IWC Big Pilot Black Ceramic Top Gun Miramar Chronograph
View Similar Items
IWC Big Pilot Black Ceramic Top Gun Miramar Chronograph
About the Item
- Creator:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:N/A
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Scottsdale, AZ
- Reference Number:Seller: 548-651stDibs: LU932313354982
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 White Ceramic Pilots Chronograph Top Gun “Lake Tahoe”By IWCLocated in Scottsdale, AZBrand: IWC Movement: automatic Function: hour, minutes, seconds, day, date, chronograph Case: 44.5mm ceramic round case, sapphire crystal, push/pull crown Band: white rubber strap, ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Wrist Watches
- IWC Stainless Steel Pilots Watch ChronographBy IWCLocated in Scottsdale, AZBrand: IWC Movement: automatic Function: hours, minutes, seconds, day, date, chronograph Case: 43mm round case, sapphire crystal, push/pull crown, smooth bezel Band: black IWC leathe...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Wrist Watches
MaterialsStainless Steel
- IWC Titanium Pilots Watch Mark XVIII HeritageBy IWCLocated in Scottsdale, AZBrand: IWC Movement: automatic Function: hours, minutes, seconds, date Case: 40mm round case, sapphire crystal, push/pull crown Band: black rubber strap, buckle Dial: black arabic Re...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Wrist Watches
MaterialsTitanium
- Bulgari Black Ceramic and 18 Karat Rose Gold Octo ChronographBy BvlgariLocated in Scottsdale, AZMovement: automatic Function: hours, minutes, seconds, date, chronograph Case: 41mm octagonal case, smooth 18K rose gold Bulgari bezel, sapphire crys...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Wrist Watches
Materials18k Gold, Rose Gold
- Michael Kors Black Stainless Steel Runway ChronographLocated in Scottsdale, AZMovement: quartz Function: Date, hours, minutes, seconds, chronograph Case: 44mm round case, sapphire crystal, pull crown, crystal bezel Band: black rubber, stainless steel deployme...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Wrist Watches
MaterialsSteel, Stainless Steel
- IWC Platinum Portugieser Minute RepetitionBy IWCLocated in Scottsdale, AZBrand: IWC Movement: manual Function: hour, minutes, seconds, minute repeater Case: 42mm platinum round case, sapphire crystal Band: black crocodile strap, integrated clasp Dial: sil...Category
21st Century and Contemporary 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 Top Gun Chronograph Green Dial Mens Watch IW389106 UnwornBy IWCLocated in Atlanta, GAIWC Pilot Top Gun Chronograph Green Dial Mens Watch IW389106 Unworn. Automatic self-winding chronograph movement. Green ceramic case case 44.5 mm i...Category
Early 2000s Wrist Watches
- IWC Big Pilot 43 mm Top Gun Black Dial Automatic Mens Watch IW329801 UnwornBy IWCLocated in Atlanta, GAIWC Big Pilot 43 mm Top Gun Black Dial Automatic Mens Watch IW329801 Unworn. Automatic self-winding movement. Black ceramic case 43.0 mm in diameter. Exhibition sapphire crystal case...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Wrist Watches
- IWC Pilots Timezoner Top Gun Ceratanium Mens Watch IW395505 UnwornBy IWCLocated in Atlanta, GAIWC Pilots Timezoner Top Gun Ceratanium Mens Watch IW395505 Unworn. Automatic self-winding movement. Black ceratanium case 46.0 mm in diameter. Exhibition Transparent sapphire crysta...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Wrist Watches
- IWC Pilot Chronograph Watch Reference IW3706By IWCLocated in Roma, ITIWC Pilot Chronograph Fliegerchronograph Automatik IW3706 Reference number IW3706 Year of manufacture 2000 Diameter 39mm Material steel and black le...Category
Early 2000s Swiss Wrist Watches
MaterialsSteel
- IWC Pilot's Watch Mark XVII Top Gun Automatic Men's Watch IW324712By IWCLocated in Washington Depot, CTIWC Pilot's Watch Mark XVII Top Gun Watch Model: IW324712 Serial: 6256624 This IWC watch has a ceramic case that is 41mm in diameter. Green canvas I...Category
2010s Wrist Watches