Behind the Celebration of IWC Schaffhausen’s ‘Brilliant Failure’

“The partnership for the upcoming Apple F1 movie, in which Brad Pitt wears a rather unique IWC watch. It was a customised watch, so you can’t really buy it but everyone in the watch community was talking about it,” says executive creative director Jörg Waschescio. He explains that the watch was based on a model of a green IWC Ingenieur from 1976, also known as the IWC Reference 1832. “We have noticed quickly that there is a demand for the potential there so we started developing ideas for a spot.”

The agency Scholz & Friends came together quickly with IWC Schaffhausen to tell the story of the IWC Reference 1832 – designed by renowned watch designer Gérald Genta. In the film – as in the real world, the IWC Ingenieur – originally conceived in the 1950s as a tool watch for engineers – failed to gain commercial traction among its intended target group. It was not until the early 21st century that the model was rediscovered by a new generation. The film intertwines this historical arc with the story of a race car driver, shedding light on the origins of the unique green Ingenieur worn by Sonny Hayes, Brad Pitts’ character in the movie.

IWC's strategic brand planner Tom Scheuring was deeply involved in the development of the film. He thinks it was important to use it as an opportunity to further expand the brand awareness for IWC through the piece. “We used the F1 movie and the hype around the watch as an entry point to establish our brand further and also speak to a bigger mass. It’s more about bringing our message across and making people understand what we stand for and less about calling for people to buy the product directly.”

Both Jörg and Tom have previously worked with director Rune Milton on the first big IWC film ‘Born of a Dream’ in 2020. The film told the founding story of IWC similar to this epic documentary. “We were very successful with the last film. Through that earned the trust to work more freely on this second one. We focused on creating a feeling more than anything else.”

IWC Schaffhausen has been the official engineering partner of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One™ Team since 2013, which holds the record for the most consecutive constructors' titles.

IWC and the world of Formula 1 share many similar values and qualities, which is why the watch company enjoys collaborating with the sport, Tom highlights. “Engineering has always been on the forefront of what we do. Our product is all about mechanical innovation. Since the start of IWC in 1868 we have had moments where we found direct inspiration in racing and even found mechanical solutions from it.”

The research for the ‘Brilliant Failure’ spot took extensive time and effort, Jörg says, further explaining the production process. “We were checking with our IWC historian Dr. David Seyffer and the Genta family that the story was factually correct."

Getting everybody on board, was a must he says. “Telling Gérald Genta’s story for IWC is a bit like filming Walt Disney’s story for Disney. It is a big thing, so we had to make sure everything was correct.”

The team also focused on the smallest details while filming. Jörg says: “We wanted to create something of real quality. The costumes, the set design, the colours, everything has been thought through. We even asked Gérald’s family what ties he used to wear.”

Jörg thinks the films are a real staple in explaining IWC as a luxury watch brand. “75% of brand communication in this film is indirect. The story, the setting, the design everything speaks for itself and lets people know what IWC is about.”

Tom says that with long projects like these it is less about short term commercial impact and more about long term brand recognition. “We want to expand our IWC world and share the magic that we associate with it. Projects like these give you a bit more space to be creative and share our message.”