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IWC Honors Its Mercedes-Benz Partnership with a Fittingly Innovative Big Pilot

Luxury meets luxury.

Close-up of a black IWC Schaffhausen watch dial with gold hands, month and date subdials, and a silver crown on a tan background.
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By Johnny Brayson

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Mercedes-Benz celebrates its 140th anniversary this year, and its horological partner, IWC, has created a special watch to mark the occasion. 

While the simple way to honor the two German-speaking brands’ 22-year partnership would just be to make an extra-luxurious watch to represent Mercedes’s standing as one of the world’s premier luxury automakers, that’s not what IWC has done.

Instead, the Schaffhausen brand lasered in on the two companies’ shared commitment to innovation by dropping a cutting-edge pilot’s watch.

Close-up of IWC Schaffhausen watch with black dial, gold-tone hands and markers, moon phase, day, date, month, and year indicators, and black strap.
All indices are solid gold, while the hands are gold-plated.
IWC

The IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar ProSet 140 Years Mercedes-Benz makes use of IWC’s new ProSet movement technology that debuted earlier this year at Watches and Wonders.

ProSet is arguably the simplest, most foolproof mechanical perpetual calendar movement in the world. There are no pushers to fiddle with, as everything is set by the crown. You can also adjust all settings both forward and backward, something that would require a trip to a watchmaker for most other brands.

Back view of a silver IWC watch with a black rubber strap and visible mechanical movement featuring a gold Mercedes-Benz logo.
The watch’s caseback features a 100-year-old Mercedes-Benz logo.
IWC
Side view of a silver metal watch case with a textured crown and black rubber strap with a silver buckle.
This perpetual calendar has no pushers; all settings are adjusted through the crown (good thing it’s so big).
IWC

The IWC Calibre 82665 movement is visible behind a smoked sapphire caseback adorned with a vintage Mercedes-Benz emblem in gold. The logo dates back 100 years to when Daimler Motoren-Gesellschaft and Benz & Cie. merged and was the first to represent the newly created Mercedes-Benz brand. 

The watch is in steel and utilizes the Big Pilot’s Watch’s smaller 42mm case. Its black dial has some luxe touches befitting of a Mercedes product, with solid red gold indices filled with Super-LumiNova and lume-filled, gold-plated hands.

The watch is mounted on a black rubber strap equipped with another piece of innovation: IWC’s EasX-Change system, which allows the strap to be removed with the press of a button.

Back view of a silver IWC watch with a black rubber strap and visible mechanical movement inside the case.
The rubber strap can be removed with the press of a button thanks to IWC’s proprietary EasX-Change system.
IWC

Availability and pricing

The IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar ProSet 140 Years Mercedes-Benz is fittingly limited to just 140 pieces in honor of Mercedes-Benz’s 140th birthday.

It’s available now from the brand, with pricing available upon request.

Black dial IWC Schaffhausen wristwatch with stainless steel case, black rubber strap, and multiple subdials including moon phase and calendar.IWC

IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar ProSet 140 Years Mercedes-Benz

Specs

Case Size 42mm
Movement IWC Cal. 82665 automatic perpetual calendar
Water Resistance 100m
About the Author:

Johnny Brayson is an editor at Gear Patrol mostly covering watches. He enjoys watches that are packed with blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em details and believes nearly every watch could stand to be a tad smaller.

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