Andy Devaney
At Watches and Wonders 2026 in Geneva, George Russell arrived with the neat, clipped precision of a man who spends his weekends threading racing cars through impossibly small gaps, while Eileen Gu brought the sort of cool authority that makes even a room full of luxury watches seem slightly underdressed. Together, the two IWC Schaffhausen ambassadors gave the brand’s latest showcase something every grand exhibition needs but not all of them get: pulse.
This was not merely a celebrity stop-by with a few polished smiles and some expensive wristwear catching the light. George Russell and Eileen Gu were folded directly into IWC’s wider story, one built this year around two milestones: 90 years of Pilot’s Watches and a bold attempt to push that aviation heritage beyond the sky and into space.
That gave the whole affair a bit more substance than the usual parade of velvet ropes and careful handshakes.
A Geneva booth with lift-off on its mind
IWC’s booth in Geneva leaned unapologetically into space exploration. Its architecture took inspiration from a space station, visitors were treated to a sweeping view of Earth as seen from orbit, and at the centre stood a sculpture of the Little Prince, tying all that technical ambition to a gentler idea of curiosity and wonder.
It could have been absurd. In lesser hands, it might have looked like an airport lounge designed after a strong espresso and a science-fiction binge. Instead, it held together rather well.
George Russell and Eileen Gu were welcomed by IWC Schaffhausen CEO Chris Grainger-Herr and Chief Marketing Officer Franziska Gsell, who guided them through the new collections and the thinking behind them. That mattered. Russell and Gu were not there simply to wear the watches. They were there to engage with the engineering, the stories and the design language, which is a far better look for everyone involved.
For Gu, it marked a return to the globally renowned exhibition. For George Russell, it was a first visit, and perhaps fittingly so. Formula One drivers and watchmakers tend to understand one another. Both live in the land of fine tolerances, split-second decisions and the occasional catastrophe if someone gets lazy.
Eileen Gu gives the moment warmth
If George Russell supplied the precision, Eileen Gu gave the story air and colour.
Gu has already built the sort of sporting record that makes most careers look like administrative errors. With another Olympic gold medal in Halfpipe and two Olympic silver medals in Slopestyle and Big Air, she has cemented her status as the most decorated freestyle skier in the history of the sport. She knows a thing or two about balance, execution and performing under the sort of pressure that makes the average person struggle to open a yoghurt.
In Geneva, she also understood the mood immediately.
“I always look forward to visiting the IWC family in Geneva. Every year they create a truly immersive experience, and this time, the concept and storytelling have been especially inspiring. You really feel like you are looking out into space, and you can’t help but think of all of the possibilities we have yet explore,” explained Eileen Gu.
That quote captures why Gu matters in a setting like this. Some athletes bring status. She brings imagination.
She wore the Portofino Automatic 34 Day & Night Le Petit Prince, the first Le Petit Prince edition outside the Pilot’s Watches collection, and seemed genuinely taken with its detail and spirit.
“I am thrilled to see that the little fellow has made his way into the Portofino collection. Seeing him standing on the small moon here is such a charming detail, and a reminder that you should never lose your sense of curiosity and always keep exploring the world around you.”
That sense of curiosity ran right through the event. It was in the booth, in the collection, and in the contrast between Gu’s emotional reading of the watches and George Russell’s more technical one.
George Russell finds familiar ground in IWC’s engineering
George Russell, for his part, looked exactly where he ought to look: comfortable around machinery designed to do difficult things beautifully.
The Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS driver wore the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 Le Petit Prince, one of the key pieces in IWC’s new collection. It was an apt fit. Russell’s day job requires ruthless clarity, sharp instrument reading and the ability to stay calm while the world goes sideways at alarming speed. Pilot’s watches have always lived on similar principles. Strip away the polish and the marketing and you are left with legibility, function and trust.
Russell put it succinctly.
“I really like the presence this 41-millimetre chronograph with a deep blue dial has on my wrist. This piece masterfully combines the characteristic, highly legible instrument design of a Pilot’s Watch with the more emotional side of aviation and the story of one of the greatest aviation pioneers. It’s an unexpected yet very IWC combination that simply works,” Russell commented.
That last phrase is doing a lot of work. “Simply works” is one of the highest compliments available in motor racing and, frankly, in life.
What helped the article breathe, though, was that George Russell did not dominate the day alone. Gu remained a constant, and the pairing worked because they brought different energies to the same room. Russell found the mechanical logic. Gu responded to the storytelling. Between them, IWC got both halves of its argument across.
The watch that caught both their eyes
One of the novelties that genuinely drew in both George Russell and Eileen Gu was the Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar ProSet, the first perpetual calendar that can be adjusted both forward and backward through a single position of the crown.
