PILOT’S WATCH DOUBLE CHRONOGRAPH EDITION “LE PETIT PRINCE”
Schaffhausen, 19 May 2015 – IWC Schaffhausen sends the new Pilot’s Watch Double Chronograph Edition “Le Petit Prince”, complete with an innovative jumping star display for the day of the week, off on a journey. Every day, one of seven stars in the inner circle of the dial lights up in gold to symbolize the visit of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s little prince to a different planet. The same seven stars are also engraved as a decoration on the back of the watch and include the name of the inhabitant with whom the little prince is currently passing the time.
A king who rules over a fictitious realm, a businessman who believes he owns the stars, a geographer who never leaves his desk: having abandoned his own tiny asteroid in search
of a friend, the little prince meets various inhabitants of other planets who lead strange lives. IWC Schaffhausen has taken this journey through the universe from Antoine de Saint-Exupérys “The Little Prince” as a reason to crown the new Pilot’s Watch Double Chronograph Edition “Le Petit Prince” (Ref. IW371807) with an enchanting mechanism.
“Our partnership with the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation has already inspired us to create many Pilot’s Watch special editions,” says Georges Kern, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen. “And since the tale of ‘The Little Prince’ celebrated its 70th birthday two years ago, we’ve also dedicated a number of models to the title figure. This latest version not only has an impressive split-seconds mechanism but also a rather whimsical star element that might not be noticed at first glance.”
STARRY NIGHTS AND DAYS
The midnight blue dial with its characteristic cockpit design has a surprising feature: a jumping star display is arranged inside the faint line of the circle at its centre. Each day of
the week, this captivating day display lights up a different star in glittering gold. However, the change does not take place in any particular order: the gleaming golden star appears to jump at random between the seven different positions on the dial. The stars punched out on the dial symbolize the planets visited by the little prince. They are also
engraved in the same order on the back of the watch, to -gether with the name of their inhabitants: the king, the vain man, the drunkard, the businessman, the lamplighter, the
geographer and finally the rose. The little prince cannot forget the latter and returns to her at the end of his odyssey.We also find a playful indication of where the little boy with
the wheaten hair happens to be at the moment, as well as a portrait of the prince himself, on the reverse side of the case. Incidentally, the owner of the watch decides which
star on the dial is illuminated on which day of the week by using the crown to make the golden star jump to another position.
DOUBLE CHRONOGRAPH
READY FOR TAKE-OFF
The sophisticated chronograph split-seconds hand complication is now licensed to fly in the Pilot’s Watch special edition “Le Petit Prince”. Also known as a double chronograph,
this mechanism presents watchmakers with a challenge that is often underestimated. It has two stopwatch seconds hands mounted one on top of the other which allow the owner to reliably record intermediate times, even within the same minute. The Pilot’s Watch Double Chronograph Edition “Le Petit Prince” is a fascinating variant that combines all the features of a watch designed for flying with an additional poetic element. Its functions include automatic winding, the time of day, date, weekday in the form of a jumping star display, small hacking seconds, chronograph with aggregate time recording up to
12 hours, split-seconds function, sapphire glass with antireflective coating on both sides which is secured against drops in pressure, as well as the soft-iron inner case found
in IWC’s Pilot’s Watches as protection against magnetic fields. The midnight blue dial underscores the watch’s sporty yet elegant character while the Super-LumiNova®*
coating on the hands and appliquésguarantees excellent legibility, even in the dark. The engraving on the case back makes it clear that only 1,000 examples of the watch will
be made. The Pilot’s Watch Double Chronograph Edition “Le Petit Prince” is supplied with a matte brown calfskin strap with decorative beige stitching.
IWC AND THE LITTLE PRINCE
Swiss luxury watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen has once again been inspired to produce a special edition by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s little prince. The first such
model dates back to 2013, when the Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Edition “Le Petit Prince” (Ref. IW502802) and the Pilot’s Watch Mark XVII Edition “Le Petit Prince”
(Ref. IW326506) were launched in honour of the 70th anniversary of this world-famous story. With these, IWC paid tribute to one of the best-selling books in literary history,
written by legendary writer, pilot and adventurer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Since 2006, the company has maintained a cordial partnership with Saint-Exupéry’s heirs and their charitable organization, the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation. One unique example of the Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Edition “Le Petit Prince” (Ref. IW502801) in platinum was auctioned by Sotheby’s in Geneva. IWC presented the Foundation with the record sum of CHF 173,000 to help finance the building of a
school with library in Cambodia. The series of special limited editions of “Le Petit Prince” continued in 2014 with the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Le Petit Prince” (Ref. IW377706) and the Big Pilot’s Watch Edition “Le Petit Prince” (Ref. IW500908). Only recently, brand ambassador Adriana Lima opened a new library in the Hospital
PequenoPríncipe, a children’s hospital in Curitiba, Brazil.
The library was made possible by the proceeds of an auction of a Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “The Last Flight” in platinum (Ref. IW388005), with which IWC honoured the great writer’s last flight.
IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN
With a clear focus on technology and development, the Swiss watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen has been producing timepieces of lasting value since 1868. The company
has gained an international reputation based on a passion for innovative solutions and technical ingenuity. One of the world’s leading brands in the luxury watch segment, IWC crafts masterpieces of haute horlogerie at their finest, combining precision engineering with exclusive design. As an ecologically and socially responsible company, IWC is committed to sustainable production, supports institutions around the globe in their work with children and young people, and maintains partnerships with organizations dedicated to climate and environmental protection.