The 2016 Pilot’s Watch collection from Swiss luxury watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen offers a wide, balanced range of Pilot’s Watches stretching from the Big Pilot’s Heritage Watch to the stylish Mark XVIII and the elegant Pilot’s Watch Automatic 36. With the new Timezoner Chronograph, a simple twist is all it takes to change the timezone, making it the perfect world time watch for frequent travellers. The exclusive and emotional “Antoine de Saint Exupéry” and “Le Petit Prince” collections should also be a source of pleasure to many collectors this year.
“In 2016, we’re widening our range to include smaller Pilot’s Watches in the entry-level segment, without neglecting our traditional heritage,” explains Georges Kern, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen. “With our stylish Pilot’s Watch Mark XVIII and elegant Pilot’s Watch Automatic 36, we’re addressing women and men with slimmer wrists who have a penchant for elegance and understatement. At the same time, we’re producing the sizeable and authentic Big Pilot’s Heritage Watch, an observer’s watch that’s strongly reminiscent of the Big Pilot’s Watch of 1940. And this year, IWC is launching yet another world-first that fits in particularly well with the subject of flying: the Pilot’s Watch Timezoner Chronograph is the first timepiece where a new time zone, including the date, can be set merely by turning the bezel. And finally, as every year, we have the exclusive ‘Antoine de Saint Exupéry’ and ‘Le Petit Prince’ collections. Their appeal lies in their original design ideas, such as the special annual calendar.”
Ref. IW510301 (48mm)
Among the eye-catchers of the current collection are undoubtedly the Big Pilot’s Heritage Watch 55 (Ref. IW510401) and the Big Pilot’s Heritage Watch 48 (Ref. IW510301). They are clearly inspired by the historic observer’s watch, and not only because of their enormous case diameters of 55 and 48 millimetres.
Ref. IW510401 (55mm)
Christian Knoop, Creative Director at IWC Schaffhausen: “For us, it was vital from the start that the Heritage watches were true to the original – from the design of the dial and the colour of the luminescent numerals to the shape of the propeller-like hands and the riveted calfskin straps. It’s like jumping back in time to the pioneering age of aviation, except that we’ve got state-of-the-art IWC watch technology.” And that, apart from IWC-manufactured calibres, includes features such as a sliding clutch to protect hand-wound movements from overwinding, titanium cases and the soft-iron inner case as protection against magnetic fields. Christian Knoop: “Integrating protection against magnetic fields in the Big Pilot’s Heritage Watch 48 with its see-through back visibly combines our tradition and manufacturing expertise.”