Before Basel 2014 if someone had asked the WatchPro team to describe the aesthetic style of Victorinox’s watch collection we would have struggled.
While there are some nice individual pieces – the Alliance springs to mind – there was nothing to connect the dots, no overarching design language; in a word no flagship product.
The Inox changed all of that with a single design. Unashamedly inspired by the bold, structural work of Gerald Genta in the 1970s, the Inox answered a complex design brief with a deceptively simple, undoubtedly handsome steel watch.
With lugs that extend no further than the caseback itself, stamped dial features and a recessed sapphire crystal, the Inox will take a licking but keep on ticking. The Inox had to be capable of withstanding a barrage of 130 endurance tests from which it needed to emerge functional, rather than unscathed.
The Inox took them all in its stride, whether that was being driven over by a 64-tonne tank, dropped 10m from a building, set on fire or being spun on a two hour, 90c cycle in the washing machine. All the more impressive when you consider this was achieved by watch that retails for £329.
The Inox also sets a quality and style benchmark for all future Victorinox watches to live up to.