IWC Schaffhausen introduces the Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 Black Aces, the latest timepiece inspired by its collaborations with U.S. Navy squadrons. The highlight of this timepiece is the fully luminous white dial. Consisting of a solid disc of Super-LumiNova®, it emits a bright greenish light in the dark and takes night visibility to the next level. The Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 Black Aces features a black zirconium oxide ceramic case and is powered by the IWC-manufactured 32100 calibre movement with a power reserve of 72 hours. It is available exclusively online at iwc.com.
For over 85 years, IWC has acquired comprehensive expertise in the development of functional instruments for cockpits. This know-how is nurtured and kept up to date by an ongoing dialogue with professional pilots, enabling IWC’s engineers to precisely understand their specific requirements and needs. Within its Professional Pilot’s Watches Program, which emerged from its partnership with the U.S. Navy, IWC develops highly specialized watches for the most discerning fast jet pilots. The Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 Black Aces (Ref. IW326905) takes inspiration from a pilot’s watch that IWC engineered for members of Strike Fighter Squadron 41 (VFA-41), also known as the “Black Aces”. The squadron is based at Naval Air Station Lemoore in California. Originally formed in 1950 at NAS Oceana, VFA-41 is attached to Carrier Air Wing 9 and uses the radio callsign “Fast Eagle”.
DIAL CAPABLE OF STORING LIGHT ENERGY
The most striking feature of this timepiece is the fully luminous white Lumicast dial. Developed in collaboration with pilots from the “Black Aces”, the dial is the result of a complex manufacturing process. In the first step, high-grade Super-LumiNova® pigments are mixed with a binder, cast into a circular mold, and hardened in a specially developed curing process to give the material a ceramic-like durability. The resulting solid disc is then fixed onto the soft-iron dial blank. Finally, the dial is imprinted with black indices and numerals and the “Black Aces” patch, resembling the ace of spades from a card deck. In dark chamber tests, the dial emitted a bright greenish light for more than 23 hours, taking legibility and night visibility to a whole new level.
Super-LumiNova® is a high-tech ceramic compound that behaves like a light storage battery. Light energy absorbed from sunlight or artificial light causes the electrons in the material to enter a higher energy state, where this energy is stored. When the electrons return to their normal state, they emit the absorbed energy as visible light, making the material glow in the dark. The process of absorbing and releasing light energy can be repeated an infinite number of times without ever causing the material to age or diminishing its light storage capacity.
HARD AND SCRATCH-RESISTANT CERAMIC CASE
The case of the Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 Black Aces is made of black zirconium oxide ceramic, a material IWC pioneered in the watch industry as early as the 1980s. With a Vickers rating second only to that of diamonds, ceramic ranks among the hardest substances on Earth. Its lightness, hardness and scratch resistance make it the perfect case material for everyday use in the restricted space of a jet cockpit. Moreover, its stealthy matte-black color ensures pilots are not distracted by sunlight reflected from their watch. The case back is made of lightweight titanium and features an engraving of the “Black Aces” twin-engine jet against a backdrop of spades. The Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 Black Aces is powered by the IWC-manufactured 32100 caliber. Combined with the soft-iron inner case, the movement’s anti-magnetic silicon escapement further improves the watch’s resistance to magnetic fields. The efficient double pawl winding system builds up a power reserve of 72 hours in the mainspring. The watch is fitted with a black textile strap with a pin buckle in sand-blasted stainless steel.
The Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 Black Aces is available exclusively online at IWC.com. In addition, the timepiece is eligible for registration under the My IWC care program and can benefit from a 6-year extension to the standard 2-year International Limited Warranty.
IWC Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 Black Aces Technical Specifications
Reference IW326905 – CHF 7’200 / 7.500 € / $ 6,800
Features
- Mechanical movement
- Central hacking seconds
- Screw-in crown
- Glass secured against displacement by drops in air pressure
- Soft-iron inner case for magnetic field protection
Movement
- IWC-manufactured calibre 32100
- Frequency: 28,800 vph / 4 Hz
- Jewels: 21
- Power reserve: 3 days (72 h)
- Winding: automatic
Watch
- Materials: Ceramic case
- White full-lume dial
- Black hands
- Black textile strap
- Glass: Sapphire, convex, antireflective coating on both sides
- Water-resistant: 6 bar
- Diameter: 41 mm
- Height: 11.4 mm
IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN
IWC Schaffhausen is a leading Swiss luxury watch manufacturer based in Schaffhausen in the north-eastern part of Switzerland. With collections like the Portugieser and the Pilot’s Watches, the brand covers the whole spectrum from elegant to sports watches. Founded in 1868 by the American watchmaker and engineer Florentine Ariosto Jones, IWC is known for its unique engineering approach to watchmaking, combining the best of human craftsmanship and creativity with cutting-edge technology and processes.
Over its more than 150-year history, IWC has earned a reputation for creating professional instrument watches and functional complications, especially chronographs and calendars, which are ingenious, robust, and easy for customers to use. A pioneer in the use of titanium and ceramics, IWC today specializes in highly engineered watch cases manufactured from advanced materials, such as coloured ceramics, Ceratanium®, and titanium aluminide.
A leader in sustainable luxury watchmaking, IWC sources materials responsibly and takes action to minimize its impact on the environment. Along the pillars of transparency, circularity, and responsibility, the brand crafts timepieces built to last for generations and continuously improves every element of how it manufactures, distributes, and services its products in the most responsible way. IWC also partners with organizations that work globally to support children and young people.