Understanding the IWC Pilot’s family part 2 – the Spitfire collection
Time+TideFollowing on from last week’s look at the Top Gun collection, Andrew sets his sights on the heritage-inspired Spitfire collection. This year saw the Spitfire step up its status from an occasional silver-dialled offering to a fully formed collection in its own right. Gone are the silver dials of the past, replaced with either handsome black and steel, or a particularly warm bronze and olive green. The bronze alloy is not the bright bronze that you might expect, and already has a world-worn feel that plays well with the military-inspired olive green dial.
The other standout feature of this collection is the fact that it is powered completely by in-house movements. Some of them are quite cool, like the UTC and the Timezoner, whereas others are a little simpler — such as the regular automatic. We found ourselves drawn to two models in particular.
IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Spitfire
This well-sized 41mm chronograph epitomises everything that’s great about a pilot’s watch, in an exceptionally cool bronze case. The fact that it’s rocking the in-house 69000 calibre only makes it sweeter.
IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Spitfire
We’ve saved the best (or at least the biggest) till last. This Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar is a limited edition of 250 pieces, and clocks in at a hefty 46.2mm. IWC has managed to pack a lot of complication into the case, though — a perpetual calendar and double moon phase display. If you want this style but in steel, you’re out of luck, as this particular model is unique to the bronze case.
Made in partnership with IWC. However, the opinions expressed in this article are our own in accordance with our Editorial Policy.