TIME ZONE
BY CAROL BESLER
TOP GUN IWC BUILT FOR SPEED + ENDURANCE
B efore the days of reliable cockpit instrumentation panels, pilots navigated the airways with precise chronographs. Some of the world’s most important advancements in watchmaking were driven by the need for accurate navigational chronometry, a tradition honored by IWC, a heritage purveyor of pilot’s watches. The Top Gun edition of the Pilot’s Watch Mark XVIII is the civilian version of the special military issue that IWC has long been produced for graduates of the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School. These pilots have completed the rigorous Top Gun course, allowing them to use the title “Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor.”
The watch has a likewise elite case made of extremely hard and scratch-resistant black zirconium oxide ceramic. The Top Gun Chronograph is also built with tough, corrosion- resistant ceramic and titanium in order to withstand the tortuous maneuvers of the U.S. Navy’s jet pilots, during which they are subjected to high G-forces. The watches also accompany the pilots on extended missions on aircraft carriers, where they are exposed to the humid, salt-bearing sea air. The Chronograph contains a state-of- the-art movement, the IWC-made automatic caliber 69380, with a 46- hour power reserve.
The IWC Top Gun Chronograph.
40 ORR’S JEWELERS MAGAZINE
Powered by FlippingBook