“
Flying revolutionised
the world of technology
as much as that of
wristwatches.”
Christian Knoop, Creative Director at IWC
films of the era demonstrating the devastating alacrity of those men in their devilish flying machines, the Spitfire series hinges on motifs appropriated from the actual planes and boasts some of the most useful complications in horology. In a class all to itself, the IWC Spitfire Perpetual Calendar Digital Date -Month 2012 is a handful.
Form and function Complex and beguiling, the Spitfire immediately plays up the style motifs of the model’s cockpit controls. With an ardoise dial bearing a sun-pattern finish, IWC has kept the overall look of this watch clean and sophisticated. With propeller -like hands and Spitfire-reminiscent rivets holding down the
large numerals on the display, this watch comes in a sleek 18-carat red gold case and durable brown alligator leather strap. Unlike some of the displays seen on other aviator watches, which tend to make full use of the space on the dial by cramming in numerals, extra divisions for various functions, time-zones and a myriad indicators, this Spitfire is uncluttered and elegant. The digits displayed for the day and month at 9 and 3 o’ clock respectively play a crucial role in this timepiece as they mark the first time the watchmaker has included digital displays on a pilot’s watch. Stylistically they add to the charm of the piece because they have been fashioned to look like altimeter counters found in the cockpits of planes. At 6 o’ clock, another digital display in the perpetual calendar
NOV — DEC 2012
watch and jewellery show in January this year. Amongst their chronograph, father-and-son, and perpetual calendar watches, the company fired up powerfully visual associations with two of their aviator watches. Enter the ‘Top Gun’ and ‘Spitfire’ series which created ripples in the watch world for their reworked sizes and looks. The former refers to the legendary moniker for the US Air Force’s 1969 programme for training top pilots to new levels of ability, and famously recalls the 1986 Tom Cruise blockbuster of the same name. The latter however evokes the reputation of those death – defying game-changers of World War II skies: the Spitfire plane. From romantic black and white photographs of daring pilots in their characteristic aviator goggles, to the hazy