IWC revert their attention back to their pilots range with a update to the Spitfire collection...
IWC are a brand with deep history related to pilots watches. This inherently explains why their pilots watch category of watches includes 42 different watches, with the next highest being the Portugieser and Portofino ranges, two more range types which also have a deep design connection to the brands past.
IWC have hit the ground running for the start of 2019. First we see the IWC x The Rake x Revolution 36mm bronze pilot watch announced featuring a brown leather military style strap made from Russian reindeer hide from 1786 (seriously take a look at this one) we then get treated to new watches in the Spitfire collection which looks to pay respect to the colour scheme of the Spitfire's cockpit.
Let's take a look at the whole range...
BIG PILOT’S WATCH PERPETUAL CALENDAR SPITFIRE
46.2 mm case width
15.3 mm thick
Bronze case
Titanium case back
Olive green dial
Gold-plated hands
Brown calf leather strap
Perpetual calendar
Automatic mechanical movement
Power reserve display
Small hacking seconds
Display case back
7-day power reserve
Screw-in crown
Limited to 250 watches
$28,200
PILOT’S WATCH TIMEZONER SPITFIRE EDITION "THE LONGEST FLIGHT"
46mm case width
15.2mm thick
Stainless steel case
green textile strap
Water-resistance 6 bar
Automatic movement
Timezoner function for setting another time zone using the rotating bezel
24-hour display for Worldtimer function
Date display – Central hacking seconds –
Screw-in crown
60 hours power reserve
Special back engraving
Limited to 250 watches
PILOT’S WATCH UTC SPITFIRE EDITION “MJ271”
41mm case width
14.2mm thick
bronze case
Brown calf leather strap
Water-resistance 6 bar
Automatic movement
Date display
Central hacking seconds
Second-time zone
60 hours power reserve
Screw in crown
Special back engraving
Limited to 271 watches
PILOT’S WATCH CHRONOGRAPH SPITFIRE
41mm case width
15.3mm thick
Stainless steel or bronze case
green textile strap or brown calf leather
Water-resistance 6 bar
Mechanical chronograph movement
date and day display
screw in crown
46 hours of power reserve
special back engraving
$5,700 - $6,250 - (Steel / Bronze)
PILOT’S WATCH AUTOMATIC SPITFIRE
39mm case width
Mechanical movement
Date display
Screw-in crown
Glass secured against displacement by drops in air pressure
Water-resistance 6 bar
Special back engraving
Ref. IW326801:
10.8mm thick
Stainless steel case
green textile strap
Ref. IW326802:
10.6mm thick
Bronze case
Brown calf leather strap
$4,350 - $4,900 - (Steel / Bronze)
Initially thoughts
Personally, I really enjoy these additions from IWC. The more traditional route IWC have taken with this range may not have a massive appeal to the commercial world, however, for the watch collectors (especially vintage watch fans, which is seemingly seems to be everyone nowadays), it is bound for success. The Automatic Spitfire available with either a brown case or steel case encapsulates the simplicity of IWC's design purposeful design language but at the same time offers wrists a lot of versatility with the two different case and dial options.
The Chronograph Spitfire with its new 41mm size and now powered by the in house calibre 69380 is a really stunning looking chronograph. The fact you'll be getting an in house chronograph movement with day and date display at a wearable size for around £4,500, it's hard to beat that...
