New innovative material takes centre stage

THE main idea, it appears, is to keep pushing out new "Mojave Desert" models till the sand-coloured ceramic material used for this series is instantly recognisable - and identified with IWC watches. So the brand's highlights for 2021 are 2 new timepieces in this material: A perpetual calendar and a basic time-only model with an anti-magnetic shield.

Both are Big Pilot watches - and it's the first time that the use of sand-coloured ceramic is extended to this collection. The material is featured not only in the case, but also in a totally new bracelet.

Many of this year's novelties, including the "Mojave Desert" models, are TOP GUN pilot timepieces - a name borrowed from the legendary Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Program, a rigorous course the US Navy adopts to train its elite pilots in flying and tactical skills.

Then there is IWC's tradition of paying homage to the author of the highly popular Little Prince: A beautiful blue perpetual calendar-tourbillon complication, in "Armor" gold!

Big Pilot's Watch Perpetual Calendar TOP GUN Edition "Mojave Desert" & Big Pilot's Watch TOP GUN Edition "Mojave Desert"

IWC Schaffhausen continues to expand its TOP GUN models in sand-coloured ceramic, rolling out a perpetual calendar and a time-only watch in the Big Pilot's Watch collection

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The brand's eye-catching TOP GUN timepieces, their design military-inspired, are technically-advanced precision tools built to take the hardest knocks that come with flight manoeuvres of super fast supersonic jets, long deployments on aircrafts carriers, as well as time-critical missions in any climate.

The materials that go into making the watches are robust and corrosion-resistant - such as titanium and ceramics. They ensure that the timepieces are fighting fit for the arduous duties of an elite US Navy pilot. Because of its extreme hardness, ceramic is for example ideal for daily use in the tough confines of a jet's cockpit.

The ceramic IWC used to craft the sand-coloured cases is among the hardest substances on earth, second only to that of diamonds. It's made from very pure raw materials employing highly production processes.

The first IWC watch affixed with a case made of sand-coloured ceramic is a chronograph, the Pilot's Watch Chronograph TOP GUN Edition "Mojave Desert" rolled out in 2019. "The design was inspired by the barren and dry landscape of China Lake," IWC says. This is where the US Navy's biggest single land holding is, about 150 miles north of Los Angeles in the Western Mojave Desert.

There, at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, the military develops and tests airborne weapon systems and trains pilots in their use.

Both the 2 new Big Pilot "Mojave Desert" watches sport dark brown subdued dials with sand-coloured luminous material framed, in the perpetual calendar, by a 46.5-millimetres- wide sand-coloured ceramic case; in the basic model, it's a 46 mm sand-coloured ceramic case. The 2 models come with sand-coloured rubber straps with textile inlays.

The Big Pilot's Watch Perpetual Calendar TOP GUN Edition "Mojave Desert" is, of course, the famous mechanical complication timepiece developed in the early 1980s by the brand's former head-watchmaker Kurt Klaus. The one that automatically recognises different month lengths and leap years - and its moon phase display correctly shows the moon phase for the northern and southern hemispheres, and only requires adjustment by 1 day after 577.5 years!

The new perpetual calendar, which is available in a limited production of 150 pieces per year, is driven by an IWC-developed automatic movement with a power reserve of 7 days.

The mechanism, including key parts like the rotor and balance wheel, can be seen through the sapphire crystal case back.

The Big Pilot's Watch TOP GUN Edition "Mojave Desert" also runs on an in-house self-winding movement with a power reserve of 7 days. What's more, it has a soft-iron inner cage that effectively protects the movement from the disruptive effects of magnetic fields. Engraved on the titanium case back is the TOP GUN logo. The watch is limited to 250 pieces a year.

Prices: S$49,800 (Perpetual Calendar TOP GUN "Mojave Desert"), S$22,500 (TOP GUN "Mojave Desert")

Big Pilot's Watch Perpetual Calendar TOP GUN Ceratanium & Pilot's Watch Timezoner TOP GUN Ceratanium

A GROUNDBREAKING material called Ceratanium takes centre stage in these 2 new IWC watches.

Hard and scratch-resistant as the Ceratanium case of the new timepieces may be, it's the lightness and skin-friendliness of the material, which combines the unique strengths of ceramic and titanium, that are more felt and appreciated this time on a new Ceratanium bracelet, launched on the Big Pilot's Watch Perpetual Calendar TOP GUN Ceratanium.

"After introducing several models with Ceratanium cases, we are now going one step further and for the first time present a bracelet crafted from this innovative material," says IWC's CEO Christoph Grainger-Herr.

Because the material is based on a titanium alloy, the Ceratanium bracelet is about 30 per cent lighter than steel bracelet and very comfortable to wear. And, of course, the Perpetual Calendar TOP GUN Ceratanium is given the honour of having the first Ceratanium bracelet.

Ceratanium is unique not only for its outstanding material properties. Its matt black colour also makes it easy to accommodate a totally jet-black design for the 2 new timepieces. The jet-black design in the new perpetual calendar is enhanced by a black dial with grey numerals. In the new Timezoner, it's complemented with a tinted sapphire case back, as well as a black rubber strap with textile inlay.

The perpetual calendar also has a tinted sapphire glass case back through which the IWC-made movement can be viewed. The Pellaton winding system of the watch is fitted with components made of virtually wear-free ceramic and builds up a power reserve of 7 days.

Annual production of the 46.2-millimetres Perpetual Calendar TOP GUN Ceratanium is limited to 150 pieces.

Price: S$68,400

THE Pilot's Watch Timezoner TOP GUN Ceratanium is the first TOP GUN model with a Timezoner complication - a travel timepiece that has 24 cities on it, with each one representing one of the international time zones. The 46 mm watch is also powered by a Pellaton movement that has a power reserve of 60 hours.

The watch is limited to 500 pieces.

Price: S$25,400

Big Pilot's Watch Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon Edition "Le Petit Prince"

IWC is again paying tribute to the creator of The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery - this time with not just a beautiful watch, but one combining two highly sophisticated complications and presented in 18-carat "Armor" gold, gold that's harder than traditional gold alloys.

The timepiece looks just great in a large dial that measures 46.2 millimetres across a deep blue background, with a sunray finish. Time is indicated by 18-carat gold appliques and gold-plated hands coated with luminescent material that glows in the dark. Prominently attached to the dial is a large conical crown.

The watch's main attraction is its gravity-defying mechanism, seen through the aperture at 12 o'clock on the dial. This is the flying minute tourbillon, which is an ingenious horological invention nicknamed the "whirlwind". It involves the balance wheel rotating around its own axis in a cage.

The sight of it is a visual spectacle. The constant rotation is also what protects the oscillation system and improves the accuracy of the watch.

Assembling the tourbillon is no mean feat that requires putting delicately together 82 parts weighing only 0.635 grams altogether.

Equally intricate is the perpetual calendar, which was conceived in the 1980s by IWC's former head-watchmaker Kurt Klaus. It's mechanically programmed to automatically recognise the different lengths of the months and the leap years - and it can keep going at it without any adjustments till 2100!

The perpetual moon phase display is so precise that it will only need a correction by 1 day, but that's only after 577.5 years.

The tourbillon and perpetual calendar are integrated into an IWC-made movement which has an automatic winding system that utilises an 18-carat gold oscillating weight.

The winding system takes the shape of the Little Prince standing on his asteroid and it can accumulate a power reserve equivalent to 7 days, despite the fact that the tourbillon is a high-energy user.

Price: S$175,000