IWC Big Pilot Antoine De Saint Exupery Red Gold (IW5004-21)

IWC Schaffhausen celebrates the 70th birthday of the highly popular novel "The Little Prince" with the launch of two limited special editions: the Big Pilot's Watch Perpetual Calendar Edition "Le Petit Prince" and the Pilot's Watch Mark XVII Edition "Le Petit Prince". With these, IWC pays tribute to legendary writer, pilot and adventurer Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Since 2006, the Manufacture has maintained a cordial partnership with Saint-Exupery's heirs and their charitable organization, the Antoine de Saint-Exupery Youth Foundation.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." Seventy years ago, this quotation and others like it literally enchanted the world when illustrious author and pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupery published his parable "The Little Prince". This profound tale about the little boy with the wheaten hair is one of the bestselling books in world literature and has been translated into more than 270 languages. "With our long tradition of manufacturing Pilot's Watches, we feel bound to Antoine de Saint-Exupery in many ways," explains Georges Kern, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen. "We were inspired by a man who was also a passionate designer and who obtained his first aeronautical patent in 1936, the very year IWC unveiled its first Special Pilot's Watch. We have enormous admirationfor a pilot who was prepared to risk his life in the name of technological progress. And we are honouring Saint-Exupery, the great writer and humanist, with whose works many of us grew up."
The Big Pilot's Watch Perpetual Calendar Edition "Le Petit Prince" houses the impressive IWC-manufactured 51613 calibre with Pellaton automatic winding and 7-day power reserve. The latter's display in the counterat "3 o'clock" is a constant reminder of the movement's high efficiency. It generates enough energy to fuel a wealth of watchmaking complications, such as the perpetual calendar with its four-digit year display as well as displays for the date, day and month. All the displays are easily adjusted via the crown and advance automatically. The perpetual calendar will not require intervention by a watchmaker until2100, a year that breaks with the conventional 4-year cycle and will not be a leap year. The midnight blue dial contrasts the characteristically bold cockpit design with the more understated displays of the perpetual calendar.
The Big Pilot's Watch Perpetual Calendar Edition "Le Petit Prince" is the first of IWC's Big Pilot's Watches to feature the classic moon phase display. Here, the moon is further ornamented by the little prince, who gazes at the star-studded night sky from his own tiny planet. The figure is derived from the famous original drawing by Antoine de Saint-Exupery that decorates the front cover of his best-known work. The 18-carat gold medallion on the rotor also features the little prince and can be admired on the reverse side of the watch through the sapphire-glass back. The original title of the first edition, namely "LE PETIT PRINCE", can be found engraved on the winding rotor.
The special edition in red gold is limited to 270 watches. Also included with the watch is a high-class edition featuring two rarities produced exclusively for IWC: first, a reproduction of the original first edition in English entitled "The Little Prince"; and, second, a reprint of the original handwritten manuscript in French, "Le Petit Prince".
Part of the proceeds from sales of the special editions Big Pilot's Watch Perpetual Calendar Edition "Le Petit Prince" and the Pilot's Watch Mark XVII Edition "Le Petit Prince" will go to Antoine de Saint-Exupery Youth Foundation to support its worldwide commitment against illiteracy.