Is IWC a Good Watch Brand?

The simple answer to the question “is IWC a good watch?” is yes, International Watch Co. is a legitimate high-end Swiss watch brand, and no knowledgeable watch collector would laugh at anybody for wearing one. They’re priced similarly to brands like Rolex and Omega, and whether IWC is “better” than those brands depends on what you’re looking for in a watch. There is some legitimate criticism of the brand, but if you like chronographs (particularly pilot-style ones) and don’t mind large watches, there are a lot of good watch options to check out from IWC.

Does IWC Have a Good History?

First I’ll quickly go over IWC’s backstory. In 1868, Florentine Ariosto Jones, a young watchmaker and engineer from Massachusetts, previously worked as deputy director at E. Howard & Co., one of Boston’s leading watchmakers. Thanks to Aaron Lufkin Dennison, Massachusetts had become the birthplace of industrial watch production in the 1850’s–but Swiss manufacturing precision would remain far superior for decades. Jones wanted to combine American industrial production techniques with the craftsmanship of Swiss watchmakers, and ultimately export high quality watches to the United States. He succeeded.

Jones founded the International Watch Company (IWC) in Schaffhausen, Switzerland largely because of the river (and thus hydropower) accessible there. Back then, factories largely relied on physical water flow for power, but in the 1880’s IWC became an early adopter of electrification. And in 1885 IWC made watchmaking history with the “Pallweber”–the first watch ever made with a digital display (meaning numerical, not electronic). While they’ve never been the world’s biggest watch brand, IWC has managed to remain relevant. Today they are (barely) one of the top 10 luxury watch brands in the world by sales.

IWC is a Good Watch or Overpriced?

One of the most frequent complaints about IWC is that their watches are overpriced, especially considering that some of them have common ETA or Sellita movements. This gripe isn’t entirely unfounded, but as of 2025, IWC has almost entirely phased out ETA and Sellita movements in favor of in-house calibers. The only Sellita-based movements left in the 2025 IWC catalog are the 40mm Portofino Automatic and Pilot’s Watch Automatic 36. And yes, those models seem overpriced at their current $5,000ish list prices, but I expect an update very soon. There’s really no reason to dwell on the “ETA/Sellita-based” aspect when it comes to IWC anymore.

For reference, IWC offers their well-finished and in-house-movement-powered IW378005 chronograph model for $7,000 on a leather strap. That’s not unreasonable these days, considering a Breitling Avenger B01 Chronograph 44 lists for $7,150. But for less than the IWC you could get a skeletonized Norqain with flyback chronograph functionality, so they’re not exactly value leaders either.

It’s worth noting that IWC has been making some amazing technical achievements in the six-figure luxury watch realm lately. The 2024 IWC releases included an eternal calendar, which is a mindblowingly intricate complication that fully compensates for leap year exceptions (like no leap years when the year ends in 00). And among the 2025 IWC releases was a tourbillon watch that can withstand over 10,000 G’s of acceleration. Richard Mille is the only other brand to ever achieve that.

What’s the Best IWC?

The best luxury watch to get is always the one you like best (that you can afford), but it does help to understand the basics of the IWC families:

• Portugieser – Clean all-around everyday watches. Formerly known as the IWC Portuguese, these watches have big clean dials, and they sit right on the line of sporty and dressy. Probably the best IWC to make a one-watch collection.
• Ingenieur – If you’re into luxury watches with integrated bracelets, the IWC Ingenieur is an excellent alternative to the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak.
• Pilot’s Watches – You could make the case that pilot watches are what IWC is best known for. The Mark XX line (and the earlier Marks that preceded it) is the most straightforward B-Uhr-inspired design, and the Pilot’s Chronograph is also very clean. The classic Big Pilot models are indeed massive (over 46mm), as is the 7-day power reserve, but the newer Big Pilot 43 is a bit more modest in size (and power reserve). “Top Gun” and “Spitfire” are sub-families of the Pilot’s Watch lineup with distinct visual cues. Notably, John Mayer used to wear an IWC Big Pilot so much that his road crew called him “Big Pilot,” and it seems to have been the watch that got him into watch collecting.
• Aquatimer – IWC’s dive watch lineup. Dive watches aren’t really what IWC is known for, but for that reason, if you’re looking for luxury watches under $5,000 there are many variants of the Aquatimer to choose from.
• Portofino – Straightforward dress watch lineup. Perfectly fine I suppose.
• Da Vinci – Discontinued dress watch lineup, usually featuring dainty or movable lugs. This family was also known for high complications. Kurt Klaus’s legendary button-free perpetual calendar movement originally debuted in an IWC Da Vinci, for instance. From an horological value perspective, a solid gold pre-owned Da Vinci perpetual calendar moonphase model–which can be found for well under $10,000–is very tough to beat.

What is EasX-CHANGE?

IWC offers an excellent quick-change strap system with a terrible name: EasX-CHANGE allows users to swap straps and bracelets on compatible IWC watches easily and without tools. This system is featured on several recent models, including the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41, Big Pilot 43, and the Mark XX, among others. The company who owns IWC, Richemont, is the same conglomerate who owns Cartier, Panerai, and Jaeger-LeCoultre, so it makes sense that you can find similar quick-release functionality on all of those brands’ watches.

Is an IWC Watch a Good Investment?

We never recommend buying a watch strictly as an “investment,” but if you buy right, an IWC should hold its value adequately. If you’re buying new, I’d recommend aiming for a discount, but pre-owned IWC prices are often quite favorable for buyers. Basically, IWC is an excellent choice if you’re looking for a pilot’s watch in the $5,000-$10,000 range.

And you can’t go wrong with a Portuguese/Portugieser if you simply want to have one clean all-around watch, or a Da Vinci if you want something complicated. Personally I’m partial to the current Ingenieur lineup, which is based on a Gerald Genta design from 1976, because I love integrated bracelets.

The Portofino gets ignored, but so do most dress watches. And while few people would take an IWC Aquatimer over a Rolex Submariner, there are some pretty cool pre-owned examples that can be found for under $3,000. IWC may not be as hot as they were 20-25 years ago–when there was far less competition in the luxury watch space–but there’s no reason to overlook them. They seem to be on the right track in recent years.