HOMAGE TO THE PAST

Almost 70 years after the first Mark II model, the watchmaker from Schaffhausen brings this iconic pilot’s watch up to date with a stylistically simple, limited edition with a self-winding mechanism.

In 1948, in the IWC workshops in Schaffhausen, a timepiece was produced for air-force pilots, mainly from the Royal Air Force, and simply named the Mark XI Pilot’s Watch. It was still being made in the early 1980s, and was then redesigned in 1994 to make a model aimed more at the general public, the Mark XII Pilot’s Watch. This year, almost 70 years later, IWC is paying homage to this legendary watch with an edition limited to 1,948 pieces: the Mark XVIII Edition Pilot’s Watch “Tribute to Mark XI”. A long, complex name for a timepiece that is not complicated at all.

The Mark XVIII Edition Pilot’s Watch “Tribute to Mark XI“ is above all a watch with a simple design, a rather traditional look and a reasonable size, adapted to male and female wrists alike.

The steel case is 40mm wide and 10.8mm thick; it is equipped with a soft iron inner case, protecting the mechanism from magnetic fields and sudden depressurisation. The mechanism itself is the calibre 35111, an automatic movement running at 28,800 vibrations an hour and providing 42 hours of autonomy.

The black dial on this new watch made by IWC features the famous yellow cross made up of four rectangles coated in sand-coloured luminous material and placed on the cardinal points. The beige colour is echoed on the central hour and minute hands. The Arabic numerals around the hour rim, as well as the minute track running along the chapter ring, are coloured white.

Price on request.

By Sharmila Bertin