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IWC Schaffhausen opens its own boutique on Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse

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September 2012


After only recently opening a store at Zurich airport in collaboration with the retailer Turler, IWC now opens a new store at Banhhofstrasse 61 in Zurich’s most prestigious shopping street, underscoring the importance of the domestic market to the renowned watch manufacturer and providing its timepieces with a fitting home in a top-class location.

“Men, your time will come” is the slogan which has for weeks been visible on the construction fence surrounding Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse 61 to create a certain anticipation among a predominantly male clientele. This time has now come as the brand’s new store opens to the public, presenting the universe that comprises six different watch families.

“Hardly anyone visits Zurich without coming to Bahnhofstrasse,” says Linus Fuchs, IWC Managing Director Switzerland. “We are delighted that we finally have the opportunity to present our philosophy and our mechanical masterpieces in a setting as exclusive as this one.” Visitors can look forward to viewing not only an extensive collection but also the very special models that are available only from IWC’s own boutiques.

The IWC store at Bahnhofstrasse 61, Zurich
The IWC store at Bahnhofstrasse 61, Zurich

IWC’s own designers have decorated the 60 square-metre sales floor to create an ambiance that adequately reflects the brand’s image, which marries simple designs with engineering and innovation. Dark wood, glass, chrome, leather and polished aluminium underline the brand’s technical aspirations and, combined together, create an atmosphere that is both elegant and inviting.

“For the first time in Switzerland we’ve implemented the new boutique design with a new lounge area,” explains Linus Fuchs. The prestigious premises, built in 1909, provide a fitting, tradition-steeped setting for IWC’s watch families—the Pilot’s watches, Portuguese, Ingenieur, Aquatimer, Da Vinci and Portofino—whose roots go back to the 20th century.

The interior of the IWC store at Bahnhofstrasse 61, Zurich
The interior of the IWC store at Bahnhofstrasse 61, Zurich

IWC Schaffhausen’s new display window concept underlines the importance of the themed worlds that go hand in hand with its watch families. These include the history of aviation, on which the Pilot’s Watches are founded, the Aquatimer diver’s watch family, which takes us on a fascinating voyage to the depths of the world’s oceans and the Da Vinci collection, a tribute to the eponymous universal genius of the Italian Renaissance. The Ingenieur models encapsulate advanced technology and engineering, while the picturesque little town of Portofino, which acted as magnet to the biggest names in show business in the 1950s and 1960s, provides the name for another much-loved watch family.

But since this year is the year of the pilot’s watch for IWC, it is this collection that takes pride of place in the first window displays at Bahnhofstrasse 61. The collection has been completely revised this year and extended to include the five models of the Top Gun collection. A variety of larger-than-life animated cockpit instruments and a simulated horizon provide a technically inspired backdrop to the popular Pilot’s Watches.