The collection was a hit, especially the white ceramic “Lake Tahoe” and the sand-coloured “Mojave Desert”. Are the Oceana and Jet Black ceramic models something novel? Let’s find out.

Ready For Action

Retaining most of the original Pilot Chronograph 41 introduced in 2021 and the TOP GUN Edition of 2022, the 2023 edition features a 41mm case in classic Flieger style, with a lug-to-lug distance of 51.8mm, ready for any type of strap that shouts ruggedness. Instead of steel, you get a Pilot Chronograph 41 in ceramics, complemented with pushers in brushed titanium, a good contrast that doesn’t sacrifice harmony, largely due to the consistent matte finishing across the watch. The pushers are not screwed down like the crown but still offers a decent 100m water resistance, helpful if ever you have to ditch your jet somewhere out at sea and hang on for the rescue bird.

The dial has a granular texture that offers a subtle contrast from the case. This looks great and totally apt for a military-themed watch as compared to a dressier sun-burst dial found on the 2021 model. Time is marked by generously-lumed and pronounced Arabic numerals, accompanied by the oversized triangular index flanked by two dots at 12 o’clock, honouring hallmarks of a Flieger. I like the attention to details, exhibited through the day and date disc that matches colour with the dial, and on the chronograph second hand where the lume starts only from the pivot onwards, excluding the tail. Clarity of information matters in flight, especially when the pilot vision is affected at times of high-G manoeuvres.

The Pilot Chronograph 41 is powered by an IWC-manufactured calibre 69380 column wheel chronograph (not cam) with 46 hours of power reserve and beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour. 

Take My Breath Away

When the “Jet Black” and “Oceana” Pilot Chronograph 41 TOP GUN was introduced, I thought its just another colour & size variation based on a successful formula launched last year. It isn’t wrong to say that it is really about colours and size. But once the blinds were raised and I saw the blue for the blue it is, I was sold. It was a “you had me at hello” moment. (The Jet Black didn’t make me gasp for air but I’m certain it will find its way to collectors who are all about being tactical).

The “Oceana” is inspired by the U.S. Navy’s blue overalls, which is a very unique tone of blue that is distinctively IWC’s. It is contemporary-chic but subdued enough to still be taken seriously. Combined with the inherently smooth and monochromatic look of ceramic, the watch exudes a certain luxury despite being a tool watch at its core. It wears comfortably on the wrist in a fashionable yet grounded style. This is what Mavericks of the real world wear while playing beach volleyball without the need to shout-out “I’m a fast jet pilot”. 

The rubber strap in blue is a continuation from the dial with denim textile inlay. I didn’t really enjoy the denim texture on the strap at first but somehow it grew on me. Anyway, what other colour do you surmise will match the blue tone? The Pilot Chronograph 41 TOP GUN Edition has certainly breathed new life into IWC’s stable of pilot watches nonetheless.

Dogfighting

Let’s square it out. Technically, the TOP GUN collection is irrefutably based on a steel model launched a few years back and this is not the first time IWC produces a watch in coloured ceramics. Ceramics and IWC goes all the way back to 1986; which makes a worthy article for another time. However, the 2 watches in ceramics featured here “Oceana” and “Jet Black” colours are uniquely a first for IWC or in-fact the world, since it is a colour code specially concocted with Pantone for IWC.

What we should appreciate is the manufacturing process, which involves multiple trials by experienced hands to achieve ceramic in a particular colour. Zirconium oxide is combined with metallic oxides to give the ceramic its color. Achieving each color requires a set parameters of different raw materials, a distinct mixing ratio, temperature and exact duration of sintering.

We just need to like (or dislike) it for what it is, and in this case a colour that is unique to IWC, a proprietary material that is enduring and light, and the TOP GUN branding that appeals to aviation enthusiasts and fans of the movie.

You Can Be My Wingman Anytime

If you are not an aviation enthusiast or a fan of the movie, the colour and material edge that the TOP GUN edition offers is a pretty good proposition given that the watch can be your wingman on a first date to the movies, a night out to the club with your homies or on an adventure trip to experience the Nevada falls. 

Tom Cruise might not have worn an IWC in the TOP GUN sequel, but IWC’s partnership with the legendary Navy Fighter Weapon School (TOPGUN) is as real as it gets. IWC is now the official watch brand to create watches for the entire U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, collaborating and producing Squadron watches available only to current and former members of the unit. Each watch is engraved with the pilot’s name and call sign. How cool is that? 

The Squadron Watches are not available for sales, but it is this knowledge that certain things exists and yet, only accessible to a qualified handfull, makes an object desirable and collectible. It would be just as cool to get a version without another person’s name and callsign. Just like any collecting hobbies, the impulse and fixation on accumulating objects in a certain order can be very satisfying. So for the aviation enthusiasts, a pilot watch with cognitive and visual association with TOPGUN, Fighter Town, F14s, F18s and A4 Skyhawks is going to be something collectible.

Perhaps, what IWC could have done better, is to expand its narrative on how in-depth the collaboration with the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps really is. Finally, if IWC is reading this, it would be really cool to add colours of the “Aggressor Squadron” into the TOP GUN edition and conclude this line with a limited TOP GUN anniversary box comprising all colours of this edition. 

