During Sotheby’s sale of Important Watches on 12 November 2017, IWC will offer a special edition of its Big Pilot's Watch Annual Calendar Edition "Le Petit Prince"(Reference IW502705, Lot 183). A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the watch will benefit the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation, whose charitable work is dedicated to supporting young people and children in need all over the world.
This wristwatch in 18-carat white gold is a homage to author and pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Its timeless design brings together the poetry and much-loved narrative of The Little Prince, with technical features demonstrating IWC Schaffhausen’s exacting standards in precision watchmaking.
This timepiece features a midnight blue dial with rhodium-plated luminous hands, inspired by the glowing dials of cockpit instruments. Located at “12 o’clock” on the dial, IWC’s annual calendar shows the month, date and day in three separate windows. Its complex mechanism takes into account the differing lengths of different months, with the exception of February; once a year in March, it requires a simple manual correction using the crown.
The striking conical crown of the Pilot’s Watch harks back to the pioneering days of aviation, when pilots had to face the elements in unheated cockpits. The large size of the crown allowed pilots to set and wind their watch even when wearing thick gloves and a padded flight suit.
The case back of the watch in sapphire glass reveals IWC’s sophisticated and innovative blue movement, which took IWC nearly two years to perfect. The Little Prince of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s is shown gazing into the sky from his tiny planet. The planet in its entirety forms the rotor and revolves around its axis. Also made of 18-carat gold, the rotor is decorated with detail of blue flowers, inspired by the original illustrations in The Little Prince.
