IWC Schaffhausen launches the Big Pilot’s Watch Annual Calendar Edition “Le Petit Prince”. The user-friendly annual calendar complication displays the month, date, and day in three separate windows on the dial and only needs to be adjusted once every year at the end of February. A particular highlight is the rotor of the automatic winding system, in the form of the Little Prince on his asteroid. This special edition is limited to 250 pieces.
IWC presented the first Big Pilot’s Watch with an annual calendar in 2016. Since then, this iconic complication with three separate and curved windows for the month, date and day has repeatedly graced the large dial of the Big Pilot’s Watch. Now, a new version has been added to the collection.
Limited to 250 pieces, the Big Pilot’s Watch Annual Calendar Edition “Le Petit Prince” (Ref. IW502710) features a stainless steel case and rhodium-plated hands. The deep blue dial is the signature feature of all IWC’s special editions in honour of “The Little Prince”, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s most famous literary work. The annual calendar shows the month, date, and day in three separate semi-circular windows on the dial. The arrangement in the American date format is a nod to Florentine Ariosto Jones, the American watchmaker and engineer who founded IWC back in 1868. The calendar’s advanced mechanism automatically considers the lengths of the individual months and requires only one manual correction via the crown every year at the end of February.
The timepiece is powered by the IWC-manufactured 52850 calibre. Consisting of 326 individual parts, it features the automatic winding system developed by Albert Pellaton. Using movements of the rotor in both directions, it builds up a power reserve of 7 days in two barrels. The rotor takes the shape of the Little Prince on his asteroid “B-612”. Fitted on a brown calfskin strap with a folding clasp, the Big Pilot’s Watch Annual Calendar Edition “Le Petit Prince” will be available as of A pril 2022 through IWC boutiques, authorised retail partners or online on IWC.com. In addition, the timepiece is eligible for registration under the My IWC care program and can benefit from a 6-year extension to the standard 2-year International Limited Warranty.