IWC Schaffhausen this year has unveiled a new Spitfire line in its iconic Pilot's Watches collection. The design of the series is inspired by the instrument design of the Mark 11, the navigation watch that was produced in Schaffhausen for the Royal Air Force from 1948 and was worn by many of the pilots and navigators serving at that time.
To celebrate the unique engineering expertise of the designers of the legendary British fighter aircraft, all Spitfire watches feature IWC-manufactured calibres.
The Spitfire aircraft, designed by Reginald J. Mitchell, is one of the most sophisticated developments in the history of aviation. The iconic shape of the legendary British fighter aircraft is the result of a perfectly functional design; its elliptical wings not only make the Spitfire extraordinarily agile and easy to manoeuvre, they also give it its unique silhouette. In turn, the Pilot's Watches offered by IWC at the time was the result of engineering to the specific requirements of military aviation as well.
Amongst the new releases is the Pilot’s Watch Timezoner Spitfire Edition "The Longest Flight" (Ref. IW395501), which combines the patented Timezoner mechanism with an IWC-manufactured automatic movement and is limited to 250 watches.
This special edition is dedicated to the "Silver Spitfire – The Longest Flight" project, and has been specially developed for pilots Steve Boultbee Brooks and Matt Jones to coincide with their flight around the world in a Spitfire.
The watch can be set to a different time zone by means of a simple rotational movement of the bezel. The hour hand, the 24-hour display and the date rotate automatically at the same time, whilst the 24-hour display has been designed as a rotating disc beneath the dial. This means that the dial moves closer to the front glass, making it easier to read.
The newly developed 82760 IWC-manufactured calibre has a Pellaton winding with components made from wear-resistant ceramic and boasts a power reserve of 60 hours.
