IWC JOURNAL: My Poetic Side | IWC Schaffhausen

The Big Pilot’s Watch Monopusher Edition “Le Petit Prince” (Ref. IW515202) introduces herself.

Can you picture a Big Pilot’s Watch featuring two chronograph pushers on the side? No? Me neither. That’s why it seemed obvious for my creators to integrate the chronograph in my 46-mm stainless steel case in the form of a more subtle Monopusher. This means that, as IWC’s first Big Pilot’s Watch with a chronograph function, I am able to hold on to my iconic Big Pilot’s Watch DNA. Anything else would have been blasphemy.

— The Big Pilot’s Watch Monopusher Edition “Le Petit Prince” (Ref. 515202)

MONOPUSHER WITH 8-DAY POWER RESERVE

My power bank is the IWC-manufactured calibre 59360, which happens to be the third chronograph developed and manufactured entirely in Schaffhausen – with the movements 89000 and 69000 being the other two in-house chronograph calibre families. What are the main differences? Well, I am proudly wound by hand and offer a jaw-dropping eight-day, or 192-hour, power reserve. Once I’ve been wound up, you’re all set for over a week. What’s more, you can check the status of my power reserve on an indicator visible through my sapphire-glass case back.

While the Monopusher mechanism itself is quite complex – with a delicate control system – operating me is wonderfully simple: press my pusher for the first time and my chronograph will start measuring the elapsed time. This happens as the fourth wheel of my base movement couples with the additional chronograph mechanism placed on top of it. The two systems uncouple again once my wearer presses the pusher for a second time. The chronograph then stops.

MAGNIFICENT SPECTACLE ON CASE BACK

Pressing the pusher for a third time resets the chronograph: the second and minute hands return to the zero position. The key to this process is, as always, the six-tooth column wheel. Three different levers read the “instructions” from the columns and recesses on the wheel and pass the information on to the rest of the wheel train. You can watch this magnificent spectacle through my case back when working the pushers.

Finally, a few words about my looks that really reveal my poetic side. Just like all of IWC’s timepieces dedicated to Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s “The Little Prince”, my dial comes in a stellar midnight blue, which beautifully highlights my rhodium-plated hands, as well as my characteristic retro-style numerals. All of these features are complemented by my brown calfskin strap with a folding clasp and featuring beige seams. No wonder that as a Monopusher Edition “Le Petit Prince”, I’m not only considered one of the most refined types of chronographs but also a highly covetable item among watch collectors.