Description

For nearly a century, IWC Schaffhausen has been creating pilot’s watches of substance. In fact, the brand created its first pilot’s watch in the 1930’s and was the first watch company to conquer the issue of magnetism while in flight, developing a soft iron inner case to surround the movement. Since then, the brand has created many iterations of its pilot watches and is considered one of the top sources for aviation timepieces.

IWC’s Pilot’s Watches bring the magic of flight to all who wear them, in an especially elegant form. Originally designed as dependable and exact instruments for the cockpit, Pilot’s Watches are now treasured sports timepieces that prove their worth in everyday situations.

The history of Pilot’s Watches at IWC stretches back to the early years of aviation. At the time, precise wristwatches were an essential cockpit instrument and vital to a pilot’s survival. Used primarily to monitor flight times or engine operating hours, they were also useful tools for navigation during visual flights. Combined with a sextant, a highly accurate wristwatch helped the wearer to determine their current location using astronomical navigation.

Originally conceived of as a true tool watch and instrument for early aviators, IWC pilot watches remain among the most coveted on the market today. The first IWC pilot watch was built in 1936 in response to a request from the United Kingdom government, which wanted a watch for military pilots that was antimagnetic and that could withstand temperature changes from – 40 degrees to +40 degrees Celsius. Thanks to thorough research and development, the Swiss brand, located in the German-speaking region of Schaffhausen, Switzerland, found that by encasing the movement in a soft inner iron covering, it would be protected from magnetic fields and temperature fluctuations.