RECOMMENDED READING: The Silver Spitfire’s epic 27,000-mile trip starts today (and IWC is on board)

Felix Scholz

Some of my favourite releases from SIHH 2019 were the watches from the IWC Spitfire collection, which offers a host of twists on their classic pilot’s collection, and a few special limited editions — like the Timezoner Spitfire Edition “The Longest Flight”.  At SIHH we also learned more about the story of this watch, or rather the adventure it takes its name from, and which IWC is supporting. The Silver Spitfire was originally constructed in 1943, and took part in 51 sorties between 1944 and 1945. 

The old bird (known by the registration G-IRTY) has been given a fresh lease on life, and completely stripped of paint, leading to the name — The Silver Spitfire. And today it takes off in an epic attempt to circumnavigate the globe, in a trip that will see the plane (and two pilots) fly 27,000 miles and visit 30 countries over four months. Impressive, inspiring stuff. 

Read more about the plane, its importance and its journey (and the occasional IWC watch) over at QP Magazine.