IWC Schaffhausen presents the Pilot's Watch

2012 is the year that the Pilot’s Watch takes flight. IWC Schaffhausen presents the TOP GUN line, containing the Big Pilot’s Watch that was first launched more than 70 years ago. Originally designed for professional pilots, the Big Pilot’s Watch was revived 10 years ago and now is entering the jet age with the release of the TOP GUN line.

The original Big Pilot’s Watch established a cockpit-style design, pocket watch movement and large central seconds. In 2002, IWC relaunched the Big Pilot’s Watch with the 52 T. S. C. pocket watch caliber, retaining the classical design and movement.

This year, the Big Pilot’s Watch TOP GUN Miramar shines as the star of five new TOP GUN models being released. The timepiece pays homage to the pilots’ school of the US Marines in Miramar, CA, displaying many of the attributes of historic IWC deck watches: The metallic gleam of the zirconium oxide case and the dial made from matte anthracite achieve the desired military-style design, while the camouflage colors of the green textile strap, beige hands as well as the chapter ring top off the look. An elaborate engraving on the back of the case pays further tribute to the aviation school. The TOP GUN Miramar exhibits the maximum automatic movement that IWC manufactures, with its pawl-winding system building up a 168 hour power reserve. However, the reverse mechanism only allows the watch to run perfectly for seven days when fully wound.

While the TOP GUN line generally retains the same characteristics as the original Pilot’s Watches from the 1930s and 1940s, IWC has made several conspicuous improvements to the new models. The vertical triple date display at 3 o’clock is the most obvious change in all the new pieces besides the Big Pilot’s Watch, outlining a form better suited to the cockpit-style design. Quite a few watches have been made larger as well, with the Pilot’s Watch Mark XVII two millimeters larger than the previous model. The Pilot’s Watch Double Chronograph has new red design features and a larger case diameter of 46 millimeters, and the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph has also increased to 43 millimeters.

IWC Pilot’s Watches have offered maximum reliability and legibility since the mid-1930s, much like the magnificent military men themselves. The Big Pilot’s Watch TOP GUN line reinvents tradition while combining different styles with luxury elements, creating premium watches with a rugged feel.

IWC has made Pilot's Watches since the mid-1930s

IWC Schaffhausen invited around 1,000 guests, including a number of celebrities, to the launch of the new Pilot’s Watch collection in Geneva this January, as part of the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH).

Under the motto “Top Gun,” guests entered a backdrop simulation of the replica aircraft carrier IWC 12, which virtually set the tone for the event’s theme. About 1,000 guests came out to join IWC in the launching of its most recent Pilot’s Watch collection. Among the invitees were celebrities Cate Blanchett, Luis Figo, Rosamund Pike, Aloe Blacc, film director Marc Forster, sporting legends Boris Becker, Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and top model Adriana Lima. Bryan Ferry, English singer, musician and songwriter, provided entertainment for the event.

“Our aim this evening was to create an emotional experience for our guests, based on the story of our Pilot’s Watches: a story that started in 1936 with the Special Pilot’s Watch and has been part of IWC Schaffhausen’s DNA ever since,” said IWC CEO and host of the evening Georges Kern.

The entire atmosphere of the evening was dedicated to IWC’s Pilot theme. Coordinating personnel geared up in flight-deck wear for the event, dinner was served from high-rise trolleys and a full-scale cockpit section of a modern naval jet containing a flight simulator took center stage, allowing guests to experience an artificial aircraft flight. Displayed in a walk-in control tower was the evening’s most prominent feature: the new collection of Pilot’s Watches from IWC.

The Top Gun formations, consisting of five models within the Pilot’s Watch family, were the primary focus of the evening.

IWC presented a film committed to the engineering and craftsmanship of the Top Gun watches, laying inspiration of the making of the collection from the Top Gun elite flying school.

The Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Top Gun Miramar and Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Top Gun are among the family of timepieces.

IWC Pilot's Watch Chronograph Top Gun Miramar

The Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Top Gun Miramar features a military-style design with metallic tones and traditional military colors and an external chapter ring and inner hour circle that symbolize deck watches of the 1930s and 40s. A flyback function, 68-hour power reserve and protection against magnetic fields are also integrated in the timepiece.

Known as one of the most complex of Pilot’s Watches ever built, the Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Top Gun model features Pellaton automatic winding, 7-day power reserve, a perpetual calendar with four-digit year display and moon phase display in the northern and southern hemispheres, ceramic case and titanium crown.

As a leading brand in the world of luxury watches, IWC Schaffhausen continually creates timepieces inspired by technology and innovation.

