Press release
If you plan to stay ahead of the pack, you need state-of-the-art technology. And that's why the pilots at the NAS base in Fallon in the Nevada desert are trained in the very latest jets – the Top Guns. Any Haute Horlogerie manufacturer planning to remain in the top flight needs to upgrade on a regular basis. IWC Schaffhausen, for instance, has equipped its new Pilot's Watch Chronograph TOP GUN (Ref. 388001) with the in-house 89365 calibre, which boosts the watch's power reserve from 44 to a useful 68 hours compared with its predecessor. A soft-iron inner case protects the precision mechanism against magnetic fields.
The dial is in the classical cockpit design, all the way down to the date display, which resembles an altimeter. Luminescent white hands and indices guarantee outstanding legibility, even when visibility is far from perfect. The central chronograph hand, whose signal red counterpoise brings to mind the silhouette of a jet, shows recorded times in seconds, while the small white hand in the subdial at “12 o'clock” shows the number of elapsed minutes. Thanks to the integrated flyback function, simply pushing the reset button causes the stopwatch hand to return to zero and instantly starts recording a new time. The small red hacking seconds rotating at “6 o'clock” indicates that the watch is running normally. It can be stopped whenever necessary for synchronization purposes.
The high-tech materials used in the Pilot's Watch Chronograph TOP GUN are of the very highest quality. The ceramic case, enlarged by 2 millimetres to 46, is water-resistant to 6 bar, light and extremely skin-friendly. The push-buttons and crown are made of titanium. With an antireflective coating on both sides, the convex sapphire glass (grade 9 on Mohs' hardness scale) is highly scratch-resistant and secured against sudden drops in pressure in the cockpit.
Heading up IWC's Pilot's Watches With identical features, the Pilot's Watch Chronograph TOP GUN Miramar (Ref. 388002) references the original home of Top Gun: Miramar in California. The US Navy Fighter Weapons School was situated there from 1969 to 1996, when it was relocated to Fallon in Nevada. The Top Gun engraving on the titanium case back is a tribute to a select elite and an indication that this is the technological highlight of IWC's Pilot's Watch family. The Pilot's Watch Chronograph TOP GUN Miramar features the military design. The ceramic case owes its shimmering metallic grey, which is paired with a dial in matte anthracite, to the elaborately finished surfacing. The hands and chapter ring in beige, together with the rugged green textile strap, reinforce the desired look.
One unusual feature is the separate depiction of the minutes on the external ring and the hours on a smaller inner ring. This is derived from an original feature of deck watches in the 1930s and 1940s, when the precise time in minutes and seconds was essential for determining the aircraft's position. The flyback is another function that dates from that era of aviation. It allows the chronograph to “delete” an ongoing time measurement and to start a new one without an intermediate stop. This was vital if the pilot was timing certain curved radii using his watch, or if a manoeuvre had to be abandoned and a new one started immediately.
Pilot's Watch Chronograph TOP GUN
Ref. IW388001
Features
Mechanical chronograph movement, self-winding, date display, stopwatch function with minutes and seconds, flyback function, small hacking seconds, soft-iron inner case for protection against magnetic fields, screw-in crown, glass secured against displacement by drop in air pressure
Movement
Calibre 89365
Frequency 28,800 A/h / 4 Hz
Jewels 35
Power reserve 68 h
Winding automatic
Watch
Materials ceramic case, black dial, black soft strap, folding clasp in stainless steel, blasted
Glass sapphire, convex, antireflective coating
on both sides
Water-resistant 6 bar
Diameter 46 mm
Case height 16.5 mm
Pilot's Watch Chronograph TOP GUN Miramar
Ref. IW388002
Features
Mechanical chronograph movement, self-winding, date display, stopwatch function with minutes and seconds, flyback function, small hacking seconds, soft-iron inner case for protection against magnetic fields, screw-in crown, glass secured against displacement by drop in air pressure
Movement
Calibre 89365
Frequency 28,800 A/h / 4 Hz
Jewels 35
Power reserve 68 h
Winding automatic
Watch
Materials polished ceramic case, anthracite-coloured dial, green textile strap, pin buckle in stainless-steel, blasted
Glass sapphire, convex, antireflective coating
on both sides
Water-resistant 6 bar
Diameter 46 mm
Case height 16.5 mm
