News

IWC Introduces the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph “Blue Angels”

In blue and yellow.

Having recently coming a licensee of the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, better known as the Blue Angels, IWC is marking the occasion with the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Blue Angels”.

Already the longtime licensee for the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School – hence the Pilot’s Watch Top Gun editions – IWC is the latest watchmaker to sign with the Blue Angels. The team has had several watchmakers become licensees over the years, first Breitling in the 1990s, followed by Citizen.

The new Blue Angels chronograph is in blue and yellow, the colours of the Blue Angels’ emblem. The dial is a dark, metallic blue with a yellow track for the hours.

The case is in matte black ceramic and measures 44.5mm wide.

The Blue Angels logo engraved on the back

Inside is the cal. 89361, the brand’s top of the line, in-house chronograph. It’s an automatic movement with IWC’s signature Pellaton winding mechanism. The chronograph has both a flyback function as well as the hour and minute registers co-axial at 12 o’clock.

Key facts and price

Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Blue Angels”
Ref. IW389008

Diameter: 44.5mm
Height: 15.7mm
Material: Black ceramic
Water resistance: 60m

Movement: Cal. 89361
Functions: Time, date, and flyback chronograph
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 28,800 beats per hour, or 4Hz

Power reserve: 68 hours

Strap: Blue calfskin

Limited edition: No
Availability: From November 2019, at both boutiques and retailers
Price: US$10,900, or 16,900 Singapore dollars

For more, visit IWC.com.

Correction November 22, 2019: The watch has a matte black ceramic case, and not a glossy blue ceramic case, as stated in a previous version of the article.

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De Bethune Introduces the Maestri’Art DW5 Armilia

Fully engraved and still extraterrestrial.

Shaped like an extraterrestrial seashell, the De Bethune Dream Watch 5 (DW5) is the brand’s most striking timepiece. It’s simple in function – showing just the time and moon phase – but more of a time-telling object than a mere watch.

The new Maestri’Art DW5 Armilia is the opposite of the sleek, smooth finish of the original Dream Watch. The rose gold case is fully engraved with a motif from Les Cités obscures, or The Obscure Cities, a series of graphic novels by Belgian duo François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters. Specifically, the engraving depicts Armilia, an underground city of the novels that’s shaped like an armillary sphere.

François Schuiten’s original drawing of Armilia

Responsible for the engraving is Michele Rothen Rebetez, a freelance engraver based in Le Locle who has worked with De Bethune for several years, most recently on the Maestri Art I and II. Instead of the deeper, relief engraving that Ms Rothen Rebetez typically uses for watches, the DW5 Armilia is finished with banknote style engraving, made up of numerous fine, shallow lines to create depth and shadow.

The DW5 is produced in two sizes, and the DW5 Armilia is in the larger, 58mm size. Mechanically, it is identical to the standard DW5, with the time indicated in a narrow window, along with the spherical moon phase display, both framed in blued titanium.

The cal is 18k rose gold, while the crown is topped with a 1-carat blue sapphire.