BY JOVAN KRSTEVSKI
IWC Schaffhausen’s Big Pilot watch isn’t known for its chronograph function, understandably so because there’s none in it… well until now. Inspired by one of the B-Uhr watches of the 1940s. Even when Big Pilot received the moniker “Le Petit”, in honor of a novel by the same name, it lacked a Chronograph. With the release of IWC Schaffhausen Big Pilot’s Watch Monopusher Edition “Le Petit Prince” Limited Edition, Big Pilot now harbors a monopusher chronograph.
This new offering by IWC comes with a stainless steel case, water-resistant to 60m and brushed with polished accents and with a diameter of 46.2mm. Thickness is more restrained 14.6mm considering that this is a pilot’s watch. Featuring a see-through sapphire case back, the sapphire crystal is secured against displacement by drops in air pressure which is understandable or even necessary for a pilot watch I suppose. The sapphire crystal comes with anti-reflective coating on both sides. The watch comes with a brown calfskin strap with stainless steel folding clasp.
The dial is sunray-brushed and has a gorgeous and mind soothing deep blue color with applied Arabic numerals, hands and markers comes filled with Super-LumiNova. Under the sun, the sunburst effect on the dial produces a deeply captivating effect. The propeller-style hands is a nice touch, further accentuating the aviation aspect of this pilot watch.
The movement that IWC used in this watch is their in-house calibre 59365 mechanical movement. It’s a monopusher hand-wound chronograph with column-wheel. The monopusher mechanism is a marvel of precision engineering, it has 66 parts and is manufactured with the Liga process as it’s called. The movement has 36 jewels and beats at a rate of 28,800 vibrations/hour or 4Hz. Power reserve is an impressive 8 days which equals to 192 hours.
The IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Monopusher Edition “Le Petit Prince” IW515202 is limited to 500 pieces. It retails for EUR 17,200.
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