IWC Platinum Big Pilot Aviator's Wristwatch with Power Reserve and Date
View Similar Items
IWC Platinum Big Pilot Aviator's Wristwatch with Power Reserve and Date
About the Item
- Creator:
- Case Material:
- Case Dimensions:Diameter: 1.82 in (46.2 mm)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 2005
- Condition:Very nice condition.
- Seller Location:Munich, DE
- Reference Number:Seller: 143301stDibs: LU525210640
IWC
One of Switzerland’s major luxury watch companies was started by an American who saw the potential of bringing Switzerland’s superb watchmaking into the modern age through industrialized manufacturing and high-precision interchangeable parts. The New Hampshire–born watchmaker Florentine Ariosto Jones (1841–1916), who founded International Watch Company — known today as simply IWC — in 1868, was interested in “combining all the excellence of the American system of mechanism with the more skillful hand labor of the Swiss.”
Setting up the company with another American watchmaker, Charles Kidder, in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, Jones used hydropower from the River Rhine for his plant’s machinery. Rethinking watch design would lead to one of IWC’s early successes: the Pallweber pocket watch. Based on an 1883 patent by Austrian watchmaker Josef Pallweber, the watch employed numbered disks for jumping hour and minute displays, making it a pioneer in digital timekeeping.
After Johann Rauschenbach-Vogel took over the watch manufacturer in 1880, four generations of his family led IWC into the 20th century. In 1905, Ernst Jakob Homberger and his brother-in-law Carl Jung — the famed Swiss psychiatrist — acquired IWC. Homberger bought out Jung’s holdings in 1929, and in the 1930s, the company introduced pilot watches, which were particularly robust and aimed solely at the civil aviation industry. These durable wristwatches were designed specifically to remain operational during extreme temperature shifts. (As blue watch dials are particularly hot right now, IWC's blue-dial Big Pilot is having a moment.)
The company still operates alongside the river where it was founded, having gained an international reputation over the past 150 years for its elegant designs and expert craftsmanship. Vintage IWC watches are prized by collectors — of whom there are many these days — and while the company continues to guard its attention to detail and quality, it has pushed its classic designs forward with modern innovation intended to stand the test of time.
IWC’s 2013 Ingenieur watch collection, with its precision based on an inventive constant-force mechanism, looked back to a 1955 Ingenieur model that featured a durable soft-iron inner cage as well as a 1976 update by leading Swiss watch designer Gérald Genta that encased its mechanism in a sleek steel case. IWC has also had a recent push toward sustainability, designing watches that are made to last a lifetime and beyond and earning the highest environmental ranking of any Swiss watch company in a 2018 report published by the World Wide Fund for Nature Switzerland (WWF).
Find vintage IWC wristwatches, Art Deco–style pocket watches and more on 1stDibs.
- IWC Big Ingenieur 7 Day Power Reserve WatchBy IWCLocated in New York, NYMint condition case, strap shows signs of wear Movement : Mechanical Automatic Case diameter: 45.5mm Case: Stainless Steel Scratch Resistant Sapphire Tang Buckle Function: Date, Powe...Category
Early 2000s Wrist Watches
- Patek Philippe Platinum Annual Calendar Moonphase Power Reserve WristwatchBy Patek PhilippeLocated in New York, NYThis fantastic Patek Philippe Ref. 5056P wristwatch features a fine platinum case with a sapphire crystal, a gray dial with Roman numerals and luminous hands, Annual Calendar, day su...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Wrist Watches
MaterialsPlatinum
- IWC Big Pilot Stainless Steel Top Gun Edition WatchBy IWCLocated in Boca Raton, FLIWC Big Pilot Stainless Steel Top Gun Edition Watch Brand: IWC Model: Big Pilot Top Gun Edition Dial: Black dial with luminescent hands, date ca...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Wrist Watches
MaterialsSteel, Stainless Steel
- IWC Pilot stainless steel Automatic Wristwatch Ref IW500401By IWCLocated in Surfside, FLIWC Big Pilot's watch in stainless steel on black crocodile strap with an IWC stainless steel deployant buckle. Auto w/ date, sweep seconds, and power reserve. 46 mm case size. Ref I...Category
Early 2000s Wrist Watches
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Jaeger-LeCoultre Power ReserveBy Jaeger-LeCoultreLocated in London, GBCAL 481 Bumper Crown. The watch carries the original Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre.481, 17 Jewel movement, Jaeger-LeCoutre Power matics are rare. (with new leather strap, not JLC) Additi...Category
2010s Swiss Wrist Watches
MaterialsGold
- IWC Big Pilots Black Dial Automatic Steel Mens Watch IW500401By IWCLocated in New York, NYIWC Big Pilots 46mm Black Dial Automatic Steel Mens Watch IW500401 Brand new!! box papers unworn! incredible watch! free overnight shippinhg! shop wit...Category
2010s European Wrist Watches
MaterialsSteel