Day one at Le Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, or SIHH as it’s known, was dominated by IWC’s extensive new collection of Pilot’s Watches, including a 55mm monster, a series of charming pieces made to raise funds for the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation, and the smallest pilot’s watch the brand has made in living memory.
IWC Big Pilot’s Heritage Watch 55 & Big Pilot’s Watch Annual Calendar Edition “Le Petit Prince”
The Big Pilot’s Watch Heritage 55 is a nostalgic nod to a piece from the past, the IWC 52 T.S.C, an observer’s watch made in 1940 that gave flight to the Schaffhausen company’s relationship with aviation.
Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Edition “Antoine de Saint Exupéry” & Pilot’s Watch Automatic 36
The new piece is the spit of the original – but with a couple of concessions to modern aesthetics. First is the addition of a small seconds at 6 o’clock; the second a case made of titanium that means the watch weighs in at under 150g. It’s a collector’s piece in all but name, with only 100 scheduled for production.
Pilot’s Watch Watch Chronograph Sptifire & Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Top Gun Miramar
As memorable is the astonishingly clever IWC Pilot’s Watch Timezoner Chronograph, which the brand claims is the world’s first world-time watch adjusted by turning the bezel. Early call, but this might yet prove to be the innovation of the fair – a real world execution of a complication users often struggle to get to grips with.
Pilot’s Watch Mark XVIII & Pilot’s Watch Timezoner Chronograph
Other highlights included the ‘Le Petit Prince’ Big Pilot’s Watch editions, with their sumptuous blue dials and dark brown leather straps; the syrupy brown-dialled Antoine de Saint Exupéry pieces (one of which is a perpetual calendar with a seven-day power reserve); a return for the Top Gun Miramar, now in polished ceramic; new faces in the evergreen Spitfire range; the indisputably classic Pilot’s Watch MkXVIII; and most surprisingly of all, the Pilot’s Watch Automatic 36, an entry-level 36mm piece that will serve as welcome relief to men with smaller wrists, or indeed women who love a pilot’s watch.
For the full collection, visit iwc.com
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