IWC Stainless Steel Pilots Watch Chronograph
About the Item
- Creator:
- Case Material:
- Strap Material:Leather
- Case Shape:Round
- Movement:
- Chronograph:Yes
- Case Dimensions:Diameter: 1.7 in (43 mm)
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:N/A
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Scottsdale, AZ
- Reference Number:
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Scottsdale, AZ
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
- 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 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
- Breitling Stainless Steel Aviation ChronographBy BreitlingLocated in Scottsdale, AZMovement: automatic Function: hours, minutes, seconds, date, chronograph Case: round 40mm case, coin trimmed tachymeter bezel, sapphire crystal, Breitling engraved case-back, screw-d...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Wrist Watches
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Michele Stainless Steel Sport ChronographBy MicheleLocated in Scottsdale, AZMovement: quartz Function: hours, minutes, seconds, date, chronograph Case: 35mm stainless round case, smooth bezel, sapphire crystal Dial: white chronograph Band: stainless steel b...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Wrist Watches
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Walkmann Stainless Steel Vintage ChronographLocated in Scottsdale, AZMovement: manual Function: hours, minutes, seconds, chronograph Case: 36mm round, smooth bezel Bracelet: stainless steel stretch bracelet Dial: white chronograph dial Serial # 907XXX...Category
20th Century Wrist Watches
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Omega Stainless Steel Speedmaster Chronograph 42mmBy OmegaLocated in Scottsdale, AZBrand: Omega Movement: manual wind Function: hours, minutes, sub seconds, chronograph Case: 42mm case, sapphire crystal, screw down crown, pushers Band: Stainless Steel Bracelet Dial...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Wrist Watches
MaterialsStainless Steel
- 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 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 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
- Orologi Calamai Stainless Steel Pilot's Chronograph WristwatchLocated in New York, NYStainless steel automatic chronograph from Orologi Calamai is a contemporary 41mm self-winding wristwatch with screwdown back, water-resistant to 10 ATM (330 feet), inclined bezel, s...Category
2010s Italian Wrist Watches
MaterialsStainless Steel
- IWC Spitfire Pilot Steel Black Dial Chronograph Mens Watch IW377724 Box CardBy IWCLocated in Atlanta, GAIWC Spitfire Pilot Steel Black Dial Chronograph Mens Watch IW377724 Box Card. Automatic self-winding chronograph movement. Stainless steel case 43.0 mm in diameter. Stainless steel b...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Wrist Watches
MaterialsSteel
- IWC Pilot Chronograph Spitfire Bronze Mens Watch IW387902 UnwornBy IWCLocated in Atlanta, GAIWC Pilot Chronograph Spitfire Bronze Mens Watch IW387902 Unworn. Automatic self-winding chronograph movement. Bronze case 41.0 mm in diameter. ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Wrist Watches
MaterialsBronze