IWC Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 Top Gun Mojave Desert watch
Those who know me know that I am an avid fan of IWC Schaffhausen. Have been so for decades, even before the brand was owned by Richemont Group. The reasons why are innumerable, and the subject for another article soon to appear here. However, with today’s unveiling of the new IWC Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 Top Gun Mojave Desert watch, I just had to underscore my belief in the brand’s innovation when it comes to ceramic.
The new 41mm watch, created in sand-colored ceramic, joins the brand’s “Colors of Top Gun” collection that made its debut about five years ago with a few hues, including Woodland Green and Mojave Desert. The color of this watch is inspired by the flight suits worn by the Navy fighter pilots, as well as by the landscape around the Mojave Desert. The color has something about it that is mesmerizing. Maybe the fact that it is so realistic, or maybe the fact that it is so saturated.
Made of engineered ceramic in Mojave Desert color, the new IWC Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 Top Gun is a statement in monochromatic beauty.
That, of course, should come as no surprise, since IWC has been making its own ceramic watch cases for decades. The Mojave Desert sand-colored ceramic is made from engineered ceramic created using raw materials like zirconium oxide that are heated and formed into an initial useable size and shape and then sintered in a kiln to achieve the case form, as well as to bind the materials so they offer extreme hardness and scratch resistance. The complex process is time-consuming in the color creation and formatting stage, and the final forms that come out of the process are all polished and buffed.
The watch boasts a monochromatic allure thanks to a brown dial with brown hands, as well as beige numerals and minute scale that are coated in Super-LumiNova for nighttime reading. A beige rubber strap completes the look.
The IWC Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 Top Gun Mojave Desert watch retails for $8,500.
The IWC Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 Top Gun Mojave Desert watch is powered by the IWC 32112 automatic caliber that beats at 4 Hz and offers 120 hours of power reserve. Water resistant to 100 meters, the watch features a sapphire convex crystal with anti-reflective coating on both sides. It retails for $8,500.
