Dr. Strange wears a Jaeger-LeCoultre, Batman owns a Breguet Tourbillon and now it seems Aquaman and his friends like the IWC Aquatimer Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month Ceratanium watch. The underwater action-hero arrives on our cinematic screens this week and in celebration, IWC Schaffhausen has launched two new models inspired by a duo of red and blue glowing prop watches they supplied for the production.
IWC Aquatimer Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month Ceratanium - Credit IWC
I’m sure I’m not the only one, but I have a tendency to fixate more on what actors are wearing on their wrists in films than on the plot itself. Thankfully, if you’re going to see Warner Bros Picture’s latest release, I’ll save you the trouble. The highly anticipated sequel to Aquaman, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, starring Jason Momoa sees the villain Black Manta, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Dr. Stephen Shin, played by Randall Park, with prop watches that glow in red or blue in the dark. These watches are prototypes of an IWC Aquatimer watch given to the production for filming.
I’ll be honest, these prototypes don’t look much like IWC watches at first. For starters, they are some of the largest and most daring models we’ve ever seen from the watchmaker. They’re still based on their Aquatimer watch and house the complex chronograph QP movement, but they’re 49mm wide and 19.5mm tall. You’re going to need big wrists and big bank accounts for this one…
IWC Aquatimer Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month Ceratanium - Credit IWC
The new Aquatimer Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month Ceratanium watches launched in celebration of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’s release follow suit to their prototypes. They have the same 49mm wide and 19.5mm tall dimensions and are crafted from IWC’s Ceratanium alloy. The material is as lightweight as titanium but has the look and feel of ceramic. The case is topped by a SafeDive system bezel with a mechanical link between the external and internal bezels and a screw down crown with a 100 metre water resistant rating.
The dials glow in the dark just like their counterparts on screen. They have red or blue luminous accents on the hands and internal rotating bezel as well as several matching but non-luminous red or blue markings on the minutes track, perpetual calendar and chronograph indicators. The dial is black and features honeycomb-like elements over the calendar display which gives you an obstructed view of the movement below.
The layout of the display is rather genius. The chronograph and perpetual calendar complications are cleverly integrated with each other yet without any overlap. The chronograph includes a central seconds hand and a single totaliser at 12 o’clock for both the hours and minutes. The perpetual calendar, on the other hand, presents two rotating discs in digital format and a leap year and small seconds display at 6 o’clock.
Powering the IWC Aquatimer Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month Ceratanium watches is IWC’s in-house calibre 89802. It is an automatic winding, column wheel chronograph movement with flyback function. It comes with a 68 hour power reserve, 51 jewels and a runs at a frequency of 28,800vph. As well as spotting parts of the movement through the honeycomb dial, you can also admire it through the exhibition case back. The oscillating rotor on display here has been blackened in an elaborate nickel-plating process.
Both novelties are completed by a black rubber strap with a Ceratanium pin buckle and a quick-exchange system. The watches are limited to 25 pieces each and retail for £51,600.
Technical Specifications:
- Brand: IWC Schaffhausen
- Model: Aquatimer Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month Ceratanium
- Price: £51,600
- Material: Ceratanium
- Movement: In-house calibre 89802, automatic column-wheel chronograph
- Complications: Hours, minutes, small seconds, chronograph with central seconds and hour and minute counters combined at 12 o’clock, perpetual calendar with large double-digit displays for month and date, leap year indication at 6 o'clock
- Crystal: Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on the inside
- Dial: Black with red or blue lume on the hands and internal rotating bezel
- Size: 49mm wide, 19.5mm tall
- When the reviewer would personally wear it: I think my five-and-a-half-inch wrist would look a little stupid wearing a watch of this size.
- A friend we’d recommend it to first: A fan of the DC universe with plenty of left over income.
- Best characteristics of the watch: It’s a very clever utilisation of both chronograph and perpetual calendar function.
- The worst characteristics of the watch: It’s way too big in my opinion, and very expensive. But I suppose that’s why they’re only making 50, because there’s only 50 people in the world that could and would wear this.
