ENGINEERED FOR PILOTS AND FOR NIGHT OWLS.
ENGINEERED FOR PILOTS AND FOR NIGHT OWLS.
The Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 Black Aces is the latest innovation to emerge from the IWC Professional Pilot’s Watches Program. This masterstroke of functional engineering features a fully luminous white dial consisting of a solid disc of Super-LumiNova®. In dark chamber tests, the dial has emitted a bright greenish light for more than 23 hours, taking night visibility to the next level.
COMPREHENSIVE PILOT’S WATCH EXPERTISE
COMPREHENSIVE PILOT’S WATCH EXPERTISE
Over more than 85 years, IWC Schaffhausen has acquired unique expertise in developing robust and reliable instruments for the cockpit. The company’s know-how is nurtured and kept up-to-date by an ongoing dialogue with professional pilots to precisely understand their requirements and needs. Within its Professional Pilot’s Watches Program, which emerged from its partnership with the U.S. Navy, IWC develops watches for elite jet pilots. The latest innovation from this program is the Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41. It is inspired by a professional pilot’s watch IWC developed for the members of Strike Fighter Squadron 41, known as the “Black Aces.” The squadron is based at Naval Air Station Lemoore in California. Originally formed in 1950 at NAS Oceana, VFA-41 is attached to Carrier Air Wing 9 and uses the radio callsign “Fast Eagle”.
COMPREHENSIVE PILOT’S WATCH EXPERTISE
COMPREHENSIVE PILOT’S WATCH EXPERTISE
Over more than 85 years, IWC Schaffhausen has acquired unique expertise in developing robust and reliable instruments for the cockpit. The company’s know-how is nurtured and kept up-to-date by an ongoing dialogue with professional pilots to precisely understand their requirements and needs. Within its Professional Pilot’s Watches Program, which emerged from its partnership with the U.S. Navy, IWC develops watches for elite jet pilots. The latest innovation from this program is the Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41. It is inspired by a professional pilot’s watch IWC developed for the members of Strike Fighter Squadron 41, known as the “Black Aces.” The squadron is based at Naval Air Station Lemoore in California. Originally formed in 1950 at NAS Oceana, VFA-41 is attached to Carrier Air Wing 9 and uses the radio callsign “Fast Eagle”.
TAKING NIGHT VISIBILITY TO THE NEXT LEVEL
TAKING NIGHT VISIBILITY TO THE NEXT LEVEL
Easy legibility – even in challenging conditions or in the dark – is the single most important requirement for a pilot’s watch. This functional need has resulted in the typical cockpit instrument design, a distinguishing feature of IWC’s Pilot’s Watches. The Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 Black Aces is the first timepiece from Schaffhausen with a fully luminous white Lumicast dial. Developed in collaboration with “Black Aces” pilots, the dial consists of a solid disc of Super-LumiNova®. In dark chamber tests, it has emitted a bright greenish light for more than 23 hours, taking night visibility to the next level.
During the complex manufacturing process, high-grade Super-LumiNova® pigments are mixed with a binder, cast into a circular mold and hardened in a specially developed curing process to give the material a ceramic-like durability. The resulting solid disc is then fixed onto the soft-iron dial blank. Finally, the dial is imprinted with black indices and numerals and the “Black Aces” patch, resembling the ace of spades from a card deck.
A MATERIAL THAT STORES LIGHT ENERGY
A MATERIAL THAT STORES LIGHT ENERGY
Super-LumiNova® is a high-tech ceramic compound that behaves like a light storage battery. Light energy absorbed from sunlight or artificial light causes the electrons in the material to enter a higher energy state, where this energy is stored. When the electrons return to their normal state, they emit the absorbed energy as visible light, making the material glow in the dark. The process of absorbing and releasing light energy can be repeated an infinite number of times without ever causing the material to age or diminishing its light storage capacity.
HARD AND SCRATCH-RESISTANT CERAMIC CASE
HARD AND SCRATCH-RESISTANT CERAMIC CASE
The Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 Black Aces features a 41-millimeter case made of black zirconium oxide ceramic, a material IWC pioneered in the watch industry as early as the 1980s. With a Vickers rating that is only surpassed by diamonds, ceramic ranks among the hardest substances on Earth. Its lightness, hardness and scratch resistance make ceramic the perfect material for everyday use in the jet cockpit. Moreover, its stealthy matte-black colour ensures pilots are not distracted by sunlight reflected from their watch.
ROBUST MOVEMENT WITH THREE DAYS OF POWER
ROBUST MOVEMENT WITH THREE DAYS OF POWER
The Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 Black Aces is powered by the IWC-manufactured 32100 calibre. Combined with the soft-iron inner case, the movement’s antimagnetic silicon escapement improves the watch’s resistance to magnetic fields. In addition, the efficient double pawl winding system builds up a power reserve of 72 hours in the mainspring.
