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IWC Da Vinci Automatic Men’s Watch Review

By on September 30, 2011

Up today we have the next in our series of IWC watch reviews before we take a short break in order to review another brand of luxury timepiece. The International Watch Company’s Vintage Collection has provided us with some superb material so far, and some great luxury watches for us and our readers to marvel over. Today’s watch is sure to provide more of the same.

Introducing the IWC Da Vinci Automatic, the fifth “masterpiece” in the Vintage Collection. As always, this watch has an interesting backstory to accompany its intriguing name. Da Vinci was of course a great artist but also a great engineer and inventor, so in effect he embodied the exact qualities that are desired in top luxury watches such as those made by IWC.

The original – and historic – IWC Da Vinci came out in 1969. Featuring an arrestingly eye-catching angular case with extra-long hour markers and simple baton hands, this luxury timepiece represents a singular piece of design history and is a prime example of the avant-garde shapes that marked the period.

What exactly does “avant-garde” mean in this context, you may be wondering. Well, here’s what wikipedia has to say:

“The term was originally used to describe the foremost part of an army advancing into battle (also called the vanguard or literally the advance guard) and now applied to any group, particularly of artists, that considers itself innovative and ahead of the majority.”

We learn something new everyday here at TheWatchScene!

The Da Vinci Automatic’s uncompromisingly straight and instantly recognizable lines unequivocally underscore the its inherent sense of emerging modernity. Unlike that first Da Vinci, however, which will forever be associated with the quartz wristwatch movement, the IWC Da Vinci Automatic comes with a modern, IWC-manufactured 80111 caliber featuring Pellaton automatic winding system.

According to IWC, “a glance at the dial might make you think time had stood still, but a peek through the sapphire-glass back will quickly persuade you otherwise.” That sums it up pretty well, and means this watch conforms completely to the Vintage Collection’s mission statement; that is, to combine classic design elements with the latest in timepiece technology.

As a result of IWC’s unabashed adherence to an old-fashioned look, we can’t really judge it up against today’s luxury watches. It is a stand-alone limited edition timepiece in stark contrast to the rest of the collection – which have a much more contemporary feel – so we are reluctant to give it a standard Watch Scene review rating at all. However, we really respect what IWC Watches are trying to do here.

In addition, this watch features a platinum case as the others do, but also an adornment of twenty-eight jewels, which really kicks things up a notch. However, the black alligator strap look is really starting to get a bit dull, especially amidst the variance and innovation of the other elements in the Vintage Collection, so points are dropped for that.

Rating: 4/5

L IW546105 2011 front - watch reviewL IW546105 2011 back - watch review