The IWC custom fidget spinner consists of a delicately designed base- and top plate. Four top plates are milled directly from a 50x50 mm brass slug with a height of 0.7 mm. Since the base plate features three integrated stick-like spacers (positioned on the far ends of the rotor-blade-shaped plate), each 3.8 mm high base-slug had to be milled down to 0.7 mm, except for those three hooks – a delicate and tricky process. “A constant correspondence with the colleagues from construction was absolutely essential to be able to adjust parameters right away,” Christian Stengele said. “After defining the miller’s cutting path, rotational speed and feed drive along with the clamping process, I set out to mill the first four plates. They turned out perfectly, so our initial wariness was ill-founded. The first and main challenge successfully mastered.”

As for the “Probus Scafusia” engraving on the fidget spinner, Christian programmed a special software and chose a specific milling tool with a tiny diamond top of 0.03 mm in diameter. The diamond ensured not only meticulously precise milling, but also a luxurious lustre and perfect readability of the engraving itself. With a rotation of 40,000 per minute, the 0.05 mm-deep engraving gets milled into the slug with a feed drive (Vorschub) of 200 mm per minute. For Christian, being involved in this project was something different: “I was not simply working on the manufacturing of a toy as I had previously assumed when I learned about the IWC fidget spinner,” he said. “But I was part of an exciting and fun engineering project that probably not many other watch manufacturers would pull off. It was a truly enjoyable, welcome challenge.”

The IWC Custom Fidget Spinner is manufactured in extremely limited editions and is, unfortunately, not available for sale.