Replica IWC Silver, Copy IWC Silver Watch

IWC Pilot's Watch Double Chronograph Patrouille Suisse (IW3778-05)

This is a beautiful IWC Pilot's Double Chronograph Patrouille Suisse (IW3778-05) watch, and looks much more expensive than it cost. My only regret is that the band in not made of stainless steel. It's base metal which means the finish will wear off, especially if you have a lot of acid in your system. Otherwise I love the watch.

---- [Rating: 5 / 5 stars]

Review by Kole Strothmann, From England Uk Workington

IWC DA VINCI Silver Dial Blue Leather Men's Watch IW452314

This IWC Da Vinci watch is very poorly made. Stones are ugly and glued in. It was a great waste of time and money!!!!! It went back the same day!!

---- [Rating: 5 / 5 stars]

Review by Edward Miller, From Australia Cringila

IWC Vintage Portofino Silver Dial 18kt Rose Gold Brown Leather Men's Watch IW544803

I use this IWC Portofino watch every day. Since it is the right thickness, it does not catch on any clothing. While hunting, it is easy to see the time in the evening. I sure got my money worth out of my last Indiglo watch. My last Indiglo laasted 20+ years. I have used it teaching, construction and hunting. What a super watch.

---- [Rating: 5 / 5 stars]

Review by OMAR MORELL, From Ukrain Odessa

At the end of August 2015, IWC unveiled its new Big Pilot's Watch Edition "Patrouille Suisse", which we presented a few days ago. This is the second aviator watch that the Schaffhausen-based manufacturer has dedicated to the Swiss aerobatics squadron, right in the slipstream of the Pilot's Watch Chronograph Edition "Patrouille Suisse" released in 2011.

Pilot's Watch is the name of an IWC collection that dates back to interwar period, when pilots took pocket watches with them on their flights and only a lucky few could afford purpose-built wristwatches. IWC did aviators a great service in the 1930s by producing its "Special Pilot's Watch" that met their specific needs relating to flight conditions of the time, when they were often perched in a dark and unsteady cockpit. It featured an extremely legible dial with oversized and luminescent hands and numerals, a large winding crown that could be easily handled even with gloves, a rotating bezel with arrowhead index for keeping track of short times, a shock-protected balance-wheel bearing and a nonmagnetic escapement. The IWC Pilot's Watch collection was born.

RAF, Spitfire, Top Gun and…
In 1940, IWC introduced the Big Pilot's Watch 52 T.S.C., boasting a standout 55 mm diameter that remains a record for IWC. It innovated with its central hacking seconds device enabling pilots to synchronise their watches with to-the-second precision, along with an extra-long leather strap that meant it could be worn easily over the sleeve of a flight suit.

From 1949 onwards and for more than 30 years, Royal Air Force navigators and subsequently pilots flew with the famous Mark XI on their wrist. This relatively small 36 model was developed to the specifications of the RAF, which wanted a watch able to resist changes of pressure, variations in temperature and magnetic fields. Several other models were to follow as of 1993 with the Mark XII, the most recent example being the Mark XVII presented in 2012 and featuring a pure, classic dial that has earned it many admirers.
The chronograph function found its place in the collection in 1988 with the Pilot's Watch Chronograph. 2002 saw the birth of the new Big Pilot's Watch, inspired by the 1940s model, yet with a smaller 46 mm diameter, seven-day power reserve and Pellaton automatic winding

The Spitfire versions were introduced in 2003 and successively reinterpreted over the years in chronograph, double-chronograph or digital date and month perpetual calendar versions, including models equipped with in-house movements. Other timepieces bearing the legendary Top Gun name appeared in 2007 with the launch of a first chronograph. 2012 witnessed the big comeback of the Top Gun fleet with several new models, including a Big Pilot's Watch Perpetual Calendar, the ultimate in terms of horological complications suited to fighter pilots, and endowed with a powerful aesthetic built around its titanium and ceramic case.

… the Little Prince
While IWC is clearly passionate about the modern brand of high-performance aviation embodied by fighter plane squadrons with high-profile names, it also leverages the aeronautical field for humanitarian purposes, inspired by the iconic figure of Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Partnering the Succession Antoine de Saint-Exupery - d'Agay society, IWC contributed to the creation of the Espace IWC-Saint-Exupery in the Musee de l'Air et de l'Espace in Le Bourget, near Paris. Since 2006, in its capacity as patron of the Fondation Saint-Exupery pour la Jeunesse, it has launched several commemorative series dedicated to the great writer and aviator. Each of them includes a one-of-a-kind platinum model auctioned on behalf of the Foundation.

The latest of these special series is the Pilot's Watch Double Chronograph Edition "Le Petit Prince", a successful blend of technology and poetry in which the typical pilot's watch functions and characteristics - such as stop-hours, minutes and seconds devices, split-seconds to record intermediate times, a soft-iron inner case for antimagnetic protection and a sapphire crystal secured against drops in pressure - surround a jumping star weekday display appearing inside the faint line of its central circle.

