2007 IWC Pilot's
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Year of manufacture2007
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Car typeOther
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DriveLHD
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ConditionUsed
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Exterior brand coloursilver
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Location
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Exterior colourSilver
Description
Grosse Fliegeruhr - The Big Pilot Watch
The Grosse Fliegeruhr was a military issue watch for use by Aviators and were issued for the Luftwaffe
The large cased watches were referred to as "Nav B-Uhr" or "Beobachtungsuhr" (Navigation Watch)
This specification of watch supplied to the Luftwaffe was dictated by the RLM (Reichsluftfahrtministerium), the German Ministry of Aviation (the RLM operated from 1933 – 1945).
Five manufacturers made watches to the specification dictated by the RLM; Lange & Söhne, Laco (Lacher & Co), Stowa (Walter Storz), Wempe and IWC
The watches had a case diameter of 55mm, were marked on the back with FL23883 and were equipped with large winding crowns to facilitate operation whilst wearing gloves
Additional features included a hacking movement (ability to stop the second hand when pulling out the crown), Breguet balance spring, chronometer certification and a long leather strap to allow the watch to be worn over a flying suit
The strap typically featured two decorative rivets on each side, near the shoulders of the watch case (four in total)
The watch was fitted with an anti-magnetic casing to protect the movement against magnetic fields. A triangular shaped index at 12 O'clock would feature on the dial with two dots either side, as required by the RLM
IWC decided to re-launch the original concept although with an eye on use by the normal watch lover rather than a military airman - hence the case size was reduced to 46mm and a date was located at 6 o'clock and a Power Reserve at 3 o'clock
The strap was Crocodile and the enormous Onion Crown was obviously kept at the original size giving the modern wristwatch that distinctive look
Case
Stainless steel case
Diameter 46.2 mm
Height 15.6 mm
Screw in crown
Water resistance 6 bar
Movement
51111 Calibre
IWC-manufactured movement
Automatic, self-winding
168 hours Power Reserve
Frequency 28800.0 vph (4.0 hz)
42 Jewels
Côtes de Genève, perlage
Features
Soft-iron inner case for protection against magnetic fields
7 days power reserve
Power reserve display
Date display
Glass secured against displacement by drop in air pressure
Sapphire glass, convex, antireflective coating on both sides
Pellaton automatic winding
Central hacking seconds
This example as first delivered in 2007 and remains in remarkable condition
Original box & papers, deployment clasp and IWC crocodile strap
A really striking timepiece and one of my favourites
New price today £11.450