Squash and tennis-playing with Ingenieur 3227-01

Hello folks,

Since a short while, I own a Ingenieur 3227-01. I am (also) lefthanded and wearing my IWC on my left wirst.

I also like to play squash and tennis. Can I wear the Ingenieur, playing squash and tennis?

Be reading,

Peter

Michael provided the correct answer about the technical part. Besides that, the watch isn't exactly light and has some sharp corners. It is very well possible that you hurt yourself or the opponent (more likely during squash than tennis :-)

I have worn my 322701 once while mountainbiking and found it very uncomfortable. Probably worse for my wrist than for the watch.

Kind regards,

Clemens (via iPhone)

This topic has been raised before. The general consensus is that while you can wear any watch while performing sports activity, why take the risk?
I am an avid tennis player and I always wear my digital Casio for that activity.

Hi Peter,

I'm currently testing the inge riding everyday my motorbike on pavements like this:

I don't know if there's a more dangerous activity than this one for a watch.

I'm keeping the watch on my wrist since two weeks relentlessly so far, the watch keeps going, being its performance costant during the period.

Note
I take this chance to beg pardon to the forum since I've never introduced this watch of mine but, as you can see, I'm "testing" it, I will be back with some further comments and a worthy presentation later on, in the next months.

The shock of playing golf tennis squash transmitted into a watch movement can do damage to all mechanical watches whether auto or HW. Better to take the watch off and put it with your wallet and keys in say the racket cover under the tin and the front wall. Why risk damage to an expensive watch. Roger Federer takes his Rolex day date off and puts it in his bag. Dare I suggest that he is a) not short of CHF US$ or GB£ and he can afford to buy them by the dozen and b) his ability to hit a clean shot that does not jar through the racket into his wrist and the watch is far greater than your efforts dare I suggest. Also a hard shock to a mechanical watch whether auto or HW can cause the balance spring to get snagged and the watch then gallops at a fast rate until the balance spring is released whether by a service or another shock. Also why do you want to give your nice watch a bath in your sweat? Would you rally a road going car over dirt roads such as a Merc or BMW let alone an Italian thoroughbred? Please reconsider where your good watches are when playing the likes of tennis or squash.

Greg,

I beg myself to differ in part, regarding the contents of your contribution, but especially regarding the attitude. We're talking about a contemporary watch made to perform in difficult environments, I wonder when should we use a tool watch like an ingenieur rather than in such circumstances?

A friend of mine owns several vintage watches, he wears them on a rotary basis, he really does everything with his watches (I'm definitely conservative compared to him) he, to my knowledge, never reported troubles to the performances of his watches, by the way, he's a watch mag journalist.

Why should we put at risk an expensive watch using it in harsh conditions? Why buy it then? Are we preserving the watch for its next owner? An inge it's made to be challenged!

@Alan: my dear friend, you're disappointing me, you own several IWC tool watches and you take a casio to play tennis? If I were you, I've never give up wearing my Inge while playing tennis. You may not have Roger Federer's first service but you'd beat him 6-0, 6-0 when it comes to class!

Ehm, actually this would happen even if he played wearing a Rolex :)

Roberto,
Any of the Ingenieurs on my wrist would totally change my balance on the tennis court. I would have to relearn my shots as my left arm would now weigh too much. lol
But seriously, I would have no problem wearing my watches while riding a bike or hiking or at elevation. But tennis or golf impart a tremendous force on a repeated basis. And in tennis I am always crashing into fences chasing after shots. So the Casio stays for that.

One other thought.
Playing squash would be even more dangerous. How many times does your arm hit the wall, your opponent or his racquet?
Enough said.