A decidedly masculine timepiece (equivalent models for women being pretty thin on the ground!), the pilot's watch conveys the virile values of aviation pioneers and fighter pilots. Courage and heroism are still admired today, as confirmed by men's ongoing enthusiasm for IWC Pilot's Watches.

In 1971, for his film "The Dragons of Galapagos", Jacques-Yves Cousteau, undertook an expedition to the remote islands in the Pacific. He not only succeeded in capturing sensational underwater footage of the Galapagos marine iguanas: he also learned much about the mysteries of their way of life. In honour of this enlightening journey of discovery, IWC unveils the Aquatimer Chronograph Edition "Expedition Jacques-Yves Cousteau".

With Jacques Cousteau, IWC Schaffhausen shares the commitment to an intact environment worth living in. For this reason, the company has already devoted six special editions to the visionary champion of the oceans.

The Aquatimer Chronograph Edition "Expedition Jacques-Yves Cousteau" is immediately recognizable as a typical "Cousteau": the sea-blue dial with its internal rotating bezel and small coral-red seconds hand in the subdial at "9 o'clock" are a tribute to Cousteau's lifelong passion for coral reefs. The timepiece comes in a stainless steel case and is technically identical with the Aquatimer Chronograph.
The newly developed external/internal rotating bezel with its IWC SafeDive system prevents the watch's settings from being accidentally changed and, together with the increased water-resistance (from 12 to 30 bar), makes it even more practical. As a chronograph, it records stop and aggregate times up to 12 hours, naturally underwater as well.

The Super-LumiNova®* luminescent coating guarantees outstanding underwater legibility in darkness or poor visibility conditions. In order to eliminate any confusion, the relevant hands and indices glow in different colours: green for those specific to the dive and blue for the hour display, while the small seconds hand glows coral red, even in the dark, to indicate that the watch is functioning normally. The watch comes with a day and date display.

The watch is supplied with a black rubber strap and fitted with the new IWC bracelet quick-change system.

The Aquatimer Chronograph Edition "Expedition Charles Darwin" is a new chapter in IWC Schaffhausen's ongoing history of modern, innovative diver's watches. It is also the first time that the company has used bronze in a watch case. The use of a material with such a long history - humans have made and used it for 5,000 years - was inspired by the ship made famous by Charles Darwin's expedition, the HMS Beagle. Owing to its corrosion-resistance bronze was widely used back then, before the invention of stainless steel, in shipbuilding: for portholes, bells, fittings and nautical instruments, among other things. In keeping with Charles Darwin's observation that "Nothing is more constant than change", and depending on the uses to which it is put, bronze takes on a slight patina and gets darker with time. This gives the watch a charm all of its own. While pure copper is relatively soft, the high-tech bronze alloy used by IWC contains aluminium, which makes it harder and more rigid. Apart from this, bronze is rugged and wear-resistant: perfect in a robust watch designed for expeditions and diving. The case and the newly designed external/internal rotating bezel are made of bronze. The material's warm tone is reiterated in the luminescent coating on the hands, indices and the quarter-hour scale on the internal rotating bezel. 

A dynamic contrast is provided by the matte black rubber coating on the crown and push-buttons. The hardwearing material also makes the chronograph's control elements easy to grip. The strap, with the new, patented IWC bracelet quick- change system, is likewise made of black rubber.

Like all the models of the latest Aquatimer generation, the chronograph features the innovative external/internal rotating bezel with the IWC SafeDive system. This system ensures that the rotating bezel on the interior of the watch only moves anticlockwise. This means that the elapsed dive time can only be extended and not shortened if the diver moves the bezel accidentally, and there is enough oxygen to ascend in any case. A newly designed sliding clutch system transmits the movement of the bezel to the inside of the case. The sophisticated mechanism is concealed under a protective cover at "9 o'clock", and is the feature that immediately identifies the new Aquatimer generation.

For the chronograph's "engine room", so to speak, IWC's engineers chose the 89365 calibre, which is manufactured entirely in IWC's own workshops. Fitted with IWC's efficient double-pawl winding system, and protected against shocks and impacts, it is the perfect choice for a watch designed to be worn wherever and whenever things start getting tough. When recording times, the central chronograph hand shows the stopped time in seconds, while the hand in the subdial at "12 o'clock" displays the number of elapsed minutes. The watch also has an integrated flyback function: when the reset push-button is pressed, the chronograph seconds hand jumps to zero and instantly starts recording a new time. The small seconds hand rotating at "6 o'clock" indicates that the watch is functioning normally. It can also be stopped for synchronization purposes. 

The engraving on the back of the watch shows a distinctive portrait of Charles Darwin, whose revolutionary theory of evolution changed the thinking of human beings forever. Equipped with water-resistance to 30 bar, this special edition is particularly suitable for modern expeditions both above and below water.

