The new Pilot’s Watches from IWC Schaffhausen
IWC Schaffhausen gets off to a powerful start in 2012: the year of the Pilot's Watch. With five new models, the TOP GUN collection establishes itself as an independent formation within the IWC Pilot's Watch family. The year's high-flyer is the TOP GUN Miramar: a tribute to the place in California where the myth of the elite pilots was born. And two Pilot's Watches featuring many of fine watchmaking's greatest achievements prepare for take off: the Big Pilot's Watch Perpetual Calendar TOP GUN and the Spitfire Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month."For the new TOP GUN Pilot's Watches we drew on our long tradition of manufacturing unusual deck watches. In the 1940s, Pilot's Watches made in Schaffhausen were widely used as socalled B watches for flight navigation," explains Georges Kern, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen. "Back then, only wristwatches with the highest possible precision were good enough for navigators: the pilot and his crew would synchronize their watches to the navigator's." Since the main priority for navigation is optimum legibility of the seconds and minutes, these two were often the only indicators shown on the outer ring; the hours would be relatively small and appeared on a central ring. This particular detail inspired IWC's designers to display the hour circle and the chapter ring separately on the dials of theBig Pilot's Watch TOP GUN Miramar and thePilot's Watch Chronograph TOP GUN Miramar.
"The process of retracing the historic roots of our Pilot's Watches gave us the idea of using the Miramar to create our first line with a militarystyle design," adds Christian Knoop, Creative Director at IWC. "This allows us to combine various styles in an imaginative way - even with luxury elements, if we wish. That's one of the reasons the new Miramar line is such a perfect fit for IWC: premium-class watches with outstanding mechanics and a rugged, almost hardedged feel." The dark, metallic sheen of the grey ceramic case and the matte anthracite of the dial all waken associations with precision instruments used in aviation. The use of specific camouflage colours such as beige for the hands and chapter ring, together with green for the strap, underscore the desired look. The textile strap leans visibly on the tough webbing belts. It is complemented by two high-tech materials, typical for TOP GUN, that were introduced to watchmaking by IWC as early as the 1980s: zirconium oxide for the case, along with titanium for the controls and the watch back. Both the Miramar models - like the entire TOP GUN collection, incidentally - are equipped with IWC-manufactured calibres. Like the other Big Pilot's Watch, the Big Pilot'sWatch TOP GUN Miramar is equipped with the largest automaticmovement made by IWC, with a power reserve of 168 hours. This also explains the 48-millimetre case diameter. The calibre 89365 found in the Pilot's Watch Chronograph TOP GUN Miramar is one of the most advanced androbust chronograph movements ever produced. It has a flyback function as well as an analogue display for stopped minutes and seconds. Commenting on the family's positioning in the international watch market, Karoline Huber, Director Marketing & Communications at IWC, explains: "Flying enthusiasts all over the world think of Miramar in California as the birth place of the Top Gun legend. With our new TOP GUN Miramar design line, we are addressing watch lovers who consciously embrace IWC's long-standing tradition of manufacturing Pilot's Watches but who also wish to benefit from the technological advances of the 21st century and the inimitable quality typical of IWC."