IWC expands the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph collection

Intro

With the extensive product development of the Ingenieur collection, it seemed there was no room for anything else across the brand’s portfolio. Still, in its classic and Performance Chronograph iterations, the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph is under the loupe and welcomes a stunning new chronograph and perpetual calendar.

IWC set itself for the “F1 the movie” official release

The upcoming film, promoted by the American Formula One owners, is soon coming to cinemas. The trailer starring Brad Pitt aims to boost the top championship’s popularity like never before.

Foreseeing the film’s official launch, whose scenes were shot during some Grand Prix races, the leading watchmaking partner IWC unveiled a new Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 and 43, carrying the APXGP logo and colours.

The fictional Formula 1 team appearing in the film, promoted by Apple Original Films and produced by Warner Bros, will display the IWC logo anywhere from the drivers’ suits to race cars and the team’s garage. Drivers and team members will be spotted wearing these chronographs, as the AMG-Mercedes F1 teams did for so long (please note that the IWC and AMG-Mercedes F1 partnership is the longest-established of this kind in Formula One).

As a result, IWC upgraded both chronographs with the black, white, and gold APXGP logo. Those tones appear along with the IWC one. The nod to the collaboration is visible via the rubber strap customized with the APXGP logo on either section and the case back.

Flip the watch over, and you’ll see the APXGP logo applied to the smoked glass, partially hiding the IWC 69385 chronograph movement. Both watches share the standard models’ base technical specs. What a pity the designers did not take this chance to engineer an oriented case back, thus aligning the APXGP logo horizontally.

The Pilot’s Watch Performance Chronograph 41 comes in red gold.

The sibling co-branding project looks less APXGP but adopts a similar colour scheme, and the watch appears on Damson Idris’ wrist, who plays the Joshua Pearce character. With the Performance Chronograph collection, IWC has essentially turned the Pilot’s Watch into a racing chronograph, a missing iteration from the brand’s catalogue, that has now closed the gap with the competition.

Adding to the core collection is the first-ever Performance Chronograph in red gold (case and buckle), further enhancing the contrast with the thin black ceramic bezel with a tachymetric scale and a new lacquered dial, whose totalizers are arranged in a rotated-V displacement and individually printed.

The 41 mm diameter measures 14.7 mm in thickness, i.e., 0.2 mm over a similar Pilot’s Watch Chronograph. Please remember that all the Performance Chronograph models can withstand up to 100 metres and adopt a screw-down crown.

Star of the show: the Performance Chronograph Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month

Its name is as long as the countless functions and specs guaranteed by the collection’s flagship model. It is based on one of IWC’s most legendary movements, following the footsteps of all the perpetual calendars developed initially by master watchmaker Kurt Klaus. While this article goes online, we have not yet had the chance to see the watch in the flesh. Rest assured, we will upload our photos once they are ready (and update our article accordingly).

However, the IWC-provided press photos do justice and well exemplify the craftmanship and technicalities of this watch. When they launched a specific Big Pilot’s Watch, IWC already introduced a perpetual calendar with a Ceratanium® case and bracelet.

The combination with a flyback chronograph makes the new one the most complex execution based on the 68-hour power reserve 89802 calibre due to the alloy and the overall product’s intricacy, including a black hammered dial.

Chrono pushers and crowns are also in Ceratanium®; the circular-skeletonized digital displays give the wearer a glimpse of the date and month’s digital displays, drawing inspiration from the Pallweber pocket watches introduced in 1884.

Atop, at twelve, sits the Chrono hours and minutes totalizer, with the leap year display sitting below instead. Here is a masterpiece of technology whose size depicts how complicated the watch’s movement is. The 43 mm diameter pairs with a 16.6 mm thickness. Despite the mechanical complication, IWC engineers ensured a 100-meter water resistance.

(Photo credit: Horbiter®)

Giovanni Maria Di Biase @Horbiter®