IWC presented new Top Gun watches during SIHH in 2019, introducing their Ceratanium material for the first time in the Pilot?s Watch Double Chronograph. Among the new releases was the ?Mojave Desert? chronograph featuring a sand-colored ceramic, and the black ceramic Top Gun Automatic, serving as an entry point to the collection. Drawing on IWC?s well established Pilot?s Watch design language, the Automatic offered a familiar face while using the brand?s new(ish) 32110 in-house caliber. A few years later, we?re taking a look back at the Automatic Top Gun to see how it fares today, both as a Top Gun entry point, and as an IWC Pilot?s Watch.

$5600

Review: The IWC Automatic Top Gun

Case
Black Ceramic

Movement
IWC 32110

Dial
Matte Black

Lume

Lens
AR Coated Sapphire
Strap
Black Reinforced Fabric

Water Resistance
6 Bar

Dimensions
41x51mm

Thickness
11.5mm

Lug Width
20mm

Crown
Screw Down

Warranty
2 Yrs

Price
$5600

IWC & Top Gun

It?s worth exploring the relationship between IWC?s Top Gun collection, and the US Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program, aka Top Gun, from which the collection takes its name. The US Navy granted IWC exclusive license to manufacture Top Gun labeled timepieces in 2005, with the first watches appearing with the IWC Pilot?s Watch family in 2007 in the form of a Double (rattrapante) Chronograph. The driving force here is to produce watches befitting the elite pilots enduring the rigors...