Do you remember the awesome IWC booth at SIHH 2019? IWC Schaffhausen set up the entire area as an old military hangar aimed at celebrating a new partnership called “Silver Spitfire – The Longest Flight.” Those who are familiar with the IWC collections through the years will realize that title reminds a pretty special limited edition IWC Pilot‘s Watch crafted in brown ceramic some years ago (The Last Flight); others will recognize aviator and novel writer Antoine De Saint–Exupéry instead.
Whatever your source of inspiration, IWC has this year further strengthened and upscaled its Pilot‘s Watch collection, either the vintage-inspired (Spitfire) and the modern one, whose technological pinnacle is, no doubt, the Pilot‘s Watch Top Gun crafted in Ceratanium™. In Geneva, last January, a full scale Spitfire aircraft was placed in the middle of the booth, by far the most fascinating of the whole fair and the most appealing IWC has ever designed in recent years. You felt like you were stepping into a WWII military base camp! Also, that was the same spirit of the Spitfire Club when it opened its doors to friends of the brand, last Thursday evening, in Milan.
IWC Italy recreated that scenario at the Officine del Volo, an old facility located close the Milan airport, where they celebrated the 2019 Spitfire and Top Gun collections, that reaffirm IWC watches as the reference brand when it comes to vintage and modern aviator and pilot’s watches. IWC Schaffhausen is at once partnering with the legendary Fighter Weapons School of the US Navy (commonly known as Top Gun), as well as it is supporting the “Silver Spitfire – The Longest Flight” project, with pilots Steve Boultbee Brooks and Matt Jones circumnavigating the globe aboard a fully restored Spitfire.
While hoping IWC will eventually decide to extend the availability of the Pilot‘s Watch Chronograph Top Gun “Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor” (pictured above) to watch collectors in the near future (something that is currently restricted to instructors), the Spitfire Club by IWC Italy comes in the style of the 1940s, that paved the way for the Spitfire aircraft to become a legend.
The big squared room was adorned with aviator-inspired books and memorabilia. The event saw a list of special guests attending, some of them being IWC Ambassadors like Pierfrancesco Favino, on his way back from the Cannes Film Festival. He introduced the movie “The Longest Flight” to the audience, whereas Dj Albertino entertained the participants along with Florentine-based pop and roll music band “The Street Clerks“, who perform and re-arrange songs from the 60s along with modern tunes like “Hey Boy Hey Girl” by The Chemical Brothers.
Among the special guests were also Rudy Zerbi, who welcomed guests together with Beppe Ambrosini, Brand Manager IWC Italy, actress Serena Autieri and Fabio Capello, while Andrea Berton, IWC brand ambassador, and star chef, was looking after a refined food selection. What about the IWC watches instead? The 2019 Spitfire and Top Gun collections were displayed just at the entrance of the area.
The IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Spitfire Bronze and the IWC Pilot’s Watch Top Gun Ceratanium™ for example were not missing; for your further information, the second one will be soon reviewed in-depth. Finally, kudos to IWC Italy for choosing such a cool location, they succeeded in adding that quintessentially Italian touch to a corporate event, by involving distinguished personalities from the world of cinema, entertainment and music.
(Photo credit: courtesy of IWC Watches, Peter Tung for Horbiter®)
Gaetano C @Horbiter®
Instagram – Gaetano Cimmino
