Pilot's Watches

The Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar TOP GUN Lake Tahoe forms part of the IWC Colors of TOP GUN collection and features a 46.5-millimeter case in white ceramic. Specified by IWC and Pantone® as “IWC Lake Tahoe”, this ceramic color is inspired by the winter landscape around freshwater Lake Tahoe, a mountainous area pilots from the nearby U.S. Navy TOPGUN flight school frequently fly over. A pitch-black dial and black hands with luminescence, a stainless steel crown and case back ring, and a white textured rubber strap complete the contrasting design. White ceramics are emblematic of IWC’s comprehensive expertise in advanced materials. The company experimented with this color as early as the 1980s, shortly after introducing its first wristwatch with a black zirconium oxide ceramic case. White ceramic is created in a complex manufacturing process in which zirconium oxide is mixed with other metallic oxides and sintered at high temperatures in an oven. Ceramic is highly scratch-resistant and remarkably light, making it the perfect material for a Pilot’s Watch. IWC’s legendary perpetual calendar was developed by Kurt Klaus in the 1980s and has since continuously been refined and improved. It is mechanically programmed to recognize the different month lengths and the leap years and will run without manual intervention until 2100. The patented double moon phase display shows the moon as seen from the northern and southern hemispheres and will only deviate by one day after 577.5 years. A single nightly switching impulse from the IWC-manufactured 52616 caliber movement drives the calendar module. The automatic Pellaton winding system uses rotations of the oscillating mass in both directions to build up a power reserve of 7 days in two barrels. The movement can be viewed through a sapphire glass back.