For people who do not spend their evenings discussing complications over candlelight, that may sound like a niche pleasure. In watchmaking terms, it is a serious technical leap. Perpetual calendars are brilliant things, but they are not usually known for being forgiving. Making one more intuitive is the kind of improvement that tends to impress people who understand how much trouble it probably caused to achieve.
Russell certainly saw it that way.
“The story of IWC engineering a calendar that can be adjusted in both directions, as easy and intuitive as setting the time, that is the kind of precision I can relate to as a racing driver. It is like setting yourself the ultimate goal in watchmaking and then working consistently and passionately to achieve it.”
Again, it was useful to have Gu alongside him. Russell translated the feat through the language of racing precision. Gu, by her presence and her broader sporting profile, gave the moment a wider appeal. She is not there as decoration. She helps turn a technical product story into a cultural one.
Two athletes, two disciplines, one shared idea
There was a broader point to the George Russell and Eileen Gu pairing beyond star power.
Russell comes from a world of grids, data, regulations and unforgiving margins. Gu comes from a sport where creativity and risk live side by side, where athletic control meets instinct in mid-air. One is all precision under pressure. The other is precision disguised as freedom. Put them together in a watch environment and the overlap becomes obvious.
That is why the event worked as a sports story rather than just a luxury one.
George Russell gave IWC a direct line to performance, discipline and the clean edge of Formula One. Eileen Gu gave it grace, range and the kind of global relevance luxury brands love to talk about but do not always earn. Together, they made the booth feel less like a display and more like a statement about how modern sport, craft and storytelling can actually speak to each other.
Miami on Russell’s mind, Geneva in Gu’s stride
The timing added another layer. Russell’s Geneva appearance came with the Formula One season already in motion and the Miami Grand Prix looming. He described Miami as one of his favourite tracks on the calendar, highlighted the tight and technical final section, and pointed to the overtaking opportunities that make it one of the more engaging modern venues.
He said he is “feeling good and confident” and “ready to go for it again” after the enforced break. He also noted the season has “started off really, really well,” despite a challenge in Japan, and credited the new regulations and engine package as better aligned to the team’s strengths.
He praised teammate Kimi Antonelli as an “incredibly quick driver” with a strong start and reflected on his own journey in seeing young talent come through. That gave Russell’s appearance some extra weight. He is no longer merely the young driver with promise. He is becoming one of the figures through whom a team explains itself.
Eileen Gu’s role in Geneva was different but no less important. She broadened the frame. With her there, the event did not feel like a Formula One detour into Swiss luxury. It felt bigger than that: a meeting point between elite sport, design, ambition and personality.
IWC’s story now reaches beyond the sky
All of this comes just after IWC Schaffhausen launched its Pilot’s Venturer Vertical Drive, a timepiece built specifically to meet the demands of spaceflight. Developed in partnership with Vast, the company behind Haven-1, set to become the world’s first commercial space station, the watch has now received space qualification for flight on Haven-1.
That gives the Geneva showcase real backbone. The orbital backdrop and the space-station design are not there simply to look clever. They are attached to a serious new direction.
In orbit, where spacecraft circle Earth roughly every 90 minutes, precise and functional timekeeping is not a luxury flourish. It is part of how life is structured. That makes IWC’s storytelling feel less fanciful and more grounded than it might first appear.
It also helps explain why George Russell and Eileen Gu were so effective as ambassadors for this chapter. Russell embodies precision, control and relentless refinement. Gu represents curiosity, elegance and the refusal to see limits as fixed. One speaks to engineering. The other speaks to possibility. IWC needs both.
Franziska Gsell, Chief Marketing Officer of IWC Schaffhausen, put it plainly: “It was a genuine joy to welcome Eileen and George to Geneva this year. What never ceases to amaze me is how deeply they engage with what we do – the engineering, the craftsmanship and the stories behind every watch. Their curiosity and passion are a perfect reflection of the spirit we try to put into each and every timepiece we create.”
The final word
The smart thing IWC did in Geneva was not simply to put famous people next to fine watches and hope for the best. It built a story with enough texture to hold them both.
George Russell brought the steel. Eileen Gu brought the light. He gave the occasion competitive edge and mechanical credibility. She gave it warmth, imagination and a wider cultural reach. Together, they turned Watches and Wonders 2026 into something more than a trade fair cameo.
And that, in the end, is why George Russell worked so well here without Eileen Gu fading into the wallpaper. He may have been the lead name, but she remained part of the rhythm throughout, which made the whole thing sharper, more human and a good deal more memorable.
