IWC has chosen the Goodwood estate, in southern England, as the venue for unveiling the first new products in the run-up to the exhibition. At the same time, IWC is announcing a partnership of several years with Goodwood Aviation. Goodwood Aviation provides an array of aircraft maintenance services and each year handles around 18,000 flights on the Goodwood Aerodrome. The aerodrome is also home to the Boultbee Flight Academy, the world's first official Spitfire flying academy. It's from here that Steve Boultbee Brooks and Matt Jones will embark on the first round-the-world flight in a Spitfire this coming summer. IWC is supporting the "Silver Spitfire – The Longest Flight" project as its main sponsor. The history of this aerodrome is closely linked to that of the Spitfire: between 1940 and 1946, the Royal Air Force's Goodwood airfield served as an extension to the nearby RAF Tangmere airfield.
The Spitfire is one of the most sophisticated developments in the history of aviation. The shape of the British fighter aircraft is the result of a perfectly functional design; its elliptical wings not only make the propeller plane extraordinarily agile and easy to manoeuvre, they also give it its unique silhouette. The characteristic instrument design of IWC’s Pilot’s Watches likewise was the result of engineering to the specific requirements of military aviation.
Pilot’s Watch Timezoner Spitfire Edition "The Longest Flight" (ref. IW395501)
The Pilot’s Watch Timezoner Spitfire Edition "The Longest Flight" (ref. IW395501) combines for the first time ever at IWC the patented Timezoner mechanism with an entirely automatic IWC-manufactured movement. It is limited to just 250 watches.
Dedicated to the "Silver Spitfire – The Longest Flight" project, the timepiece has been specially developed for pilots Steve Boultbee Brooks and Matt Jones to coincide with their flight around the world in a Spitfire. The colour scheme of the watch design, with its stainless steel case, its black dial and its green textile strap, is reminiscent of the cockpit of a Spitfire.
The watch can be set to a different time zone by means of a simple rotational movement of the bezel. The hour hand, the 24-hour display and the date rotate automatically at the same time. The 24-hour display has been designed as a rotating disc beneath the dial. This means that the dial moves closer to the front glass, making it easier to read. The newly developed 82760 IWC-manufactured calibre has a Pellaton winding with components made from wear-resistant ceramic and a power reserve of 60 hours.
Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Spitfire (ref. IW387902)
With the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Spitfire (ref. IW387902), IWC is presenting its first Pilot’s Chronograph with a movement from the 69000 calibre family and a reduced case diameter of just 41 millimetres.
The 69380 IWC-manufactured calibre is a robust, reliable and high-precision chronograph movement with a classic column wheel design. The stopped hours and minutes are displayed on the two subdials at "9 o'clock" and "12 o'clock". It also features a date and day display. The pawl-winding system, which winds up on both sides, boasts a power reserve of 46 hours.
