WC Schaffhausen Has Provided Crew Watches to be Worn in Space Before Auction to Benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®
IWC Schaffhausen–Supported Polaris Dawn Commercial Spaceflight Mission To Launch On 26th August
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IWC Schaffhausen is proud to confirm its support of the Polaris Dawn mission, scheduled to launch on 26th August 2024. IWC Schaffhausen has designed and donated four pieces of the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Polaris Dawn” in white ceramic with a space-blue dial. After traveling to space and returning to Earth, the watches will be auctioned at Christie’s New York to raise funds. for the lifesaving work of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®, a world-class institution developing treatments for childhood cancer and other pediatric diseases.
The Polaris Dawn commercial spaceflight mission, the first of three spaceflights planned as part of the Polaris Program, is set to launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on 26th August 2024. The Polaris Program aims to rapidly advance human spaceflight capabilities by demonstrating new technologies and conducting extensive scientific research to expand our knowledge of humans adapting, living and working in space. A total of 38 projects have been selected from 23 partner institutions and designed to advance both human health on Earth and on future long-duration spaceflights. Alongside Jared “Rook” Isaacman, who will serve as commander, the crew consists of retired United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Scott “Kidd” Poteet and SpaceX Lead Space Operations Engineers Sarah “Cooper” Gillis and Anna “Walker” Menon.
In addition to conducting research in space, Polaris Dawn will raise funds and awareness for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®, a leading research institution and hospital headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, treating childhood cancers and other pediatric diseases. In support of this goal, IWC has designed and donated four space-themed chronographs. The Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Polaris Dawn” (Ref. IW389111) features a 44.5-millimeter case made of white ceramic and dark blue lacquered dials printed with countless stars and the mission logo. The titanium case backs of the watches are engraved with the name of one of the four crew members. After returning to Earth, the watches will be auctioned to raise funds for the lifesaving work of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®. The auction will take place at Christie’s in New York City.
The Polaris Program seeks to demonstrate important operational capabilities that will help further human space exploration to the moon, Mars and beyond. The program will begin with Polaris Dawn before culminating with the first human spaceflight on SpaceX’s Starship. The Polaris Dawn crew will spend up to five days on-orbit aboard the Dragon spacecraft, during which they will endeavor to reach the highest Earth orbit ever flown, perform the first commercial spacewalk, conduct research to increase understanding of the impact on longduration spaceflights on human health, and test Starlink laser-based communications in space. Learn more at polarisprogram.com/dawn/.
ST. JUDE CHILDREN’S RESEARCH HOSPITAL®
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Its purpose is clear: Finding cures. Saving children.® It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. When St. Jude opened in 1962, childhood cancer was largely considered incurable. Since then, St. Jude has helped push the overall survival rate from 20% to more than 80%, and it won’t stop until no child dies from cancer. St. Jude shares the breakthroughs it makes to help doctors and researchers at local hospitals and cancer centers around the world improve the quality of treatment and care for even more children. Because of generous donors, families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food, so they can focus on helping their child live. Visit St. Jude Inspire to discover powerful St. Jude stories of hope, strength, love and kindness. Support the St. Jude mission by donating at stjude.org, liking St. Jude on Facebook, following St. Jude on X, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok, and subscribing to its YouTube channel.
CHRISTIE’S Founded in 1766, Christie’s is a world-leading art and luxury business with a physical presence in 46 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific, and flagship international sales hubs in New York, London, Hong Kong, Paris and Geneva. Renowned and trusted for our expert live and online-only auctions, as well as bespoke Private Sales, Christie’s unparalleled network of specialists offers our clients a full portfolio of global services, including art appraisal, art financing, international real estate and education. Christie’s auctions span more than 80 art and luxury categories, at price points ranging from $500 to over $100 million. Christie’s has sold 7 of the 10 most important singleowner collections in history, achieved the world record price for an artwork at auction, launched the first fully on-chain auction platform dedicated to exceptional NFT art and manages an investment fund to support innovative startups in the art market. Christie’s is also committed to advancing responsible culture throughout its business and communities worldwide. To learn more, browse, bid, discover, and join us for the best of art and luxury at christies.com or by downloading Christie’s apps.
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 specialises 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 minimise 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 organisations that work globally to support children and young people.
