Line watches involved four men's models and four women's models. The men's watches were References 2576, -7, -8 and -9. All were quite small (29 x 31 mm or 32 x 27.5 mm) and used IWC calibre 423. The women's models (References 4181, -2, -3 and -4) were even smaller and used IWC calibre 412. Some have surmised that transposing the name “Da Vinci” to these models might have been an after-thought. Presumably, the designation occurred somewhat late, in the mid-1970s, since some of the dials did not have the name “Da Vinci” printed on them.

After the original Beta 21 Da Vinci and the 1970 mechanical models, there was a third generation developed around 1980. Apparently, the idea took hold to use the 1969 case design of the Beta 21 watch in a "regular" Da Vinci, either with a more traditional quartz movement or, in a few rare instances, with IWC’s best automatic movement, calibre 8541. The primary new Da Vinci model from 1980 was a quartz Da Vinci, Reference 3074, which used IWC’s quartz calibre 2405. Some examples of the Reference 3074 also used the nomenclature "Da Vinci SL" on their dials. In addition, the same case design was then used in a very few watches with a calibre 8541 movement, including a Reference 9212 in gold.

A few years later, the Da Vinci model witnessed a complete makeover, although the underlying principles of a new movement in a new case remained. In the mid-1980s IWC watchmaker Kurt Klaus conceived a novel idea for a perpetual calendar wristwatch. His idea was that all calendar functions could be integrated and set by the crown, since conceptually all dates, months and days are interrelated. It was an extraordinary idea to produce a new and very complicated mechanical watch during an era of inexpensive quartz watches. Originally, it was thought that the perpetual calendar module might best be suited for IWC’s important Ingenieur model, but then the idea occurred to use the perpetual calendar module with a chronograph base movement.

That bold idea also required a new case design and IWC’s case designer at the time, Hano Burtscher, produced a striking result. He abandoned the avant-garde case designs of the prior Da Vinci, but his new design was still cutting-edge. There was a romanticism to the watch. The lugs and the pushers differed. This novel design complemented well an important new movement. The totality reflected a renaissance, both of fine watchmaking and for IWC as a company. Fittingly, this watch was named “Da Vinci”.

Because many watch collectors have developed their interests relatively recently, to some the name “Da Vinci” is synonymous with IWC’s perpetual calendar-chronograph watch with its particularly characteristic case design. That is not entirely correct. IWC’s “Da Vinci” model was always a futurist watch, both mechanically and in its design. Conceptually, the Da Vinci perpetual calendar from 1984 was an extension of the 1969/70 Da Vinci, with its bold case design and revolutionary movement.

Over the years, the perpetual calendar-chronograph Da Vinci was produced in numerous variations. It incorporated different movements, came in different sizes, used different dials and had different complications. These involved a rattrapante version, a tourbillon, various ladies’ models and, more recently, a larger perpetual calendar model with a redesigned dial (initially with a rattrapante chronograph and later with a regular chronograph). Various metals were used and even ceramic zirconium oxide case models were produced. Da Vinci SL models were also made, using the characteristic case/lug design but without perpetual calendar complications. In a sense, particularly in the 1990s, the name “Da Vinci” defined IWC.

The importance of the name to the company cannot be underestimated. In 1999, Watch International polled its readers on the most important watch in IWC history. In 2000, the perpetual calendar-chronograph Da Vinci was announced the winner. That model, more than any other, allowed IWC as a company to be reborn, and it created a virtual renaissance in mechanical watchmaking.

In like manner, the ultimate development of the Da Vinci is occurring now. In 2007, a new Da Vinci line of watches has been introduced, representing a new and true rebirth. The new models have a strikingly modern case design and make a strong statement. While drawing on historical antecedents, the new Da Vinci models are avant-garde. Their case design is entirely new, although it relates back to the original Beta 21 Da Vinci from 1969/1970. The watches are bold; they are different -- and still the design is distinctively IWC.

In one group of models, the new Da Vinci contains a significant new movement, calibre 89360. While not quite as revolutionary as the Beta 21 nor the perpetual calendar module from 1984, this movement is unique and important in its own right. It represents the first chronograph movement ever produced in-house by IWC. It is no ordinary chronograph, because it registers elapsed time accumulations with a whole new dial system. And it contains a new winding system, building upon IWC's legendary Pellaton design. The new movement is ingenious and state-of-the-art and it, too, represents a melding of technology with aesthetics.

In one sense, the new IWC Da Vinci models have come full circle, back to their roots more than 35 years ago. But in another sense they have moved forward and, like their predecessors, have broken new ground. Like the accomplishments of Leonardo, the 2007 Da Vinci line takes a bold step forward. The new watches continue the synthesis of art and science, rightfully bearing the name Da Vinci. No one name could be more important to IWC than “Da Vinci”, both for what it symbolizes and as a tribute to the genius of Leonardo da Vinci.