Press Release: IWC Schaffhausen Auctions Off Luxury Pilot's Watch To Raise Money For Thai Youth.

Geneva, 10 November 2015 – At the Important Watches auction held earlier today in Geneva, auction house Sotheby’s sold a unique chronograph by luxury Swiss watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen. The Pilot’s Watch Double Chronograph Edition “Le Petit Prince” in red gold went for CHF 47,500. All the proceeds from the sale will benefit the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation, with whom IWC Schaffhausen has been working closely for many years. The Foundation will use the money to support a hospitality and catering school in the northern Thai city of Mae Sot, which offers training courses for young Thais.

The watch that went under the hammer was the Pilot’s Watch Double Chronograph Edition “Le Petit Prince” (Ref. IW371810) in red gold. This luxury watch features a mechanical 79420-calibre chronograph movement and a split-seconds mechanism. One unique feature is the day display in the centre of the midnight blue dial, which is il­luminated by a different gold star on each day of the week. The stars symbolize the seven planets visited by the little prince on his journey through the universe. The seven stars are also decoratively engraved on the back of the watch, along with the names of the inhabitants the little prince encounters along the way.

The Foundation was established in 2008 by the heirs of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and seeks to maintain the spirit and humanistvalues of the great French writer and aviator. It supports a host of projects all over the world to improve the day-to-day lives of young people and offer them a brighter future. “Support for children and young people facing challenging circumstances is one of the corner­stones of our corporate social responsibility. That’s why we have been working closely with the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundationever since it was established, cultivating an intensive and fruitful partnership,” explains Georges Kern, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen.

Practical Training For Thai Youth 

The proceeds from the auction will be used to support the Hospitality and Catering Training Center (HCTC) in the city of Mae Sot in north-west Thailand. The school was set up in 2009 by a French aid organization and focuses on help­ing young Thais from the minority Karen population. As they often speak neither Thai nor English and are poorly integrated in the education system, they stand little chance of success on the job market. In a two-year training pro­gramme, the school provides the Karen youth, who are aged between 17 and 23, with the skills they need to enter the world of work and to earn a living in the Thai hospitality sector. “The school not only provides a high-quality practi­cal education, it also fosters the development of the students into responsible citizens. The project therefore reflects the core values of our Foundation,” explains Olivier d’Agay, great-nephew of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and delegate general of the Saint-Exupéry–d’Agay estate, outlining the motivation for getting involved.

With the funding received, the quality of the education and training on offer can yet again be increased further. At the heart of the project is the construction of an educational garden. The Little Prince Educational Garden will not only enrich the curriculum, but will also supply the school’s on-site restaurant with fresh vegetables and herbs. The dona­tion will also be used to build a resource centre replete with books and computers. With its wide selection, the library will promote a love of reading, whereas new multimedia devices will be used to modernize both vocational training and language teaching. The money will also help to fund language teaching, pay for new furniture and enable much-needed renovation work.

Third Auction Held To Raise Money For Saint-Exupéry Foundation

This is the third joint auction organized by IWC Schaffhausen and Sotheby’s Geneva to raise money for the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation. Two years ago, a Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Edition “Le Petit Prince” was sold to the highest bidder. The Foundation used the proceeds of CHF 173,000 to open two school buildings complete with a library in Cambodia and to fund library buses that supply people in remote areas with read­ing material, thus playing a huge role in the fight to eradi­cate illiteracy in Siem Reap Province. Last year, a Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “The Last Fight” in platinum went under the hammer. The proceeds enabled a Brazilian children’s hospital to build a library filled with books, com­puters and e-books. The new facility was inaugurated by Brazilian supermodel and IWC Brand Ambassador Adriana Lima in April 2015.