OLYMPIC CHAMPION EILEEN GU RETURNS TO WATCHES AND WONDERS GENEVA WITH IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN
Schaffhausen/Geneva, 1st April 2025: As IWC Schaffhausen unveils its new Ingenieur collection, Eileen Gu joins the Swiss luxury watch manufacturer at Watches and Wonders Geneva. Following her attendance at the launch of the Ingenieur Automatic 40 in 2023, Eileen’s return highlights her continued journey as an IWC brand ambassador.
On the opening day of Watches and Wonders Geneva, two-time Olympic champion freestyle skier and IWC brand ambassador Eileen Gu made a celebrated return. During her visit, Eileen was welcomed by CEO Chris GraingerHerr and Chief Marketing Officer Franziska Gsell who showed her around the booth. As Eileen toured the booth, she explored IWC Schaffhausen’s new Ingenieur models, including new sizes, materials, colours, and complications. The booth features minimalist architecture and design, following the Ingenieur’s principle of “Form und Technik”, enriched with black and gold elements. The black and gold are a nod to the new Ingenieurs in black ceramic and gold.
In 2023, Eileen attended the fair as it launched the Ingenieur Automatic 40; a luxury sports watch with an integrated bracelet revisiting the emblematic design of Gérald Genta’s Ingenieur SL, Reference 1832, from the 1970s. Speaking about her return, Eileen shared: “I attended the fair when IWC Schaffhausen launched the Ingenieur Automatic 40 two years ago, so it is exciting to be back as the brand expands the collection. The new timepieces beautifully complement it. IWC has always been about precision, innovation, and pushing boundaries. This continues to be evident in everything they do, and it really inspires me as an athlete!”
On her wrist, she wore the new Ingenieur Automatic 35 (Ref. IW324903) with an 18-carat 5N gold 35-millimetre case and bracelet, completed with a gold-coloured dial. It impresses with highly detailed finishing. Adding texture and reflecting light beautifully, it features a combination of satin-finished and polished surfaces. Another hallmark feature is the elaborately crafted dial with a characteristic “Grid” pattern.
Reaffirming her admiration for IWC, Eileen talked with its watchmakers, gaining insights into the engineering and craftsmanship behind the latest timepieces. Her presence at Watches and Wonders Geneva further cements her close relationship with IWC Schaffhausen, which began in 2021. As a champion athlete, model, and advocate for youth empowerment, Eileen Gu embodies IWC’s ambition, precision, and pursuit of excellence.
EILEEN GU
Eileen represents a unique intersection of sports, fashion, and education to empowered youth and families across the globe. Eileen Gu made history at the 2022 Winter Olympics, securing two golds and a silver medal, becoming the only action sports athlete to clinch three medals in a single Olympic event. At age 18, she set the record for the youngest Olympic gold medallist in freestyle skiing. Eileen’s extraordinary feats extend beyond the Olympics; she’s the first snowsport athlete to claim three medals at both the 2021 XGames and FIS World Championships and the inaugural female freeskier to execute a double cork 1440 and unnatural double cork 1620 in competition. Eileen also currently holds the win record for any freeski athlete, male or female, with 18 FIS World Cup victories. In her FIS World Cup career, she has an astounding 67% win percentage and has podiumed in 89% of her World Cup starts.
In recognition of her exceptional accomplishments, Eileen was named “Action Sportsperson of the Year” at the 2023 Laureus World Sports Awards. In 2022, she made the TIME100 Most Influential People List and won two ESPYs: Best Breakthrough Athlete and Best Action Sports Athlete.
Eileen is not just a champion on the slopes but also a voice for young people, particularly girls. Her advocacy for female empowerment earned her the Vogue Aurora Award in 2019. Her role as a cultural conduit through sport was evident when she was named an ambassador for the 2022 Beijing Olympics, 2024 Gangwon Youth Olympics, 2024 Paris Olympics, and Salt Lake City 2030 Olympic Bid.
Eileen is an outstanding full-time student at Stanford University. Most recently, she was admitted to Stanford’s selective study abroad program at Oxford University, where she spent autumn of 2024.
IWC Schaffhausen is the Engineer of Watchmaking. In 1868, the American watchmaker and engineer Florentine Ariosto Jones established the ‘International Watch Company’ in Schaffhausen in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. By combining the best of human craftsmanship and creativity with cutting-edge industrial technology and processes, he laid the foundation for IWC’s unique engineering approach to watchmaking.
IWC’s distinctive and pure design is brought to life through collections ranging from elegant dress watches to sports and luxury sports watches, notably the Portugieser, Portofino, Pilot’s Watches and Ingenieur. Over its more than 150-year history, IWC has earned a reputation for creating professional instrument watches and functional complications, especially chronographs and calendars, which are ingenious, robust and easy to use.
A pioneer in the use of titanium and ceramic, IWC specializes in performance materials such as Ceratanium®. IWC’s advanced engineering division XPL develops technologies that enhance the durability of mechanical watches and extend their applications to environments with extreme conditions such as jet aviation and human spaceflight.
IWC is a leader in luxury watchmaking, crafting timepieces built to last for generations and continuously improving every aspect of how it manufactures, distributes and services its watches responsibly. Empowering the next generation of engineers, the brand also partners with organizations that work globally to support children and young people. IWC. EngineeredTM.