Engineers for a better world

Schaffhausen, February 2010 – With the challenges that face our planet, the world needs men like the environmental adventurer David de Rothschild – and companies like IWC Schaffhausen, whose active contribution to environmental protection is based on a firm belief in this cause.

IWC is supporting the Plastiki Expedition of David de Rothschild and his organisation Adventure Ecology. To commemorate this momentous partnership, IWC will launch an expedition-proof special edition within the Ingenieur family: the Ingenieur Automatic Mission Earth Edition “Adventure Ecology”.

This spring, Adventure Ecology founder and environmental storyteller David de Rothschild, along with his crew will sail approximately 10,000 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Sydney in a distinctive, one-of-a kind 60 foot catamaran made entirely of plastic bottles, srPET plastic and recycled waste products.

The boat is named “Plastiki”, taking inspiration from Thor Heyerdahl’s “Kon- Tiki” expedition of 1947. David de Rothschild with his organisation Adventure Ecology highlights the Earth’s environmental hotspots. Adventure Ecology’s primary mission is to captivate the imagination, raise global awareness and inspire and activate individuals, communities and industries towards a smarter, more sustainable planet 2.0 way of living by re-thinking their everyday actions.

IWC Schaffhausen is supporting Adventure Ecology and is the official partner of the forthcoming Plastiki Expedition. “The partnership with IWC Schaffhausen is one of great significance to Adventure Ecology”, says David de Rothschild.

“IWC Schaffhausen is leading the way within its industry by addressing climate protection. Thanks to efforts in improving its environmental track record, IWC has been certified a carbon neutral enterprise. This ongoing commitment is to be commended, and Adventure Ecology is excited to have been able to secure IWC’s support for the Plastiki adventure.” During this extraordinary journey, the Plastiki will sail through a number of fragile and environmentally challenged regions.

This audacious and bold adventure aims to inspire and encourage positive and responsible actions in favour of our planet. “With his Plastiki expedition, David de Rothschild hopes to bring to our attention how carelessly we treat our waste and the devastating effect that it has on the planet and its oceans.

As a company which holds the environment dear, IWC is very proud of David de Rothschild and of the fact that, with our support, he is using his adventurous voyage to show the consequences of the modern way of life and providing an impetus for innovative suggestions of how to solve the ecological problems of our age,” states Georges Kern, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen. In tribute to Adventure Ecology’s latest adventure, IWC is launching a new watch in stainless steel named the Ingenieur Automatic Mission Earth Edition “Adventure Ecology”.

Quite appropriately, it is from the very watch family whose Engineers for a better world Ingenieur Automatic Mission Earth Edition “Adventure Ecology” certified qualities made it the first to earn the “expedition-proof” rating from IWC. The limited edition will accompany David de Rothschild and his crew during the 4-month Plastiki expedition across the Pacific Ocean.

For whatever an adventurer endures, whether in the ice fields of Alaska, the tropical rainforest of the Amazon or the deserts of Africa, the watch can endure it, too. Furthermore, it has been constructed to be significantly more robust and tested more rigorously than any other IWC watch. More than 30 extreme tests ensure its superior endurance properties, and they include: – climate tests at temperatures between –20°C and +70°C and at varying humidity levels up to 95 %, also abrupt changes in temperature – long-term corrosion tests on the case, strap and seals in an aggressive solution of water, salt and chlorine – shock tests following an IWC specific test programme which covers both high-force impacts and continuous vibrations over a period of days – multiple water-resistance tests up to 12 bar for each completed watch – magnetic field tests for the soft iron inner case, which protects the movement in extremely strong magnetic fields of up to 80,000 A/m.

The new model Ingenieur Automatic Mission Earth Edition “Adventure Ecology”, manufactured carbon neutrally in Schaffhausen, is therefore a watch that is particularly sustainable, namely through a design which guarantees an extremely long life. A newly developed, larger and even more robust steel case holds an automatic mechanism which has been crafted to meet the highest quality criteria.

Specifically, it is the IWC manufactured 80110 calibre movement with a Pellaton winding mechanism and integrated shock absorbers. The screw-in back cover along with a sapphire glass which is antireflective on both sides and new flank protection for the screw-in crown make it sturdy enough to withstand all the world can throw at it, even when on the wrist of an adventurer in the midst of an expedition.

The special edition has more than one unique signifying characteristic: with its blue dial and orange markers, it exclusively represents David de Rothschild’s Plastiki mission, which is also referenced in the intricate engraving of Adventure Ecology’s expedition logo on the back cover. In keeping with the environmentally conscious nature of the mission, IWC has rethought its packaging and now presents this special edition in an environmentally friendly watch box.