Pilot’s watch pioneer unveils smaller, entry-level models
THE 2016 Pilot’s Watch collection from Swiss luxury watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen offers a wide, balanced range of Pilot’s Watches, from the Big Pilot’s Heritage Watch to the Mark XVIII and the Pilot’s Watch Automatic 36.
With the new Timezoner Chronograph, a simple twist is all it takes to change the time zone, making it a perfect world time watch for frequent travelers. The exclusive and emotional “Antoine de Saint Exupéry” and “Le Petit Prince” collections should also be a source of pleasure for many collectors.
“In 2016, we’re widening our range to include smaller Pilot’s Watches in the entrylevel segment, without neglecting our traditional heritage,” says Georges Kern, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen.
“With our Pilot’s Watch Mark XVIII and Pilot’s Watch Automatic 36, we’re addressing women and men with slimmer wrists with a penchant for elegance and understatement. At the same time, we’re producing the sizeable and authentic Big Pilot’s Heritage Watch, an observer’s watch that’s strongly reminiscent of the Big Pilot’s Watch of 1940.”
This year, IWC is launching yet another world first. The Pilot’s Watch Timezoner Chronograph is the first timepiece where a new time zone, including the date, can be set merely by turning the bezel.
Among the eye-catchers of the current collection are undoubtedly the Big Pilot’s Heritage Watch 55 and the Big Pilot’s Heritage Watch 48—clearly inspired by the historic observer’s watch, and not only because of their enormous case diameters of 55 and 48 millimeters.
Christian Knoop, creative director at IWC Schaffhausen, says, “For us, it was vital from the start that the heritage watches were true to the original... It’s like jumping back in time to the pioneering age of aviation, except that we’ve got state-of-the-art IWC watch technology.”