Hands-On With The New IWC Blue Ceramic Pilot’s Watch
Since 2006, IWC has released a watch to mark its support of Laureus Sport for Good, a foundation that helps bring the power of sports to underprivileged children and teens. This year, we get a very different type of release. Let’s take a hands-on look at the new IWC Blue Ceramic Pilot’s Watch.
IWC is a global partner of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. As a result, fans of the brand get to look forward to a new limited edition watch each and every year. I looked back on some of these releases and an interesting aspect is that the releases have touched most of the product line. One never knows which watch will be in focus. What is a constant is the color blue, which happens to be the foundation color. Normally, a dial and maybe the strap use this hue. This year, though, just about everything comes in navy on the IWC Blue Ceramic Pilot’s Watch.
The IWC Blue Ceramic Pilot’s Watch
There’s no getting around it, the new IWC Blue Ceramic Pilot’s Watch is very, well, blue. In what is a first for the brand, what we have is a properly dark blue ceramic version of the popular Mark XVIII. That color is even echoed on the matte-finished dial and even the 20mm strap. The latter is rubber with inlaid textile and a pin buckle. Dial-wise everything is stylistically consistent with the normal Mark XVIII aside from the red accent on the second’s hand. The Super-LumiNova is crisp white.
Getting into the details
The IWC Blue Ceramic Pilot’s Watch uses a familiar 41mm case size and is svelte 11.4mm thick. A solid steel screw-in case back and screw-down crown help to offer 100 meters of water resistance. Inside, this special watch uses caliber 32111 automatic with hacking, date, and five(!!) full days of power reserve. This movement is produced by Richemont’s ValFleurier and its architecture is based on the famous 2892-A2. Yes, this is another limited edition and IWC will produce 750 individually numbered pieces.
Some thoughts on this very blue watch
Interestingly, of all the different watches I own, I don’t own a ceramic watch. I’ve certainly tried them and have even road-tested a couple of the “Side of the Moon” series from Omega. I have no reservations about ceramic’s durability. Rather, my hesitancy comes from the fact that most look like some sort of resin. I know that those glossy ceramics are intended to look liquid-like, but unless they’re paired with an intricate dial, I don’t love them. When it comes to something matte like this IWC Blue Ceramic Pilot’s Watch, there’s a fine line between looking like a plastic or a PVD/DLC material. This case looks good to me, but I do wish that IWC had livened things up by offering a different color for the dial. Or, to make things easier, I’d probably swap the strap and see if that does the trick. Lastly, I know this will sound curmudgeonly, but a dateless version would have really come across as special.
Overall, the IWC Blue Ceramic Pilot’s Watch for the Laureus Foundation is a neat addition that should score well with fans of the brand. People, in general, do love the Mark XVIII series, and getting a watch that does some good for charity is a nice proposition. This limited-edition retails for €6,800 in Germany and is available for order now.
For more information on the IWC Blue Ceramic Pilot’s Watch, visit the official IWC site.
