BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
We’re big fans of IWC watches here at WristReview, their commitment to making function-over-form luxury watches speaks volumes about their ideals. As you’ll have seen from our recent review of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, we at WristReview love things other than wristwatches too, especially when those other things are planted on four wheels. Exactly when can you expect to see us review a car? I have no idea, I wouldn’t even know where to begin with that one, but this new IWC watch is car related.
The world of Formula 1 racing is so prestigious and glamorous that it seems to be detached from our own, although we still enjoy it. IWC has been working with Mercedes-Benz for years, lots of ‘Mercs’ have an IWC clock in them. IWC has also been working with the Formula 1 team, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team for a decade now, and their watches are often printed on the wrists of the suits the drivers wear.
For the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, which takes place on the 7th of May (this coming Sunday), IWC has revealed a super hot pink edition of the titanium Pilot’s Watch Chronograph. Why pink? Well, the reason is that the drivers, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, will be wearing pink on their gloves and shoes, and other members of the team will be wearing pink too.
You too can own this watch with its exclusive Miami Pink strap, if you like. At 41mm x 14.6mm the Pilot’s Chronograph watch is quite compact and wearable, and the fact that the case is made of grade 5 titanium will help too. I quite like the technical finishing of the watch, the case is grained from top to bottom but the crown and pushers contrast this with their polishing. I would like to see more brands doing polished titanium, despite the extra trickiness involved. The case also includes IWC’s EasX-CHANGE quick-change system for the strap and comes supplied with a Petronas Green rubber strap too. The case is 100m water resistant.
Inside the watch and on display is the self-winding 69385, made for IWC by Valfleurier which is Richemont’s movement manufacturer. It comes with a 46-hour power reserve along with a 4Hz beat rate. The chronograph is a column wheel chronograph, and the watch displays the day and date which is a nice feature.
Perhaps the thing I like most about this watch is that they didn’t go over the top with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team branding, it’s written on the caseback but that’s it, this can just be a regular watch otherwise. It can be yours for a regular price of $8350 before tax and is available to order online from IWC and in their Miami boutique for a period of time.
