Time Flies: 9 Historic IWC Pilot’s Watches
IWC Schaffhausen launched a fleet of new Pilot’s watches at SIHH 2016 in Geneva (including a pair of extra-sized Heritage models, a new “Le Petit Prince” annual calendar, and the innovative Timezoner chronograph), continuing the brand’s long and storied heritage as a supplier of timepieces for aviators. Here, courtesy of IWC’s archives, we present a lineup of vintage and modern IWC pilots’ watches that represent milestones for the brand ? and for watchmaking history.
1. The First IWC Watch Ever Taken Into The Sky (1896)
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This pocketwatch, with a 14k yellow gold case and containing the IWC-manufactured Caliber 53 movement (no official reference number) was sold by IWC on December 1896 to IWC retailer A. Kohler from Leipzig, Germany. Another German, Albert Lotter, inherited the watch from his father in 1916. During the following years the watch and its owner, who lived in Saxony and Berlin, witnessed many 20th-century historical milestones. The watch still operates with good timekeeping precision. 2. IWC’s First “Special Watch for Pilots” (1936)
IWC started focusing on the production of technically advanced watches built specifically for aviation at a very early stage, becoming a true pioneer in this field. Progress made in aviation and navigation had created a growing need for watches that offered maximum reliability under the toughest conditions.
Ernst Jakob Homberger (1869?1955), IWC managing director during the 193...
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