Baselworld/SIHH

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*** SIHH 2012: IWC ***

Each year IWC focuses on a particular collection and this year it was the year of the pilot’s watches. The booth was staged to look like an aircraft carrier, complete with a flight simulator. Over dozen new pilot’s watch models were launched in a complete revamp of the range. All of them stick to the tried and tested ‘flieger’ watch formula and will certainly see commercial success.

The basic Pilot’s Watch range has been enlarged in terms of case size, except for the Big Pilot which remains 46 mm. Movements remain the same as before. The entry level Mark XVII is now 41 mm. Even though the date position gives away the fact that movement is very small, the watch looks proportional.

The Pilot’s Watch Chronograph is now 43 mm while the Doppelchronograph is 46 mm.

While the new chronograph looks fine, the upsized Doppelchronograph looks a bit ill-proportioned for some reason. The dial looks identically sized but the case is larger, perhaps that’s it. I prefer earlier dial iterations of the chronograph and Doppel though.

And the range also sees the addition of an entirely new model, the Pilot’s Watch Worldtimer. Though the case is 45 mm, it doesn’t quite seem so large.

This is a straightforward and easy to use travel watch. The time can be set forwards or backwards in one hour increments, in sync with the cities disc, enabling the reading of local time as well as the time in other time zones. Summer time can be read via the dot linked by a link to the city name.

Similarly the Spitfire range has been facelifted. I never warmed to the Spitfire line before but I like the look of the new model. The range has also been reduced in size. It now only has two models, the Spitfire Chronograph and the new Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month. Also worth noting is that the Spitfire watches are the only IWC pilot’s watches that do not have an anti-magnetic soft-iron cage around the movement.

Unlike its predecessor the Spitfire chronograph now uses the IWC cal. 89365 automatic chronograph movement with 68 hour power reserve. This is similar to the movement in the Da Vinci chronograph except it lacks an hour counter.

This is available in rose gold or steel, both with grey dials. Usually grey, or ardoise as IWC calls it, is only available for white gold cases. The case diameter is 43 mm.

And the top of the line model for the whole Pilot’s Watch range is the Spitfire Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month.

This is a well executed and eminently legible watch. I am unsure about the need to label the month and date windows, though the labels do to fill up and balance the dial.

Available only in rose gold, this uses the chronograph and digital perpetual calendar movement first used in the Da Vinci. The rotor on the back has a Spitfire aircraft.

Now on to the Top Gun watches. As before the cases are all in matte black ceramic, but IWC has wisely got rid of the Top Gun logo on the case side. The entry level model is the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Top Gun with a 46 mm ceramic case and the IWC cal. 89365 chronograph movement. The dial design doesn’t sit well with me, the sub-dials appear too small.

And then there are two watches that have been hoped for and expected for some time. The Big Pilot is finally available in ceramic, but the case is 48 mm, two millimetres larger than the steel Big Pilot. That increase in size is barely apparent, perhaps due to the case colour and proportions of the dial.

Also in a 48 mm ceramic case (maybe this is why the ceramic Big Pilot is 48 mm) is the Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar. Like the Big Pilot Top Gun, this is a good looking, if unimaginative, watch.

The Top Gun line has also been extended to include the Top Gun Miramar. Named after the former location of the Top Gun School in California, the Miramar watches have a military-ish colour scheme – glossy charcoal ceramic case, grey-brown dial with ivory Luminova and green canvas strap. The particular combination of colours made them really hard to capture accurately, hence the poor photos (apologies).

Two models are available, the 48 mm Big Pilot with the cal. 5000 (below) and 46 mm chronograph with the cal. 89365 (above).

The Ingenieur Vintage is available with a brown dial that isn’t very pleasing.

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