IWC unveils Flieger’s new record honoring past pilot watches

IWC Schaffhausen is perhaps best known to the world for its pilot watches. Since the 1930s, he has introduced several Flieger and Mark watches that have earned the brand a huge reputation. Now, IWC is featuring the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Tribute to 3705” watch that pays homage to the iconic 1994 black Flieger that took the world by storm.

IWC perfectly made their first flight schedule back in 1936, when it responded to a request from the United Kingdom for military pilot watches that could withstand temperature changes and magnetic fields. The brand was the first to develop the inner iron case to protect the movement and make the watch antimagnetic. Over the next forty years, IWC released new versions. However, interest in pilot watches diminished and IWC did not focus heavily on them for a few decades.

In the 1990s the brand chose to revamp its pilot watch lines and in 1994 they released the famous black ceramic Fliegerchronograph, Reference 3705). That watch did not perform as well as the brand had hoped so only 1,000 pieces were made. It is only in recent years, with so much information available on the internet and with growing organizations, that there is renewed interest in that Ref. 3705 Black Flieger and today is very popular among collectors.

The new oblique watch reminds us of the original dial with luminous markings, but the timer is now made of the brand-owned Ceratanium® instead of zirconium oxide ceramic. Developed by IWC, the material is light weight but incredibly hard and abrasive thanks to a number of steps involved in manufacturing. The case parts start out as machined pieces of a special titanium alloy. The parts are then heat-treated in a combustion process that changes the material and changes its appearance and properties to resemble a ceramic.

The Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition is made to 3705 (reference 387905) in a limited edition of just 1,000 pieces. While this number reminds us of the 1,000 watches made in 1994, it is expected – unlike that watch – that this one will fly off the shelves. The black dial offers white luminescent hands and numbers and features a day / date mark at 3:00. The membership dials for the chronograph and the running seconds are symmetrically balanced on the left side of the dial. The watch displays a database in the middle of a second manually.

While the original watch was driven by a Valjoux 7750 movement, today’s 41mm watch is home to the IWC standard 69380 with a column wheel that is made in-house at the brand’s Schaffhausen manufacturing. Thanks to a two-way winding pawl system – something IWC is also famous for – the watch offers 46 hours of power reserve. It is equipped with a black calfskin strap to complete the stealth black look. Naturally, there is a soft iron inner case to protect against magnetic fields and a scratch-resistant crown. It sells for $ 11,900 and will only be sold on IWC.com.