BY DHANANJAY PATHAK
IWC is one of the leading manufacturers of premium mechanical pilot’s watches. For the last couple of years, the brand has given its pilot watches, especially chronographs, a thorough makeover making them more wearable and technically capable. For 2022 the Schaffhausen-based brand continues its onslaught of pilots watches and has released two new Top Gun chronographs: “Lake Tahoe” and “Woodland” during the ongoing Watches and Wonders 2022 event in Geneva.
Top Gun watches from IWC have always been the torchbearer of the brand’s Pilots watch collection combining functionality and material innovation. The new “Lake Tahoe” and “Woodland” Top Gun editions keep the DNA of the Top Gun family intact and bring more versatility and color to the collection. The “Lake Tahoe” edition features a white ceramic case with steel pushers and crown and a Titanium case back. The “Woodland” edition comes equipped with a dark green ceramic case and Ceratanium pushers, crown, and case back. For those who are unaware, Ceratanium is a proprietary material developed by IWC by combining Titanium and Ceramic. It is lightweight like Titanium and highly scratch-resistant like ceramic. The case on both watches measures a modern 44mm in diameter and has a thickness of around 15.5mm. Water-resistance is limited to just 60 meters.
Moving to the dials, we get a very familiar face with a tri-register setup, printed bold Arabic numerals, sword hands, and a day and date display. The only thing that separates the dial of these two watches is the colorway. The “Lake Tahoe” edition comes with Matt black dial that provides an excellent contrast to the white case. For the “Woodland” edition IWC has gone with an olive-green dial that matches quite well with the color of the case. In my opinion, the case and dial combination of the “Lake Tahoe” looks sharper and more handsome. But then again looks are subjective.
Internally both watches are identical and are powered by the IWC manufacture calibre 69380. An automatic movement, the caliber 69380 is equipped with a column-wheel mechanism for a smoother chronograph operation, and the autonomy on offer is around 46 hours.
The IWC Pilot’s watch chronograph Top Gun Edition “Woodland” is completed by a green rubber strap, and the Top Gun Edition “Lake Tahoe” comes attached to a white rubber strap. Both watches will retail for EUR 11,400. Visit IWC here.
