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IWC.

There is hardly anyone interested in watches for whom these 3 letters mean nothing. The brand, founded in Switzerland in 1868 by the American engineer and watchmaker Florentine Ariosto Jones with the aim of producing high-quality watches for the American market, was acquired in 1880 by the Rauschenbach family and was owned and managed by 4 generations of the family until 1955. The brand was one of the first, as early as the end of the 19th century, to start producing wristwatches. The undisputed founder of the so-called “pilot’s watches”, the first to use titanium for the cases of its chronographs, and a manufacturer of unique works of watchmaking art, such as the representatives of the Portuguese and Ingenieur series.

It is certain that, for everyone interested in watches, this abbreviation means something.

We do not know whether it is the same for others, but for us the term “pilot’s watch” automatically leads to “IWC”. Perhaps the reason for this lies in the fact that IWC are known mainly for the production of pilot’s watches, or perhaps because the brand developed its production especially during the Second World War, but most likely the main role was played by the fact that the brand supplied its products to both sides of the conflict. Thus, both during the war and after it, the countries involved in the conflict already knew the quality of the brand very well, which gave it several important trump cards in the competition for the customer – recognisability, image, reputation.

It all began back in 1936 with the launch of the famous Mark IX – which can boldly be defined as the forefather of IWC’s pilot series, and why not of pilot’s watches in general.

Most pilot’s watches produced are not chronographs and function thanks solely to IWC Caliber 83 for a period of 12 years – up to and including 1948 (Mark IX and X), and IWC Caliber 89 until 1984 (Mark XI), when the brand decided to stop production until 1993. In 1993, the Mark XII made its debut, now with a JLC Caliber “living” inside it.

The watch presented today is the IWC Pilot Mark XX, first launched in 2022, and in our opinion it is the most beautiful version of all those offered – with a blue dial with a sunburst effect and the famous Pilot bracelet.

The legibility of the watch is among the best of all watches we have owned and that have passed through our hands. The colours of the dial are very elegant – blue and white – and nothing disrupts this clean appearance.

The luminescence is not as strong as, for example, on an Omega PO, but it allows legibility throughout the night. The large Arabic numerals are proverbial, and combined with the hands shaped like an aircraft propeller, they manage to create a truly unique composition.

The case size is 40 mm, and with this the manufacturer shows the new trends in watchmaking by reducing the size compared with the previous version.

At the heart of the watch beats the IWC 32111 – and this is the biggest difference compared with the previous Mark models. Developed for the brand by ValFleurier, this movement offers an incredible power reserve of 120 hours, carries 21 jewels, has 164 components and operates at the usual frequency of 28,800 vibrations.