Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon Le Petit Prince

The Pilot’s Watch Performance Chronograph Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month features a case, pushers, crown and bracelet made of Ceratanium®. This IWC-developed material combines the lightness and structural integrity of titanium with a hardness and scratch-resistance similar to ceramic. The case and bracelet components are machined from bars and then fired at high temperatures in a kiln. During this heat process, they obtain ceramic properties and also their matte black finish. The bezel is made of polished black ceramic and features a tachymeter scale. In combination with the chronograph, it lets the wearer determine the average speed over a reference distance of one kilometer. The black dial with a hammered effect is manufactured in a complex process. The subidals at 3 and 9 o’clock with openings for the date and month discs feature a circular technical structure, while the black indices and hands are filled with Super-LumiNova® to ensure perfect legibility. The perpetual calendar displays the date and the month with the help of large golden discs at 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock. This particular display type takes inspiration from IWC’s emblematic Pallweber pocket watches from the 1880s, which showed the hours and minutes in a digital format using single digits instead of using hands. The digital date and month displays require an additional and complex mechanism. Starting from the calendar module’s date wheel, a separate gear train advances the date display every night. A second gear train diverts a small amount of energy and stores it in a spring. This energy is then used at the end of the month to advance the month discs. When the month changes from “12” to “01” at the end of the year, the disc for the leap year display is also moved forward by one position. The perpetual calendar recognizes the different lengths of the months and adds a leap day every four years at the end of February. Despite the complexity with five discs, the calendar can be advanced easily via the crown. Powering this watch is the IWC-manufactured 89802 calibre with 474 individual components. The movement also drives a chronograph function, which displays the stopped hours and minutes combined in a totalizer at 12 o’clock. A highly efficient double-pawl winding system builds up a power reserve of 68 hours in the mainspring.