The Salon International De La Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) is well underway in Geneva, Switzerland. Among the 19 other luxury watch brands present, IWC Schaffhausen has been grabbing attention.

IWC’s Pilot Watches Collection includes five watches that are all unique in their own right. The most intriguing of the collection, perhaps, is the Pilot’s Watch Worldtimer. It has attracted so much attention from the SIHH clientele because the Worldtimer is a watch that truly caters to a wealthy traveling class of people.

The watch face has a lot going on – large numerals and a 24 hour ring surrounded by the 24 time zones of the world. Worldtimer owners can know the time in both Paris and Samoa with just a glance at their wrists. The watch’s dial is bulky, but allows the wearer to change the time zone accordingly with ease.

Obviously this type of watch will be most appealing to travelers. It eliminates the need for time zone conversions when set properly. Business-people, frequent vacationers and, of course, pilots will be mutual beneficiaries of this timepiece.

In addition to utility, the Pilot’s Watch Worldtimer has a very cool look. It’s sleek 45mm stainless steel case is as strong as it looks. It’s coated by convex sapphire crystals with anti-reflective coatings. The Worldtimer’s soft iron inner case protects it from magnetic disruption so its wearer can trust that it will stay accurate over the course of extensive travels.

A water resistant watch is a must, but this timepiece goes above and beyond. It can be submerged in up to 200 feet of water and still function properly. The Worldtimer is powered by the Caliber 30750 mechanical movement, a self winding movement that is built on 31 jewels.

In terms of aesthetics, its black alligator strap meshes quite nicely with the stainless steel case. It is elegant, yet very utility – a neat combination of attractiveness and usefulness.

The Pilot’s Watch Worldtimer is a hot item at the SIHH 2012. It is rivaling other top brands because of its many great attributes. Beyond SIHH, high class travelers worldwide should look into this timepiece. It’s currently at the best of its kind, rendering other travel watches obsolete.

IWC Pilot's Watch Worldtimer.

IWC's new Pilot Chronograph Top Gun Miramar Watch

IWC Schaffhausen, luxury watchmaker and manufacturer of precise, sturdy aviator timepieces since the 1930s, has unveiled two new Pilot’s Watches scheduled for release at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH), January 16th, 2012: The Big Pilot Watch Top Gun Miramar and the Pilot Chronograph Top Gun Miramar. These timepieces are just two of the Pilot’s line that are scheduled for exhibition at SIHH.

The Big Pilot Watch Top Gun Miramar has a 48mm metallic grey case, and is outfitted with the IWC’s largest automatic movement—caliber 51111—which has a power reserve of 168 hours. The face displays a separate inner hour circle in red and an outer chapter ring in beige, a nod to IWC’s military roots, since navigational efficiency dictates that the minutes and seconds take priority over the hours. The watch strap is green textile, and the watch hands are luminescent beige outlined in black. The case back and controls are titanium.

The Pilot Chronograph Top Gun Miramar has a 46mm case with a caliber 89365 chronograph movement. Like the Big Pilot Top Gun Miramar, the watch face has a separate hour circle and chapter ring display, and has similar design facets, such as the green watch strap and the dark grey case. IWC’s long tradition of manufacturing first-rate deck watches greatly inspired the new line. “The new Miramar line is such a perfect fit for IWC,” said Christian Knoop, the Creative Director for IWC. “Premium-class watches with outstanding mechanics and a rugged, almost hard-edged feel.”

Back view of the Pilot Chronograph Top Gun Miramar

The Top Gun Pilot Watch line was first made public in 2007, “Top Gun” also being the moniker for a special training program in the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School. The line was an addition to the Pilots line, which had a 70 year history of crafting aviator watches to suit the needs of a rapidly advancing aeronautics industry. The Pilots line was designed in the 1930s and 40s to meet military specifications for deck and navigation watches; the Mark 11—the best known of IWC’s Pilot’s watches—was manufactured for the Royal Air Force beginning in 1948, and was used for more than 30 years.

The name “Miramar” is a tribute to the California location of the storied United States Navy Fighter Weapons School pilot training program. “Flying enthusiasts all over the world think of Miramar in California as the birth place of the Top Gun legend,” said Karoline Huber, IWC’s Director of Marketing and Communications. “With our new TOP GUN Miramar design line, we are addressing watch lovers who consciously embrace IWC’s long-standing tradition of manufacturing Pilot’s Watches, but who also wish to benefit from the technological advances of the 21st century and the inimitable quality typical of IWC.”

