TOWARDS ETERNITY

Longtime IWC Associate Director of Research & Development Stefan Ihnen tells us what it takes to keep ticking for more than 20 years in the watchmaking innovation space.

- ASHOK SOMAN

We have a rare treat this issue - an extended discussion with longtime IWC Associate Director of Research & Development Stefan Ihnen. In traditional watchmaking, we tend to rethread the same subjects repeatedly and thus it might feel like the same old story. Meeting people at the forefront of innovation in watchmaking changes that dynamic. As far as IWC goes, you are much more likely to hear from the likes of Christoph Grainger-Herr and Christiaan Knoop and we could have gone that route too but when I saw Ihnen's name on the interview list, I had to have him. Why? The answer is another name: Ronan Keating.

That is a lot of names to dish out in the introduction to a story about one man. And the mention of a pop star from a recent but bygone era will have some of you balking. Since this interview appears in print first, perhaps you were tempted to drop the magazine or maybe even throw it across the room. Still here? Let me explain. IWC collectors of a certain age will recall that Ronan Keating was once a friend of the brand, and he remains a collector of IWC watches - the official relationship is a bit nebulous but you can still see the Irish singer wearing IWC watches.

Sometime in 2007, a good part of the IWC management team descended on KL, Malaysia, for the opening of the brand's flagship store in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur. On that occasion, I interviewed then-CEO Georges Kern but I paid heed to a young watchmaker and engineer who was with the team. Yes, I was a technical guy right from the start. Anyway, that man was Ihnen and yet we would not have a chance at a proper sit down until this year. After I finished amusing Ihnen mildly with some Keating references, we got down to business.