Ingenieur Mecaquartz Chronograph Alarm Stainless Steel / Black / Strap

In Context

At 34 mm it is classically proportioned: the size a dress watch was understood to be for most of the twentieth century, and small enough to sit under a cuff. At 9 mm thick it is about average for a modern wristwatch. The case back is closed, so the movement stays out of sight, and the sapphire crystal will resist everything short of deliberate abuse. Rated to 30 m, it is protected against rain and splashes and nothing beyond that.

It is quartz, so it will hold time far more closely than any mechanical watch here, and asks for a battery every few years rather than a service.

IW3815-01 is one of 8 executions of the IW3815 base reference. Underneath they are the same watch; what separates this one is a black dial and a stainless steel case. Beyond the time it carries a chronograph.

A mechaquartz calibre from the Jaeger-LeCoultre 630 family, supplied to IWC and fitted from 1991 to 1997 to the Ingenieur Chronograph Alarm. Quartz regulates the timekeeping while the chronograph runs on a conventional mechanical module, which gives the crisp mechanical reset without a mechanical rate. The alarm is what separates the 633 from the 630 and 631 alongside it in the same family.

16 other watches in the library run the IWC 633.

IWC

Ingenieur Mecaquartz Chronograph Alarm Stainless Steel / Yellow Gold / Champagne / Strap

IW3815-05 · 34 mm

IWC

Ingenieur Mecaquartz Chronograph Alarm Stainless Steel / Black / Bracelet

IW3805-01 · 34 mm

IWC

Ingenieur Mecaquartz Chronograph Alarm Yellow Gold / Champagne / Strap

IW3815-08 · 34 mm

IWC

Ingenieur Mecaquartz Chronograph Alarm Yellow Gold / White / Strap

IW3815-07 · 34 mm