Press Release: IWC Schaffhausen Honours Patrouille Suisse With A Limited Edition.

The renowned watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen is again paying tribute to the high-flying excellence of the Patrouille Suisse with a special edition for 2015. The pilots of the Swiss Air Force display team have been wowing international air show crowds for decades with the precision and perfection of their formation flying. This year IWC is recognizing the exceptional flyers of the Swiss aerobatics squadron with a Big Pilot’s Watch Edition “Patrouille Suisse”, a special version of the iconic watch first produced in 1940 which will be limited to 250 watches.

“Our association with the team from the Patrouille Suisse is based on our shared passion for aviation, and goes back many years,” explains Linus Fuchs, Managing  Director Switzerland at IWC Schaffhausen. “Our Pilot’s Watches

and the aerobatics squadron with their red and white Tigers both stand for reliability, precision and perfection. 

These shared values combined with a strong tradition going back over decades are the inspiration behind the special edition of our iconic watch from 1940. The limited edition Big Pilot’s Watch is a homage to the excellence of these exceptional pilots and the powerful interaction between man and technology,” Fuchs continues.

The Big Pilot’s Watch Edition “Patrouille Suisse” (Ref. IW500910) is the ideal companion for ambitious high- flyers. This special edition is presented in grey with a case of blasted stainless steel featuring the characteristic design elements that make this professional timepiece for pilots instantly identifiable.

The 51011 calibre – the largest automatic movement manufactured in-house by IWC Schaffhausen – combines all the features that have proved their worth in the long history of mechanical watches from IWC. Within no time at all, the spring-mounted rotor and Pellaton pawl-winding system build up a power reserve of over 7 days, and after exactly 168 hours the movement is mechanically stopped by an ingenious train in the power reserve. Stopping the movement before all the tension in the spring has been exhausted eliminates the danger of diminishing torque in the mainspring. This ensures the same level of accuracy the whole time the watch is running. The power reserve display at “3 o’clock” provides a reliable indication of the time remaining until the movement comes to a stop.
A special feature of the Big Pilot’s Watch Edition “Patrouille Suisse” is the small seconds at “9 o’clock”, symmetrically opposite the power reserve display. The date display is at “6 o’clock” as usual. The 46-millimetre case encloses a
soft-iron cage that protects the movements against extreme magnetic fields.

IWC’s historic 52 T.S.C. Big Pilot’s Watch of 1940 is clearlyrecognizable as the model that inspired the design of the Big Pilot’s Watch Edition “Patrouille Suisse”. It is a style icon and the model which established the standard design
on which all classic pilot’s watches are based. A clearly organized dial, the arrowhead index at “12 o’clock” and the bold, luminescent numerals and hands guarantee minute-perfect legibility of the time regardless of lighting conditions. The Big Pilot’s Watch is the only model made by IWC Schaffhausen to feature such an imposing crown, a reminder of those pioneering days of aviation when pilots were exposed to the elements in unheated – or even open – cockpits. To combat this they wore thick gloves with their quilted flying suits, which made it difficult for them to wind and set their watches. Hence the need for an unusually large, chunky crown. The current stainless steel variant is rounded off by an anthracite-coloured wristband of embossed calfskin with a folding clasp.

The case back features an engraving of three jet planes resembling the Northrop F-5E Tiger II – the planes the Patrouille Suisse pilots use to perform their aerial displays with the same high levels of precision we associate with Swiss watches. The inscription “TRIBUTE TO PATROUILLE SUISSE” and the consecutive numbering on the case back (001/250, 002/250 etc.) indicate the exclusivity of this special limited edition. The Big Pilot’s Watch Edition “Patrouille Suisse” will be available from September 2015 at IWC boutiques in Switzerland and from Swiss retailers, then later at IWC boutiques worldwide.

For almost 80 years, IWC Schaffhausen has been making robust, reliable timepieces for pilots and their passengers. Right from the start, IWC Pilot’s Watches were designed to offer optimum legibility by day and night and established the instrument look: in 1936, the Special Pilot’s Watch, as it was known, took up its professional mission in the service of pilots. It was designed to withstand the tough conditions encountered in the cockpit of aircraft at that time. The Schaffhausen-based manufacturer’s passion spurred its engineers and watchmakers on to ever-greater technical achievements. IWC’s Pilot’s Watches are extremely popular timepieces and elegantly combine state-of-the-art technology with traditional values.