The Star of the Show
By Michael Friedberg from SIHH in Geneva, Switzerland
Today, IWC showcased the Portuguese Sidérale Scafusia – its newest haute horlogerie triumph and one of the most complicated watches ever produced.
Clearly the IWC “star time” watch was the star of the show. By far it was the most complicated, totally innovative watch there, with a star chart individualized for each owner. Produced on a bespoke basis, people were fascinated by not only the unique star chart but also the special perpetual calendar and oversized tourbillon. And a lucky few even got to try the watch on.
It’s a watch that took a team at IWC 10 years of research to develop, and is meant for the true connoisseur. The dial displays both solar and Sidérale time, as well as power reserve. The back shows, beyond the star chart and perpetual calendar, sunrise and sunset. What visitors to the SIHH saw, however, was also the mesmerizing change of colors as day turned into dusk, then into night.
The collectors who viewed the watch agreed that they saw genius here. Roman Belov, a Russian collector who also moderates a watch forum in Russia, said “you touch a very complicated piece produced at an extremely high level of technology, probably very close to the limits of technical possibilities for wrist watches”.
An avid collector from Hong Kong/Singapore, Cheng Shing Chow, said “Wearing the Sidérale immediately makes my city life presence feel inadequate – it wills me to be out in the open sea, at night under the stars and using the incredible star chart. There is no doubt why this timepiece is the high watermark of IWC engineering”.
In the 19th century, a watch collector said that his complicated pocket watch allowed him “to feel that you have the brains of a genius in your pocket”. In the 21st century, wearing the Sidérale on your wrist allows you to have the brains of a team of geniuses on your wrist.
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