IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN HOSTS EXCLUSIVE EVENT WITH EILEEN GU AND PROFESSOR BRIAN COX AT TANK SHANGHAI ART CENTER

IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN HOSTS EXCLUSIVE EVENT WITH EILEEN GU AND PROFESSOR BRIAN COX AT TANK SHANGHAI ART CENTER

Schaffhausen/Shanghai, 28^th August, 2024: Ahead of Watches and Wonders Shanghai, IWC Schaffhausen organised an event at Tank Shanghai. The multi-functional art centre provided the perfect backdrop for an inspiring conversation between freestyle skier and university student Eileen Gu and renowned physicist Professor Brian Cox. After discussing their passion for science and delving into the concepts of time and eternity, they explored some of the highlights of IWC's new Portugieser collection, such as the Portugieser Eternal Calendar. To conclude the exclusive gathering, a string quartet performed "A Tribute to Eternity", a piece of music created by Academy Award®-winning composer Hans Zimmer and Professor Brian Cox, inspired by the new collection.

IWC Schaffhausen kicked off Watches and Wonders in Shanghai by hosting an exclusive event at TANK Shanghai, a non-profit art institution and multi-functional art centre. Located in the heart of Xuhui Riverfront along the Huangpu River, the centre is one of the city's most vibrant art and cultural landmarks. It consists of five former tanks that previously belonged to Shanghai Longhua Airport, one of China's first airports. Tank 5 provided the perfect setting for a conversation about time and eternity, as well as the passion for music and the engineering and craftsmanship behind the new Portugieser collection.

A PASSION FOR SCIENCE AND THE CONCEPT OF TIME

The Swiss luxury watch manufacturer brought together Eileen Gu and Professor Brian Cox. When not chasing new records on the slopes, Eileen Gu is a student of physics at the world-renowned Stanford University. Brian Cox is a professor of particle physics at the University of Manchester and one of the foremost scientific commentators. The two talked about their shared passion for science and physics. Eileen Gu pondered questions about the concepts of time and eternity with Professor Cox. She also shared with the audience that she once wrote a letter to her future self, in which she manifested winning a medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NEW PORTUGIESER COLLECTION

The duo delved into IWC's new Portugieser collection. Professor Brian Cox expressed his fascination for the Portugieser Eternal Calendar. He explained how human curiosity led to the observation of celestial movements, helping our understanding of the continuous passage of time and ultimately leading to the development of the Gregorian calendar we use today. Since Kurt Klaus engineered his ingenious perpetual calendar in the 1980s, IWC has gained unique expertise in creating calendars that accurately reflect the solar year. With its innovative 400-year gear and moon phase display designed to run accurately for over 45 million years, the Portugieser Eternal Calendar exemplifies the engineering approach that has defined IWC for over 150 years. Eileen Gu discussed her admiration for the new colours Horizon Blue, Dune, Obsidian and Silver Moon and the elaborately crafted dials. Reflecting the eternal cycle of day and night, the colours reminded her of the mysteries of time and the beauty of our universe. She was equally impressed with the craftsmanship that went into manufacturing the dials, which are made using a complex 60-step process. Applying 15 layers of transparent lacquer gives them tremendous visual depth.

PERFORMANCE OF "A TRIBUTE TO ETERNITY" BY A STRING QUARTET

Finally, Eileen Gu and Professor Brian Cox bonded over their mutual love of music. Eileen Gu is an enthusiastic piano player and also enjoys composing music. She even travels with a portable keyboard. Professor Brian Cox was a musician in various bands during the 1980s, and music is a significant part of his highly acclaimed live shows.

The event concluded with a beautiful performance of "A Tribute to Eternity" by a string quartet from Shanghai. The music was created in a collaboration between Academy Award^®-winning music composer Hans Zimmer and Professor Brian Cox, and is inspired by the new Portugieser collection and the Portugieser Eternal Calendar. Representing the mystery of time in musical form, its performance provided a fitting end to the event.

BRIAN COX

Brian is Professor of Particle Physics at the University of Manchester, The Royal Society Professor for Public Engagement in Science and a Fellow of the Royal Society. Brian is widely recognised as the foremost communicator for all things scientific, having presented a number of highly acclaimed science programmes for the BBC watched by billions internationally, including 'Adventures in Space and Time' (2021), 'Universe' (2021), 'The Planets' (2018), 'Forces of Nature' (2016), 'Human Universe' (2014), 'Wonders of Life' (2012), 'Wonders of the Universe' (2011) and 'Wonders of the Solar System' (2010). He also co-hosted popular astronomy and cosmology series 'Stargazing Live' with Dara O'Briain (and for ABC in Australia, with Julia Zemiro) and awardwinning BBC Radio 4 series 'Infinite Monkey Cage', which has gone on to become one of the UK's most popular podcasts. As an author, Brian has also sold over a million books worldwide including 'Black Holes', 'Universal: A Guide to the Cosmos', 'Quantum Universe' and 'Why Does E=mc2?' with co-author Professor Jeffrey Forshaw.

Brian has undertaken several sell-out live world tours, setting several Guinness World Records, including for the biggest selling science tour - a record he himself broke with his most recent worldwide tour, 'Horizons', which took in venues in the UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and across Europe and was performed to hundreds of thousands of people across the world.

EILEEN GU

After taking home two gold medals and one silver at the 2022 Winter Olympics, freeskier Eileen Gu became the only action sports athlete to win three medals at the same Olympic games. This made her the youngest freeski Olympic Gold medallist in history. The 20-yearold's achievements on snow also include a slew of other record-breaking performances, including being the first snowsport athlete to ever win three medals at both the 2021 XGames and FIS World Championships. Eileen was also the first female freeskier to land a double cork 1440 and an unnatural double cork 1620.

Eileen uses her voice to help foster cultural understanding and friendship through sports. As an ambassador for freeskiing in the US, China, and worldwide, she hopes to inspire young people, especially girls, to build confidence, break their own boundaries, and lead happier, healthier lives through sport. Named Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year 2023 and one of the TIME100 List of Most Influential People of 2022, Eileen has also been recognised for her efforts with the Vogue Aurora Award for female empowerment and the SuperELLE Youth Idol Award. She has been a keynote speaker at the espnW Women in Sport Summit, received the "Next Gen" Award from Apex for Youth Organization and been named a Global Ambassador by the Asia Society of Southern California. Eileen is an accomplished student and fashion model with covers on Vogue, ELLE, Harper's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and L'Officiel, among others, while also excelling academically as a full time student at Stanford University.

• Eileen Gu and Professor Brian Cox Event
• Professor Brian Cox
• Eileen Gu
• Eileen Gu and Professor Brian Cox Event

  String Quartet
• Eileen Gu
• Eileen Gu
• Eileen Gu and Professor Brian Cox Event

  (L-R: Franziska Gsell, CMO of IWC Schaffhausen, Professor Brian Cox, Eileen Gu, and Peter Lao, Managing Director of IWC Schaffhausen in China)