This week at the SIHH, the Schaffhausen-based watchmaker unveiled their new range of pilot’s watches. The 2012 is dedicated to the IWC Pilot’s Collection and good people from IWC completely reworked the entire range of Pilot’s family. They uplifted this range with more manufacturer movements and reworked some details of existing products.
New IWC Pilot’s Watches: IW387802, IW502902 and IW501902
This year’s focus theme will be the TOP GUN range, named after the former location of the US Navy Fighter Weapons School where the myth of the elite pilots was born. With five new models, this range establishes itself as an independent formation within the Pilot’s Collection. First, we have two Top Gun Miramar watches: the Big Pilot’s Watch TOP GUN Miramar and the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph TOP GUN Miramar. They are both housed in beautiful dark gray ceramic cases with titanium case backs.
Also, they are both attached to vintage-military-styled green textile straps, ending with buckles made from titanium. Top Gun Miramar timepieces feature IWC-in-house made movements, with the Chronograph model showcasing the new Caliber 89365 Flyback Chronograph, and the largest IWC manufactured Caliber 51111 mechanical movement with Pellaton winding system that will continue running for a week when fully wound.
IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph TOP GUN Miramar - IW388002
These watches are inspired by the valuable history of military watches. Each of them boasts minute indicators on the outer ring of their military-styled dials. Their dials combine specific camouflage colors, such as beige for the hands and chapter ring, alongside with a matte anthracite surface.
Pilot’s Watch Chronograph TOP GUN Miramarhas a charming cockpit-styled vertical triple date window which is situated at the 3 o’clock position, while at the same position, on the Big Pilot’s Watch TOP GUN Miramar’s dial, there is a 7 day power reserve indicator. Both models feature red hour inner-rings with red Arabic numerals.
The two remaining TOP GUN models: Big Pilot’s Watch TOP GUN and Pilot’s Watch Chronograph TOP GUN come in stylish black ceramic cases. Their case backs, crowns and pushers are crafted from skin-friendly titanium. They are attached to extremely comfortable black soft straps, ending with titanium buckles.
IWC Pilot's TOP GUN Watch IW501901
IWC Pilot's Chronograph TOP GUN Watch IW388001
Another novelty is a traveler’s timepiece – Pilot Worldtimer that features a new 24 hour timing system which allows you to see the time in 24 different time zones at the same time. In addition to the 24-hour ring, this newcomer has the city ring which bears the names of 23 places around the globe and each of them represents one particular time zone. It is housed in a large 45 mm stainless steel case and equipped with the Caliber 30750 mechanical movement that provides the sufficient power-reserve of 42 hours.
IWC Pilot’s Watch Worldtimer - IW326201
In the year of Pilot’s Watches, we will see two Perpetual Calendar models: the new Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar TOP GUN, as well as the Spitfire Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month Watch. The first one is equipped with the in-house manufactured caliber 51614 mechanical movement with a high-performance Pellaton winding system. It is IWC’s largest and most efficient automatic winding system that preserves amazing 168 hours of power reserve.
IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar TOP GUN - IW502902
The Spitfire Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month is the flagship of the completely Spitfire range. It is the first IWC Pilot’s timepiece to feature a digital display showing the date and month in large numerals. This Spitfire in its red gold case combines tasteful design with the art of watchmaking at its finest.
IWC Spitfire Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month - IW379103
People from IWC reworked the entire classic range of Pilot’s watches. They all got a couple of new dial details, as well as the new reworked proportion. A significant change is a cockpit-styled vertical triple date window instead of a classic looking date aperture. The new Pilot’s Chronograph Watch comes with increased case diameter which is now 43 mm instead of the previous 42 mm. This model boasts a new metal bracelet fitted with micro-adjustment. It has 6 mm adjustment which is very comfortable to adjust your watch in summer and winter use.
New IWC Pilot’s Watches: IW326504, IW377801 and IW326201
The Spitfire Chronograph models in 18-karat red gold or stainless steel are for the first time ever equipped with the IWC-manufactured Caliber 89365 mechanical movements. The redesigned Spitfire chronographs are now capable of holding full 68 hours of power reserve. The previous models preserved 44 hours of power reserve.
The new Pilot’s Watch Mark XVII with the diameter of 41 mm is 2 mm larger than its predecessor – the Mark XVI.
IWC Pilot’s Watch Mark XVII - IW326501
In 2012, the IWC Pilot’s Collection comprises 12 remarkable timepieces. There are a few new and exquisite models that I cannot wait to put on my wrist, and we also have some reworked and redesigned classic models. All pilot’s watches are now powered by in-house manufactured movements and I dare say that they look much more attractive than the previous models.
SIHH 2012 – New IWC Pilot’s Watches review was published on Watchalyzer on January 26, 2012
