IWC has released a range of Pilots Watches for SIHH 2016, in honor of the world famous story “Le Petit Prince” written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Three of the timepieces are regular production pieces, while one is a limited edition.
The hallmarks of the watches launched in the name of the little prince are the midnight blue dial and the brown calfskin strap with beige ornamental seams are new from Santoni, the Italian shoemakers, who make straps for IWC.
The first regular model is the Big Pilot’s Watch Edition “Le Petit Prince” (Ref. IW500916). This features the same dial features and movement as the newly released Big Pilot, with the historical “9” and triangle with two dots. As mentioned earlier the dial is a shade of midnight blue.
IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Edition “Le Petit Prince”
The second regular model is the The Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Le Petit Prince” (Ref. IW377714). Again it features the same movement and dial features as the new The Pilot’s Watch Chronograph with the exception of the midnight blue dial.
The IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Le Petit Prince”
The third regular model is the Pilot’s Watch Mark XVIII, Edition“Le Petit Prince” (Ref. IW327004) The watch, which is water-resistant to 6 bar, is powered by an automatic 30110-calibre movement (Sellita) and has a 42-hour power reserve. With its soft-iron inner case for protection against magnetic fields and a front glass secured against sudden drops in pressure, the Mark XVIII takes up a tradition established by its historic forebear, the legendary Mark 11 of 1948.
The IWC Pilot’s Watch Mark XVIII, Edition“Le Petit Prince”
The reverse side of the Pilot’s Watches bears the engraved inscription EDITION LE PETIT PRINCE and shows the little prince with his coat and sword, just the way Antoine de Saint-Exupéry drew him back in the 1940s. The limited edition model features something different which we will show you later.
The caseback of all three watches features an engraving of the Little Prince.
Big Pilot’s Watch Annual Calendar Edition “Le Petit Prince”
We mentioned the limited edition “Le Petit Prince” at the start and here it is! The IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Annual Calendar Edition “Le Petit Prince”. It will be limited to 250 pieces. This is the first IWC Pilot’s Watch with an annual calendar. It has a 46mm 18-carat red gold case with a shimmering blue sun-pattern finished dial. At the 12 o’clock position are the three windows for the annual calendar, displaying the month, date and day of the week. It can automatically account for months with 30 or 31 days and needs to be adjusted just once a year for the 28th of February. At the 9’clock position is the running seconds and at the 3’clock position is the power reserve indicator.
Powering the watch is the IWC-manufactured calibre 52850 self winding movement with 7 days of power reverse. To make this piece even more special, the rotor is based on a drawing by Antoine Saint-Exupéry himself. The rotor involved an enormous amount of intricate design and was finally crafted in solid red gold. The interplay of sand blasted and polished surfaces on the rotor brings every single detail of the sketch to life. It is viewable along with rest of the movement through the sapphire caseback.
The rotor is based on a drawing by Antoine Saint-Exupéry himself.
The blue dials on all of the pieces look wonderful and blend in nicely with the aviation inspired watches. Kudos IWC!
Pricing for the watches is as follows:
Pilot’s Watch Mark XVIII Edition “Le Petit Prince” Ref IW327004: $6,250 Singapore Dollars (Suggested Retail Price)
Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Le Petit Prince” Ref IW377714: $7,650 Singapore Dollars (Suggested Retail Price)
Big Pilot’s Watch Edition “Le Petit Prince” Ref IW500916: $19,700 Singapore Dollars (Suggested Retail Price)
Big Pilot’s Watch Annual Calendar Edition “Le Petit Prince ” Ref IW502701: $49,600 Singapore Dollars (Suggested Retail Price)
For more information please visit IWC
