The Pilot’s Watches

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A journey back in time through the history of IWC Pilot’s Watches

“Check six!” is an argot term used by Top Gun pilots. When simulating air-to-air combat, they need to keep an ever-watchful eye on the situation developing around them. For simplicity’s sake, pilots use the clock system to scan the envelope around the aircraft and, in an emergency situation, it is crucial that they keep track of the rear quadrant directly astern at “6 o’clock”. At IWC Schaffhausen, a “Check six!” – in this case, a retrospective of our own history – is a useful way of understanding the leading position occupied by its Pilot’s Watches. The six Pilot’s Watches presented here provide an excellent rundown of the history of aviation.

Pilot's Watches


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For 76 years now, the Schaffhausen-based watchmakers have been producing extraordinarily robust and reliable timepieces that have always met the requirements of contemporary pilots and aircrews. In the pioneering days of aviation, the main priority was to protect watches against dust, extreme temperature fluctuations and the strong magnetic fields created by cockpit instrumentation. Today, IWC Pilot’s Watches like the TOP GUN take forces of 30 g in their stride, have a wide range of functions and are made of high-tech materials like ceramic and titanium. One requirement, however, has remained unchanged since those early days: the dial must offer optimum legibility at all times. This was the reason IWC developed the cockpit-style design for its very first Pilot’s Watches. It gave an entire segment of the watch industry its identity. And has remained the model for IWC’s professional Pilot’s Watches ever since.

In 1936, IWC launched its first IWC Special Pilot’s Watch. It already had a tough glass, a rotating bezel with an arrowhead index for instantaneous legibility, and an antimagnetic escapement.

Big Pilot's Watch

—Reference 5009

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—Only the best Navy pilots attain Top Gun status

With its 55-millimetre diameter, the Big Pilot’s Watch 52 T. S. C. is the biggest wristwatch IWC has ever manufactured. The specifications for this deck watch, as such timepieces are known, were precisely dictated. These included, among other things, a central hacking seconds that enabled pilots and navigators to synchronize their watches with down-to-the-second precision and an extra-long leather strap that could be fastened around a flight suit. The clearly arranged dial design is extremely reduced but nevertheless has all the elements required of a classic Pilot’s Watch: black dial, triangular index, and luminescent hands and index markers.

The Mark 11 with its hand-wound 89 calibre, manufactured from 1948 onwards for the Royal Air Force, established itself as the best-known IWC Pilot’s Watch of them all. The movement is enclosed in a soft-iron inner case to shield it from magnetic fields. Thanks to its rugged design and precision, it emerged superior to all the products made by the competition. In the early years, when the watches were still in relatively short supply, pilots and navigators considered it an honour to be permitted to wear one. The Mark 11 was used by the Royal Air Force for over 30 years. Today, it enjoys cult status and is one of the most sought-after collector’s watches. The strap used for the latest TOP GUN Miramar line harks back to the rugged strap designed for the Mark 11 used by the Allied Air Forces.

Pilot's Watch Chronograph Top Gun Miramar

—Reference 3880

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The strap used for the latest TOP GUN Miramar line harks back to the rugged strap designed for the Mark 11 used by the Allied Air Forces

Big Pilot's Watch Perpetual Calendar Top Gun

—Reference 5029

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In 1994, with the unveiling of the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Ceramic Zirconium Oxide, Ref. 3705, IWC set two trends in motion which, later on, were gladly adopted by the watchmaking industry. First, there was the excitement of a Pilot’s Watch design that was completely black. Second, it was the first time this model from IWC had been made with ceramic, which is enormously difficult to machine. IWC had discovered the merits of scratch-resistant, non-abrasive and hard-wearing zirconium oxide as a case material back in 1986.

In 1998, IWC Schaffhausen unveiled its first model with two time zones designed specifically for modern globetrotters: the Pilot’s Watch UTC. Apart from local time, it also shows UTC time – or world time – in a window on the dial. The abbreviation stands for Universal Time Coordinated, in other words the Greenwich Mean Time, used as the standard for international flight schedules. This is enormously important for pilots and business people who are regularly in touch with contacts worldwide. The time can be adjusted forwards or backwards using the crown and a jumping hour hand that also takes any necessary date changes into account when moving to another time zone. The Pilot’s Watch UTC was the inspiration for the new Pilot’s Watch Worldtimer.

—Elite pilots in the Top Gun training programme practise formation flying

In 2002, the Schaffhausen-based watchmakers resurrected the Big Pilot’s Watch tradition and created a furore with an enormous timepiece whose design – all the way down to the brown calfskin strap – leans unmistakably on its even larger predecessor unveiled in 1940. Typically for IWC, the classic design and forward-looking 7-day movement with Pellaton automatic winding and power reserve display combine tradition with innovation in the manufacture of professional Pilot’s Watches.

In 2007, the Pilot’s Watch Double Chronograph Edition TOP GUN joined the other members of the IWC Pilot’s Watch squadron. Once again, the designers chose two materials which were first used for watchmaking purposes by IWC, among other companies: high-tech ceramic for the case and titanium for the controls. The split-seconds hand is used to measure intermediate times while the stopwatch hand continues to run. When the push-button at “10 o’clock” is pressed again, the split-seconds and stopwatch hands are synchronized. In this way, the user can record as many intermediate and lap times as he chooses.

Spitfire Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month

—Reference 3791

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Explore the Pilot’s Watches

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