Throughout its history, IWC Schaffhausen has been heavily involved in the world of aviation and also, to a lesser extent, in the world of motorsports. Until recently, the company’s work in the latter field exerted its influence mainly on one particular IWC watch family, the racing-inspired Ingenieur, while the modern evolution of the Pilot’s family remained rooted in its original 1930s and ’40s cockpit designs. But synergy is the name of the game these days, apparently, as witness the manufacture’s latest high-complication timepiece, the Big Pilot’s Watch Constant-Force Tourbillon Edition “IWC Racing,” which takes its cues both from aeronautical and automotive sources.

Limited to just 15 pieces, in a matte-black Ceratanium case in the classical Big Pilot’s Watch style, the watch contains the IWC in-house Caliber 94800, one of the Schaffhausen maison’s most complicated movements, boasting a tourbillon with an integrated constant-force mechanism, a perpetual moon-phase display for the northern and southern hemispheres, and an analog display for its four-day (96-hour) power reserve. Measuring 46.2 mm in diameter and featuring the Big Pilot’s historically inspired, large conical crown, the case is the latest in IWC’s lineup forged from Ceratanium, a specially developed alloy that is as hard and scratch-resistant as ceramic but as light and robust as titanium, with a distinctive matte-black surface.
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