Franziska Gsell, CMO of IWC Schaffhausen: “You choose a watch for what it says of you”

Co-moderated by Cristina D’Agostino, editor-in-chief and founder of Luxury Tribune, and Félicitas Morhart, professor of marketing at HEC Lausanne and founder of the Swiss Center for Luxury Research, Franziska Gsell delivered much more than a simple branding exercise to the students. The central theme allowed the marketing director—who has held her position since 2015 at the Schaffhausen-based brand—to shed light on the strategies employed to design and evoke emotion over the long term through the brand’s watch industry creations and the brand universes that bring them to life.

This talk, held at HEC Lausanne on May 20 in front of about 100 students, took the form of a strategic discussion on the methods IWC employs to achieve this.

Franziska Gsell began by tracing the brand’s origins back to its founding by the American Florentine Ariosto Jones, a 27-year-old entrepreneur from Boston who came to Switzerland to introduce a centralized production model inspired by American industry.

She noted that, from the very beginning, the brand’s DNA has been rooted in this dual identity—as both watchmaker and engineer—and in the use of hydroelectric power, harnessed from the Rhine River in Schaffhausen, as the factory’s energy source. A story that IWC now brings to life in a corporate film screened during the conference, which anchors the brand in a vision of industrial innovation and long-term thinking. “We define ourselves as ‘The engineers of fine watchmaking,’” explained Franziska Gsell. “Engineering is at our core—not just in the technical sense, but understood as a mindset. It’s not reserved for trained engineers; it’s a way of thinking, of constantly improving things.”

This idea underpins the mission she articulates as follows: “to inspire and equip the engineers of tomorrow—understood as all those who shape the future, rather than as a mere demographic segment.”

Organized around five major collections—Portugieser, Pilot’s Watch, Ingenieur, Portofino,—each stems from a specific professional use (navigation, aviation, engineering, diving, etc.), but all are linked by a common design language. Franziska Gsell therefore emphasized the relationship between functional origins and contemporary design. The Ingenieur, for example, historically conceived as a tool watch for engineers, was redesigned in 1976 by star designer Gérald Genta. At the time, the watch was misunderstood. The brand even referred to it as a commercial failure. Today, in its contemporary reinterpretation, it is one of the pillars of the brand’s repositioning.

“We often talk internally about less but better. We come from the world of utilitarian and professional watches; our timepieces are functional, never over-decorated. It is this engineering simplicity that sets us apart. ”

This formal simplicity is complemented by another essential dimension of the brand’s narrative: technical experimentation. IWC works with materials such as titanium, ceramic, and innovative alloys developed in its experimental laboratory, right up to the latest creations like Ceralume, a luminous ceramic born from a challenge posed to the manufactory’s apprentices. “This is a good example of how we work,” she comments. “An idea from apprentices, four years of development, and ultimately a material innovation that perfectly expresses our engineering DNA.”

While IWC’s vocabulary is technical, the lecture reminded students that the core focus is, above all, emotional. When asked what distinguishes a mechanical watch from a smartwatch, Franziska Gsell was unequivocal: “A smartwatch is a device. You replace it or throw it away. A mechanical watch, on the other hand, is purely emotional. It’s crafted by human hands, often given as a gift on a special occasion, and it stays with you for a lifetime. A mechanical movement, if cared for properly, lasts forever. That is one of the most beautiful definitions of luxury.”

She also pointed out that luxury is not a vital necessity, and that this is precisely what gives it its symbolic dimension: “You can live without a luxury watch. That’s what makes the act of purchasing one so deeply emotional. You don’t need it, but you want it for what it says about you, for the story it carries.”

This tension between rational engineering and emotional attachment was at the heart of the evening’s theme: how IWC Schaffhausen engineers emotional resonance. The answer lies in a subtle balance between industrial precision, storytelling, and the ability to create shared moments—at a booth, in a movie theater, or in a boutique.

So what are the brand domains that bring IWC’s innovations to life? Navigation, aviation, auto racing, architectural design, and, more recently, space.

While aviation remains a historic pillar—with 90 years of archives of aviator watches—it is the move into space that most captivates the audience, particularly through the presentation of the new Pilot's Venturer Vertical Drive, designed without a crown and fully adjustable via the bezel so it can be operated while wearing a space suit with gloves.

“Why a mechanical watch in space, where everything is technology-driven?” people ask. Franziska Gsell replies: “Because an astronaut is still a human being. They need a tangible connection to their loved ones—to see, tracked on the dial of a mechanical watch, the mission time and the time back home on Earth.”

IWC is playing its part in this space exploration by collaborating with Vast, a startup that builds commercial space stations. The marketing director particularly emphasizes the decisive role of one woman, Hillary Coe, Chief Design and Marketing Officer at Vast, who is focused on making these habitats “livable” for four people isolated in orbit—considering the ergonomics of sleep in zero gravity, light perception, and stress management. This serves as a reminder that engineering—at IWC as well as among its partners—is never limited to technical performance alone.

At the same time, she noted that IWC continues to build on its long-standing partnership with Mercedes-AMG and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team. Formula 1 is described as “the pinnacle of engineering,” a full-scale laboratory for testing materials, durability, and concepts.

This partnership serves, in particular, as the foundation for a spectacular marketing campaign: IWC’s involvement in the Formula 1 movie starring Brad Pitt. 

“A film leaves a lasting impression,” she said. “When it’s rewatched or shared again, the brand resurfaces every time. It’s a way to create lasting momentum, beyond a seasonal campaign.”

One of the central concepts introduced during the evening was that of The Engineers Society, IWC’s new narrative platform, launched very recently. The challenge, according to Franziska Gsell, was to portray the figure of the engineer—often perceived as cold, technical, yet desirable and inclusive—without betraying the brand’s DNA. “We wanted to humanize the engineer. To show that he or she isn’t just a collection of formulas, but someone who tackles the impossible, who tries, makes mistakes, corrects them, and simply seeks to make things better.”

When asked by students about the apparent masculinity of these fields (racing, aviation, space), Franziska Gsell rejects the easy path of an opportunistic shift toward a suddenly “feminized” narrative: “There was a time when the slogan was Engineered for men. Today, that would be unthinkable. But that doesn’t mean we’re suddenly going to become a female brand. Who am I to tell you what watch size you should wear? On our website, you won’t find men’s or women’s watches as categories—only our collections with models featuring different sizes.”

On the question of brand ambassadors, the answer is just as clear-cut: “The ideal is to find personalities who already loved IWC before signing on. When the relationship is authentic, the conversation changes completely.”

She cites, in particular, the example of freestyle skier Eileen Gu, as well as the long-term partnership with Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One—a chapter that has now come to a close, but which paves the way for a new generation featuring George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.

For the students in attendance, the evening ended with a message of encouragement. “Have big dreams,” said Franziska Gsell. “The watch industry is a demanding place. But when an idea comes to life, when it resonates with people, it’s extraordinarily rewarding.”