Introducing: The Limited-Edition IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 Top Gun Miramar In Light Blue Ceramic
You have already seen the beige Mojave Desert, white Lake Tahoe, green Woodland, dark blue Oceana, and Jet Black fly by. Now it’s time for another Top Gun-inspired color. The IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 Top Gun Miramar is a limited edition of 1,000 watches, each in a light blue ceramic case. The matte dial and rubber strap come in the same sky-blue hue and perfectly match the blue shirts that Top Gun instructors wear underneath their flight suits. Another new model is a non-limited Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41, which has a steel case and comes with the same light blue dial and strap as the non-alloy version. You can consider this more rugged version the grounded, no (completely wrong terminology), reliable wingman of the LE.
The inspiration IWC gets from Top Gun seems never-ending. The way to spell it does too. It looks like “TOPGUN” is the official way. Still, it’s a nickname for what began as the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School and, therefore, doesn’t play by the rules. These days, the program to make elite fighter pilots even better bears the name United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Program, and it’s situated at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada. The TOPGUN you know from the 1986 movie was located at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in California, which explains the beach volleyball. IWC uses “TOP GUN” in all capitals, just like the movie, but since we don’t like non-acronyms/non-initialisms in all caps at Fratello, we write “Top Gun.” Now that that’s out of the way, let’s find out why light blue is a Top Gun/TOPGUN/TOP GUN color.
IW389409
IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 Top Gun Miramar in light blue ceramic
Since IWC introduced the themed pilot’s watches, the Schaffhausen-based brand has assembled an impressive squadron of Top Gun timing instruments — a diversified group of watches with very different characters. The watches range from black to white and everything in between. Well, almost everything. Light blue is a new hue. Limited to 1,000 pieces, the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 Top Gun Miramar ref. IW389409 (€14,100 / US$13,500 / £11,100) surprises in a light blue 41.9 × 15.5mm ceramic case complemented by a dial and a waterproof rubber strap in the same fresh color. The watch’s large blue hands received plenty of Super-LumiNova to enhance legibility in low-light conditions.
Also new is the non-limited Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 ref. IW388117 (€7,800 / US$7,200 / £5,900). This watch strongly resembles the LE, but it has a smaller 41 × 14.5mm stainless steel case and differs in some details. It has a see-through case back, and instead of blue hands, it features more common rhodium-plated ones. Of course, these hands are still filled with Super-LumiNova.
IW388117
The Pantone dial
As before, IWC worked with color specialist Pantone to create the sky-blue hue. Until now, the different Pantone colors were exclusive to ceramic models. Now, though, such a color makes its way to a steel watch. But where does the color come from? Is it the sky over Miramar in California or the water of the Pacific Ocean you can dive into after a game of beach volleyball? Nope, the light blue of the dial and the strap is inspired by a T-shirt. It’s not just any T-shirt, of course, but the ones Top Gun instructors wear underneath their flight suits.
I had never noticed or heard of these light blue T-shirts before, so I did a little research. I came across the story “Inside The Real TOPGUN Fighter School” on Skiesmag. Jamie Hunter wrote the story and shot the awesome action pictures that accompany it. One of the photos shows two instructors walking out to the flight line from the nondescript Top Gun building. And indeed, under each pilot’s flight suit, the light blue T-shirt is visible.
Image: Jamie Hunter Photo
Sharing power
Both Top Gun-inspired chronographs feature the same automatic 4Hz caliber 69380. This column-wheel-equipped chronograph movement has a power reserve of 46 hours, a day-date function, and a vertical sub-dial layout showing elapsed minutes at 12, elapsed hours at 9, and running seconds at 6 o’clock. As mentioned, the stainless steel model has a display case back that offers a glimpse at the movement. The ceramic LE, however, features a titanium case back with an engraving of the very recognizable logo of the flight school. Other things that deserve a mention are the 10-bar water resistance of both watches and the rubber straps featuring IWC’s EasX-Change system.
Leave your thoughts on both light blue watches in the comments section, and I will leave you with a final comment of my own: the matte light blue dial looks excellent in combination with the brushed steel case and functionally “outshines” the different models of Pilot’s Watches with colorful sunray-finished dials.
