IWC Celebrates the Spitfire World Tour Accomplishment With Bronze Limited Edition

Last year, IWC took part in sponsoring “The Longest Flight,” a project involving a vintage Spitfire plane piloted by British pilots Boultbee Brooks and Matt Jones who will circumnavigate the globe by flying 43,000 km across 30 different countries. To commemorate the expedition at the time, the Swiss luxury watchmaker released a special edition Pilot’s Watch Timezoner in stainless steel. Now, with their mission accomplished, IWC is once again crafting a limited edition timepiece in celebration of the amazing achievement by the Brooks and Jones and the Spitfire plane itself, this time tapping a classic material for its construction: bronze.

Coming in the form of the Big Pilot’s Watch Big Date, the bronze case measures in at a more aviation-centric 46.2 mm coupled with an extra large crown for easy manipulation even when you’re wearing gloves. With a nod to the plane’s military heritage, the dial comes in a deep green tone with white markings for greater legibility, spanning across the seconds track around the outer rim, the Roman numeral indices, the small seconds at 6 o’clock, the skeletonized hour and minute hands, and even the date window at 12 o’clock. Powering the timepiece itself is an in-house manual wind 59235 calibre with an incredible power reserve of 192 hours.. Completing the limited edition is finally a brown calf skin strap measuring 22m wide.

For those interested, the IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Big Date Spitfire Edition “Mission Accomplished” is now available over on the company’s website, going for $15,800 USD and limited to just 500 pieces. Head over to learn more.

Elsewhere in watches, Hublot has launched a special edition Classic Fusion Aerofusion Chronograph that pays tribute to Monte Carlo.