It was a secret that had already been leaked: Eterna, sold by the Porsche family to the China Haidian Group in 2012, had remained the license partner of Porsche Design for the timepieces, but since the last September the brands had decided to go their separate ways. The official announcement was finally made earlier this week and on the very same day I was fortunate to catch up with Gerhard J. Novak - the general manager of Porsche Designer's watch department that is heading the most significant move in the brand's history.

Why did Porsche Design take the decision to cut the umbilical cord from Eterna after such a close partnership?

In the end, it's very simple and clear. What we do in timepieces is first of all very much linked to the overall strategy of the brand. The strategy of Porsche Design as a brand is to consistently grow its business in the core categories: fashion, luggage and bags, and watches. It is no coincidence that the story of the brand began with a watch in 1972. It was the watch laying the groundwork for everything to come later and we need to make sure that this category, which played an essential role in developing our brand, will have a much more positive future. A positive future doesn't mean that we haven't been that successful with our former license partner. But the watch industry is a highly competitive one and you need to do things with a view to the very long term. You need to maintain a certain consistency and sustainability. In the license business, there's always the situation where you have someone else doing things for you. If you have a very close look at the industry, all the most successful brands do business on their own; there's nobody else involved. That's why we took the decision, for a purely strategic reason. We have been with license partners and corporation partners for 42 years, and for at least the next 42 years we would like to do things on our own, to consistently build the Porsche Design brand in watches.

Porsche Design watches were made in Grenchen, by Eterna. After a transition period, where will you produce them? Are you developing your own manufacturing facility?

The watches will, of course, be produced in Switzerland. At the moment we are developing a system designed to ensure that our production will in due course at least match the new Swiss label, meaning having at least 65 to 70 per cent of all the components/parts made in Switzerland. We are firmly attached to the Swiss Made label, a principle we have applied right from the very beginning. Our brand was indeed the first to use the famous 7750 calibre in 1972 - so we were the ones dedicated to counting on Swiss Made already back then, at a time when everybody else was starting to focus on quartz movements. We have a certain dedication to the Swiss Made label, to Switzerland being the origin of high-end watches, and we intend to stick to that.

Who will be heading Porsche Design's technical department in this new era? Is Patrick Kury, Eterna's CEO until the brand was sold to China Haidian and someone who has worked closely with Porsche Design in the past, a part of the project?

On one hand there's a dedicated division within the Porsche Design Group, which is headed by myself. Then there are two supportive units: one is the Porsche Design Studio based in Zell Am See and then there are premises under construction where we already have some quite professional individuals working on the future of Porsche Design timepieces in terms of products. Patrick Kury is a very famous watchmaker/engineer. He was CEO for Eterna and he did a good job there. It is definitely something that we would appreciate but we're not in a position to state that this will be the case.

Are you going to continue producing the same models that you'll keep in the catalogue at Eterna or will you produce them in the new premises?

For the next at least one to one and a half years we will continue to work with Eterna with the existing models, with some adjustments, and we will come out with the first completely own Porsche Design watch by the end of 2014. This will take place completely outside of Eterna: no-one from Eterna was or is involved in the project. The watchmaking pole will be in Switzerland, while the design pole will remain in Zell Am See, Austria, and it would be crazy to change that.

First of all, the design studio was founded in 1972 and there's an historic reason for us to be there. It is one of the most renowned studios worldwide for industrial design; we have benefited a lot in our watch category from the experience we had from other industries, from other markets, from other technologies, as well as from another viewpoint when it comes to design. It would be crazy to ignore that and do away with that support.

Secondly, some of the key players in the Studio have been working with Professor F.A. Porsche for more than 20 years and were onboard when the famous 1980s watches, which were brought to life in conjunction with IWC, were created. We would miss out on all that if we were to leave the Studio, so it was never considered. When it comes to watches, we know that in Switzerland we have the right people, the right experts, the work force, the know-how, the suppliers, the contacts. Meanwhile, in Germany we have the brand, so when it comes to strategy, product management, marketing, sales and distribution, pricing, business theory, the main issues of this kind are dealt with in Germany. It is a special set-up. We bring together the best expertise in design and watchmaking and we run the business by being a little bit spread out in Europe; we benefit in a very special way and Switzerland and Austria are not far away.
 

Last year you chose to exhibit outside Baselworld. This year Eterna will be back in the premises, but in Hall 5. Porsche Design won't be present. Why did you choose not to be there?

We have to be very honest. It wasn't our favorite decision not to be at Baselworld this year, but unfortunately we missed the opportunity last year, together with Eterna. They let slip the booth that we had occupied in Hall 1.0 for more than 20 years - something we still are not happy about. It's not that easy with Baselworld and we didn't want to launch the comeback of Porsche Design timepieces down in Hall 5.0, in surroundings that we do not feel are right for us. We will come back in 2015 in the right manner and with the right approach, thus avoiding something this year which could have been considered as a fairly weak statement and which we definitely wanted to avoid; so we will wait until 2015.