3508 IWC Ingenieur 500K A/m

In the release of IWC’s latest Ingenieur, the brand went out of their way to not advertise the watch on the basis of its magnetic resistance or indeed list it in any media. Isn’t that a bit odd for thee IWC Antimagnetic watch? In this 3508 from the late 80s, IWC were so proud of its magnetic resistance that they engraved it on the side of the case. Perhaps no contrast so greatly places in relief the ambition of 90s IWC, which knew no bounds. The 3508 was, and might still be, the technical Ingenieur for the ages; never to be bested. I simply can’t think of a watch that is more over-engineered for the price it trades hands for today.

The 3508 is an undeservedly overlooked small-run 34mm Ingenieur that could withstand a ridiculous 500K A/m. To put that in perspective, the average junkyard electromagnet, the thing that sucks up metal i-beams and cars like paperweights, is 1T or 795K A/m. I’ve said it before but it’s true: this case will very likely be pulled off of your wrist by magnetic attraction long before its field effects the timekeeping inside. This is thanks to both a soft iron Faraday cage and, more impressively, hairspring made from pure niobium-zirconium. That alloy proved so expensive to make that IWC lost money on every 3508 sold. Rolex only figured out the niobium balance a decade later and called it Parachrom.

Interestingly, the extreme resistance was developed not for the market, but for the German Military’s Bundeswehr. German divers needed totally a-magnetic watches for mine disposal, to not interfere with electric fields whatsoever. This Ingenieur is actually more related to the 3H Ocean 2000 than any Genta peer. This 500K A/m ref. 3508 was the consumer-marketed version of that tech, where just 50 A-Mag calibre Bunds exist from that initial development. This checks every single box for collectability: Genta, interest, story, world-first, attractive design. But it’s still a 10Kish watch, pending condition. The size is divisive, to put it bluntly. Total production of the 3508 is estimated to be under 1000 examples, which is smaller than you might think. The 3508 wasn’t about filling out the product catalogue with a refresh. It was about doing things that had never been done before to fit a task. The most over-engineered German thing since Kraftwerk. Apart from Lange splits, obviously.

This example appears original, moderately lived-in, and lovely. The case bears an average degree of surface wear, with light and more moderate marks here and there. The dial is lovely, original tritium and golden. Its hands have a few tritium pinholes, which should be noted. Can be repaired, can be stabilized, or can be left alone; that’s up to individual taste. It’s priced just about right and comes from a well-regarded Swedish retailer.