The International Watch Company Schaffhausen (IWC watches) partnered with the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority and Swedish manufacturer Volvo, to sponsor and be “Official Timekeeper” of the Volvo Ocean Race. This event will also commemorate the first time in the history of the race,that a port in the Middle East will be participating as host.

This internationally renowned race which began October 29th from the port city of Alicante, Spain is scheduled to finish at Ireland’s third largest city, Galway in July of 2012. IWC representative Georges Kern referred to the race as “quite simply, the Everest” of sailing and was elated to announce it would be awarding a “Speed Challenge” trophy made of Titanium, to the team with the fastest 24 hour time at each leg. This race is considered to be the ultimate in world class competition. At completion each team will have sailed a total of 39,270 nautical miles, enduring nine months through the world’s most treacherous oceans.

Portuguese Yacht Club Chronograph Edition

On November 26th, IWC awarded the first trophy to the crew of “Camper” with Emirates team New Zealand at the helm. At a ceremony held Thursday, Hester de Klerk, Manager of IWC’s South African division awarded the coveted prize, a ‘Portuguese Yacht Club Chronograph Edition’ watch. This elegant sport chronograph, made of titanium was designed with all precision nautical instruments necessary to compete. The back is engraved with “Edition Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012″ to commemorate the event. It is worth noting, the design of this chronograph occupied an IWC development team for a full 4 years and increased the mechanics by a stunning 30 percent, the movement is now known as the 89800 calibre.

Morne du Plessis and LSGF members

IWC also invited the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and former South African Rugby Union player Morne du Plessis, who brought 8 South African children to participate in the activities during ‘race weekend.’ The children were ecstatic while being guided around the Volvo Ocean Race village. They were also introduced to the crew members of the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team, shown around the ‘Azzam’ and then asked to take part in an arduous challenge with its crew members. The winner was allowed to be a participant during the Pro-Am race aboard the ‘Azzam’ the following day. The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation stated it was grateful to sponsors like IWC, that provide the necessary resources enabling under-privileged adolescents an opportunity they would otherwise only dream of.

Last week in Cape Town, the “round the world” Volvo Ocean Race crowned its victors of the first of eight legs in the globe-spanning trek, the crew of the Camper run by Emirates Team New Zealand. This twenty-four hour challenge was sponsored in part by IWC Schaffhausen, the Swiss watchmakers who have been established in the world of timepieces since 1868.

IWC sponsors the Laureus Foundation and all of its many offshoots; the Laureus World Sports Academy and the South African Laureus project both sent down teams to participate in the weekend portion of the event. IWC played the role of official time keepers for this Volvo Open 70 class race – the fastest class of what are called “monohull” boats that there are.

The ships launch for the 2011 Volvo "round the world" Race.

The race will end in Galway, Ireland once the eight month race comes to a close and the crew that has the fastest overall time (not necessarily the winners of the competition) will receive Portuguese Yacht Club Chronograph Edition “Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012” watches to commemorate their “timely” arrival. This titanium watch is the epitome of what the IWC stands for when one considers the great strides they have made on the world front; it is yet another endorsement for the Laureus Foundation, a prize for the winners of an international race – the first race which has ever had a middle-eastern port – and a way to fund an event that people from around the globe have been enjoying for weeks.

For those that are curious as to the sports watch that will be the prize of the special event IWC is sponsoring, the Portuguese model is water resistant to six bar, comes with a flyback function, and has a second knob to adjust the time down to the quarter-second for precision and making the difficult calls in timed-trials. It has a sixty-eight-hour power reserve and is accented in a sleek, stylish carbon-black. It is designed with all of the precision of nautical instruments, and so is an elegant and highly appropriate reward for excellence and sportsmanship on the open seas.

Further details on the Volvo race and the prize Portuguese watch can be found on IWC’s website where you can watch the progress as the second leg of the race begins. The teams will be leaving Cape Town and headed for the sheltering port of Abu Dhabi, whose competing team was unfortunately forced to drop out in the first leg of the journey.

The Bell and Ross Vintage BR-123’s water defiant feature of up to 100 meters, its self-powered movement, large tan numbers at the hour positions with luminescent hour hands and its repellant sapphire crystal dome are all very alluring features. The 41 mm case comes in stainless steel and the watch band comes in tan leather with a clasp. The black dial comes with a function with hours, minutes, seconds and the date at the 6 o’clock position. The large numbers and hour markers make this watch easy to read. This timepiece will satisfy those who live for adventure, work in extreme conditions or just love the rugged style of this gentlemen’s watch. The epitome of Bell & Ross manufacturing is accumulated in this watch’s sturdy features and Swiss design.