My very first job was with a Swiss watch importer, for Oris and caught balance springs and galloping timepieces came in 2 or 3 times a month and it used to make the Swiss service manager get steamed up with the treatment that some watches had received. Outside cases filthy with dirt sweat and congealed skin between the lugs, non waterproof watches showing aged water damage and watches bone dry of lubrication. Watches are fairly robust but they are not designed to carry on no matter what abuse we put them through. I remember him saying vehemently that golf tennis squash etc were not good for watches. An Ingie is designed for places of high magnetism, an AT for diving but no IWC that I know of is designed to be robust enough for using a hammer or playing games like tennis golf etc, remember when you hit the ball incorrectly how it can sting the hands or forearm and likewise that shock is transferred into the watch. I am am just repeating without the veheamance of the service manager as to what advice he imparted, but hey it's your watch and it's yours to treat kindly or abuse heavily or anywhere in-between.

Alan,

I know golf can be dangerous, but, more dangerous than wearing the watch while riding a motobike over a pavement I posted above? I mean, for kilometers and kilometers each day? I did the same with ref. 3717, the most precise watch I've ever had.

Regarding dings, scratches, blows etc. I just can reply with the words of this old claim: "Incredibly tough and more attractive, the older it gets. Like a man."

I understand and deeply respect your point of view and what also other worthy contributors wrote, I'm simply trying to add some "spirit" to the post, telling sincere my opinion. I'm still in the opinion an ingenieur demands to be mistreaded, it will ever reply tit for tat, this is not metaphore it's simply the quintessencial idea this great watch was built around.

One more thought, marine chronometers are more substantial than any watch as far as the movement is concerned, yet they were in a box and the clocks were set in gimbals. Even a modern ship let alone ancient sailing ship can be crashing through the waves and that shock must be less than anyone wielding a hammer or club or racket with the resultant blow being transferred into the watch movement. I would never want to abuse a road car to an off road rally and likewise a quality watch deserves to be treated with respect. Remember that rally cars only look like road cars, they are invariably costing hundreds of thousands each and very few components of the rally car are found in the road car available in the dealership.

Greg,

I deeply respect your opinion and I cannot say but you are right, playing golf is one of the hardest test a watch could face. I would split the issues you've mentioned in two different areas, those related to usual wear (like dirt traces etc) and those that really attempt the accuracy of the watch. In both cases any of these issues can be solved by a regular service. I'm not saying I treat any of the watch I own this way, I treat the Inge this way because, I don't remember what authoritative source said: "Caliber 80XXX is the most robust movement ever made by IWC"

IWC´s new flagship?

Let's make it this way, I will go on wearing my Inge while riding the bike over the streets of Rome, the place where all motorcycle companies come to test their veichles due to the particularly adverse pavements available. Next time I'll service my ref. 3227 I will honestly report its conditions before the watchmaker will put his hands on it.

Thank you everybody for this post and for the patience towards my comments :)

I have no problem with biking the streets of Rome or any other city. The vibrations transmitted are absorbed by your body and everything on it and I would venture a guess that the vectors and moments of force are not uniform or wholly directed at a point on your wrist. Not true of a golf shot.
And unless you plan on crashing, any squash court wall will endanger your watch significantly more than your motorbike.
Tag....your it.

As far as I am concerned, I still don´t know whether the Ing can be worn or not.
Of course it can be worn, walls can damage it, but will the watch stand out/ hold on, will it last or definitely be broke after the game?

I also remember seeing a promotional film by IWC, being a test of the cal 5000 in which the watch was hit by a kind of sledgehammer. That moment of impact was compared with I don´t recall, but it was something like 6000Nm???

Does anyone knows what does IWC think of it?

Be reading your thoughts with great interest.

Peter

I destroyed the sapphire crystal of a watch during a tennis match some years ago by hitting it with the racket. I learned not to wear watches during a tennis match since that experience.
Best regards
Dietmar

Wearing a watch like an Ingie whilst playing squash can result in injury to your opponent. Therefore it's a no brainer, do not wear it. What else do you need to think about for God's sake? If I was playing squash with you or anyone else I would ask you to remove the watch, if the reply was a refusal I would walk out of the court.

I used to play racquetball and every few weeks we would take someone to the ER with an eye or other injury. I can just imagine running smack into an ingenieur being swung around on an opponent's wrist. As Greg says...no thanks!