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Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar TOP GUN Lake Tahoe
The Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar TOP GUN Lake Tahoe combines IWC’s perpetual calendar with a striking white ceramic case, emblematic of the company’s materials expertise.
ABOUT THE WATCH
Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar TOP GUN Lake Tahoe
The Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar TOP GUN Lake Tahoe forms part of the IWC Colors of TOP GUN collection and features a 46.5-millimeter case in white ceramic. Specified by IWC and Pantone® as “IWC Lake Tahoe”, this ceramic color is inspired by the winter landscape around freshwater Lake Tahoe, a mountainous area pilots from the nearby U.S. Navy TOPGUN flight school frequently fly over. A pitch-black dial and black hands with luminescence, a stainless steel crown and case back ring, and a white textured rubber strap complete the contrasting design. White ceramics are emblematic of IWC’s comprehensive expertise in advanced materials. The company experimented with this color as early as the 1980s, shortly after introducing its first wristwatch with a black zirconium oxide ceramic case. White ceramic is created in a complex manufacturing process in which zirconium oxide is mixed with other metallic oxides and sintered at high temperatures in an oven. Ceramic is highly scratch-resistant and remarkably light, making it the perfect material for a Pilot’s Watch. IWC’s legendary perpetual calendar was developed by Kurt Klaus in the 1980s and has since continuously been refined and improved. It is mechanically programmed to recognize the different month lengths and the leap years and will run without manual intervention until 2100. The patented double moon phase display shows the moon as seen from the northern and southern hemispheres and will only deviate by one day after 577.5 years. A single nightly switching impulse from the IWC-manufactured 52616 caliber movement drives the calendar module. The automatic Pellaton winding system uses rotations of the oscillating mass in both directions to build up a power reserve of 7 days in two barrels. The movement can be viewed through a sapphire glass back.
Perpetual calendar | IWC Schaffhausen
In the early 1980s, IWC’s head-watchmaker Kurt Klaus set out on an engineering journey to translate the Gregorian calendar with its many irregularities into a mechanical program for a wristwatch. His ingenious perpetual calendar, which debuted in the Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar in 1985, comprises only about 80 parts and displays the date, day, month, year in four digits, and the moon phase. The smart mechanical program automatically recognises the different length of the months, and even adds a leap day at the end of February every four years. The moon phase display is so precise that it will deviate from the actual phase of the moon by just one day after 577.5 years. All displays are perfectly synchronised and can be adjusted simply by turning the crown. Some models come with an additional century slide, so the watch can continue showing the date until 2499. The calendar only needs a small adjustment in those centurial years that skip the leap year, which is the case in 2100, 2200, and 2300. Some versions of the calendar feature a double moon phase display, showing the moon phase on the northern and southern hemispheres.
Features
Case
Movement
Packaging
7 days power reserve
Rotor with 18-carat gold medallion
Small hacking seconds
Pellaton automatic winding
Power reserve display
Sapphire glass, convex, antireflective coating on both sides
Glass secured against displacement by drop in air pressure
Perpetual calendar with displays for the date, day, month, year in four digits and perpetual moon phase for the northern and southern hemisphere
Case
Ceramic
Diameter
46.5
mm
Height
15.5
mm
Crown
Screwed-in
Back case
See-through sapphire glass back
Water resistance
6.0
bar
Calibre
52616
Movement type
Automatic winding,
IWC-manufactured movement