IWC-IW325404

The IWC Vintage Pilot’s watch IW3254-04 is a great example of IWC traditional design. The grey dial with gold stenciled hour hands and numbers, a sub dial at 6 o’clock, 18 karat white gold patterned bezel, gold 44mm case with see through back and brown leather band with fastener demonstrates the true beauty of IWC genius. These luxury watches also come with a water repellant feature up to 100 feet, in-house built precise movement, an energy storage capacity of 46 and unblemished sapphire crystal.

The TX Men’s T3C308 800 Series Linear Chronograph Dual-Time Zone Watch is a great example of TX Watches design. Each TX Men’s T3C308 800 watch comes with a stylish rose gold and stainless steel bezel, black dial with unique 6 hand movement with four separate self-perpetuating motors and a date at 3 o’clock. These handsome watches also come with a linear chronograph that gauges up to four hours, 2nd time zone, a 30 minute linear mechanism, a water repellant feature of up to 330 feet, quartz movement and Super LumiNova dial markers. The magnificent black leather band with fastener, unblemished sapphire crystal and round 44.22mm case rounds out this beautiful men’s watch. This watch make a great collection piece or gift.

IWC, Portuguese Automatic

IWC is a watchmaking company steeped in tradition and heritage. The legendary Swiss masters at IWC have remained true to their craft of producing precision engineered timepieces.  The high quality watches that IWC create come with highly advanced, technically innovative movements.  IWC automatic watches will only gain or loose 4 seconds in a day.  That kind of precision comes from an excellent design and modification process.  One of their amazing automatics is the IW500109 Portuguese Steel Black Men’s watch.  This Men’s watch from IWC is one of their reliable automatic versions.  It has a sapphire crystal and a large case, measuring 42.3 mm.  The Portuguese Automatic comes with a deep black dial, accented with delicate arms, hands, and hour markings.  The date window appears at the 6 o’clock setting, and the case is a solid stainless-steel.  The strap is in black alligator leather.  This watch has clean lines and a sleek appearance.   The black on black is a stunning combination on this watch.  It is stylish and sophisticated, but with all IWC timepieces…it’s all about the movement.  IWC prides themselves on their exceptional quality.  The company built their excellent reputation on it, and that is why their loyal clients keep coming back!  Check out all the classics from IWC.

IWC Portuguese Limited Edition

Maybe the terms IWC and discount watch isn’t synonymous to you, but today we are looking for quality timepieces that can be purchased at a great price.  That’s exactly what I’ve found at The Watchery.   Before we go into details about the IW544206 Portuguese F.A.  Jones IWC men’s watch let me throw out a warning to you.  Buyers beware.  When making a purchase of this magnitude over the internet…do your homework.  Check out the site and any possible consumer reviews that might be posted.  Go straight to the source and visit the company’s actual web-site as well to make certain that the information you’re getting adds up…and finally, do a little research on the watch brand itself.  Once you get your timepiece, look over it carefully.  There are plenty of tell-tail signs that you have an authentic watch.  Be a smart consumer.

Ok, now the deal.  IWC is renowned for their amazing watches.  This version I found on The Watchery is no disappointment.  The Portuguese F.A. Jones manual wind men’s watch is gorgeous!  It comes in beautiful 18-carat rose gold and features a rich brown, croc embossed, leather strap.  This mechanical marvel is a limited edition for IWC and appears more like a work of art than a wrist-watch.  Beyond its stylish design is flawless, reliable technology.  These watches are made to last, it just happens to look incredible, too.  This is a $43,000 watch that’s being offered at $32,250.  I know, it’s still a very expensive purchase, but it is a 25% savings.  For what you’re getting…that is quite substantial. 

Check out this limited edition piece and I’m sure you’ll agree…you’ve never seen anything like it before.  Beautiful, superior quality, and on discount.

The app’s main feature is its immense collection of digital animations that explain many of the complex mechanisms found in IWC watches.  Two notable examples are the depth gauge found on the Aquatimer Deep Two and the digital calendar found on the Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Digital Date Month.  App users can virtually wind up the power source on the Portuguese Automatic, or, if need be, use the button found on the Big Ingenieur Chronograph to record stopped time.

The most intriguing feature of IWC’s app is the Try-It function.  Using the Try-It function, iPhone owners can take a picture of their wrist and then see how the various watches look on their wrist.  This ingenious feature allows potential customers determine which models they like best without even stepping into a store.  When they find a model they like, the app provides them with a locator that helps guide them to the closest IWC retailer.

On top of all these great features, the IWC watch app is available for free and in 6 different languages.