IWC Big Ingenieur 5005-01 Luxury Watch Review

http://www.thewatchbox.com From 2007 to 2012, the Big Ingenieur was the top dog in IWC's sports/professional "Ingenieur" lineup. Built in the image of the classic Gerald Genta "Ingenieur SL" of 1976 but scaled to modern tastes, the Big Ingenieur 5005-01 remains a stylish standout in the usually muted "technician's watch" segment. Any watch boasting an engineering heritage and engineer clientele needs movement to match, and the 45.5mm stainless steel Big Ingenieur offers one of IWC's best. The caliber 51113 is an in-house automatic that IWC proudly declared to be the world's largest of its kind. And the vast expanse of "Ingenieur"-ing is visible in rhodium-plated glory through the sapphire case back. The 51113 movement is built around IWC's historic Albert Pellaton pawl-based winding system. As a bi-directional winder, it prevents the unseemly "rotor wobble" exhibited by the (generally Valjoux-based) uni-directional winders of rival watch brands. Also highly efficient, the Pellaton system keeps the seven-day power reserve throughly energized when worn with regularity. IWC provides a seven-day power reserve gauge on the dial of the Big Ingenieur, but the movement holds a true capacity of eight days; IWC discovered that optimal precision and consistent torque are provided during the first seven days of discharge, so the mechanism locks itself when the final day of reserve is reached. This stored energy ensures that the IWC IW500501 has enough wind to instantly restart the