IWC Big Pilot Top Gun Watch IW501901
View Similar Items
IWC Big Pilot Top Gun Watch IW501901
About the Item
- Creator:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Circa 21st Century
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Southampton, PA
- Reference Number:Seller: 2012741stDibs: LU68214400052
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.
- Lacoste Capbreton Stainless Steel Watch 2010944By LacosteLocated in Southampton, PAThis is the Lacoste Capbreton watch, reference number 2010944. It is presented with a stainless steel case that measures 46 mm in diameter. The case is water-resistant to 50 meters ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Wrist Watches
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Audemars Piguet Millenary Star Wheel Watch 258985TBy Audemars PiguetLocated in Southampton, PAAt first sight, you'll find the Audemars Piguet Millenary Star Wheel 258985 to be an elegant watch. It's complicated but isn't loud. The magnificent complic...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Wrist Watches
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Vacheron Constantin Overseas Watch 4500V/110A-B483By Vacheron ConstantinLocated in Southampton, PAThis good-looking watch is the epitome of simplicity. Perfect for everyday wear, the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Watch 4500V/110A-B...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Wrist Watches
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Breguet Classique Perpetual Calendar Watch 5327BB/IE/9V6By BreguetLocated in Southampton, PAIt's easy to see why this Breguet Classique is gaining in popularity among watch collectors. The Breguet Classique Perpetual Calendar Watch ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Wrist Watches
Materials18k Gold, White Gold
- Omega De Ville Tourbillon Platinum Chronometer Watch 5946.30.31By OmegaLocated in Southampton, PAThis Omega De Ville Tourbillon Platinum is a truly remarkable watch. A handcrafted timepiece, it features a 38.7 mm platinum case with a beze...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Wrist Watches
MaterialsPlatinum
- Officine Panerai Lo Scienziato Radiomir Tourbillon GMT Watch PAM350By PaneraiLocated in Southampton, PAA tribute to Galileo Galilei, this 'Lo Scienziato' (or 'the Scientist' in Italian) PAM350 was released in 2010 in honor of the 400th anniversary of Gal...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Wrist Watches
- 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'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
- 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 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
- IWC Pilot IW371701 Men's Watch in Stainless SteelBy IWCLocated in New York, NYIWC Pilot IW371701 Men's Watch in Stainless Steel SKU: 133460 PRIMARY DETAILS Brand: IWC Model: Pilot Country of Origin: Switzerland Movement Type: Mechanical: Automatic/Kinetic Year Manufactured: 2011 Year of Manufacture: 2010-2019 Condition: The IWC Big Pilot watch...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Wrist Watches
MaterialsStainless Steel, Steel
- 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