Technical Specifications

IWC Pilot Watch Chronograph 41 Top Gun Oceana & Jet Black

Collection: Pilot’s Watch

Case Shape: Round

Case length (mm): 41.9

Thickness (mm): 15.5

Case Material: Ceramic

Crystal: Convex Sapphire Glass; Anti-reflective coating on both sides

Caseback: Screwed-down Titanium Caseback

Dial: 3 snailed sub-dials; small hacking seconds at 6 o’clock, 12-hour counter at 9 o’clock, 30-min counter at 12 o’clock. Day, Date display at 3 o’clock;

Hands & Indexes:
Dagger hands with Super-LumiNova and Super-LumiNova Arabic numeral hour markers

Functions: Small Hacking Seconds, Day and Date, Chronograph

Movement:
Automatic Calibre 69380
46 hours Power Reserve
Frequency 28,800 VPH (4 Hz)
33 Jewels

Water Resistance: 10 bar, Screw-down Crown

Strap/Bracelet:
Matching blue rubber strap with denim-style textile inlay or black rubber strap with EasX-CHANGE system

The passion for sports racing and haute horology set Laurent Ferrier and Servanin on a common destiny beyond the race tracks. In 2019, Servanin invested in Ferrier’s roots and experience in watchmaking, and the eponymous independent maison, Laurent Ferrier was born.

Laurent Ferrier, Servanin and Trisconi’s No.40 would come in at 3rd position, just a little behind Paul Newman and ahead of 57 other cars consisting of both professional and amateur teams in the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans.

At Geneva Watch Days 2023, Laurent Ferrier presented the Sport Auto 40, a new edition of the “Série Atelier ” collection paying homage to the brand’s historical relationship with motor racing and more specifically, the viridian green Porsche 935 Turbo that both founders of the brand co-droved at the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1979. 

Inheriting the aesthetic codes of Laurent Ferrier Sport Auto collection, most notably the soft-barrel case design, the small onion crown and the air intake-like recess into the date aperture, unique to this model is the viridian green gradient dial in opaline finishing, combined with the orange Super-LumiNova on the white gold indexes and hands, and the emblematic cross-hair in purple, recreating the powdery, period-accurate paint job of the 1979 Kremer Porsche 935 T N°40. No. 40 appears subtly on the white opaline subsidiary dial, slightly embossed in white.

Other consistent features with the Sport Auto collection includes the 41.5mm grade 5 titanium case is satin-finished in general, and polished at the edges to further elaborate on Laurent Ferrier’s streamlined silhouette and the grade 5 titanium bracelet which is also satin-finished, is light and soft to the skin and wears comfortably on the wrist even on a sweltering day out on the race tracks in June. The choice of satin over brushed finishing on most of the titanium parts are most probably indications of what 1970s sports car finishing looks like – muted.

Under the hood, the micro-rotor powered Caliber LF270.01 drives the Sport Auto 40 at 28,800 VPH for 72 hours. Access the engine through the back for a rear-wheel drive sports car and just like any other Laurent Ferrier timepiece, the level of attention to aesthetics is as extensive as the dial side. The movement alone sae more than 139 hand-finished operations. The almost three-quarter bridge on the Cal. LF270.01 is satin-finished and ruthenium-treated, creating a grey overall that combines with gold and rubies to project a highly modernistic appeal. The anglage on every bridge is manually finished, including the unique bridge setting the micro-rotor in place, which is finished with gentian wood or diamantine. On the 950 platinum micro-rotor, one will find intricate hand-decorated lines of achievements set by N°40 in the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans race, from the drivers’ names, date, miles achieved, recorded timings etc.

It is indeed a memorable and unforgettable race that deserves to be recorded in any way possible.

The Laurent Ferrier Sport Auto 40 is essentially the Laurent Ferrier Sport Auto introduced a year earlier, with stylings of the very car Laurent Ferrier and François Servanin raced in and thereby, a direct tribute to the founders of the brand. For any fans or existing collector of Laurent Ferrier watches, the Sport Auto 40 is clearly a must-have collectible. While not all may share a common passion for sports racing, porsches or the number 40, the limited production Sport Auto 40 does present a uniqueness that cannot be replicated on any other brand and models; the green opaline dial.

Honouring the spirit of the 1979 24 Hours of Le Man race is also what this limited edition watch does and somehow, it got to me, not because I am a fan of autosports racing, but because of the spirit of competition behind the story. An amateur team was able to come in 3rd position, beating the odds against a pool of professional drivers and their team. It is a race of merit with equal opportunity for all and the honour is anyone willing to put in the extra effort, and perhaps, with the help of a little talent. 

If the gradient viridian green dial appeals to you, or if my sentiments on this watch somehow resonates, you might want to quickly check put your name to the list as only 40 pieces of this watch will ever be produced.

Technical Specifications

Model Number: Série Atelier Sport Auto 40

Collection: Série Atelier

Water Resistance: 120m

Case Shape: Barrel

Case Length (mm): 41.5mm

Thickness (mm): 2.70 mm

Case Material: Grade 5 Titanium

Crystal: Domed sapphire crystals

Caseback: Screwed-down Sapphire case back

Dial:
Gradient viridian green opaline dial with green and anthracite transfers
Matte white opaline small seconds at 6 o’clock with semi-glossy opaline “40”

Indexes:
18K/750 white gold 210Pd with orange Super-LumiNova

Functions:
Time & Date

Power Reserve: 72 hours

Movement: LF270.01, 31 jewel, 28,800 VPH, micro-rotor

Strap/Bracelet:
Grade 5 Titanium Integrated Bracelet with deployant buckle of same material

The latest addition from the brand, the Spirit Flyback Chronograph, reasserts its position as a legacy brand with significant contributions to the watchmaking industry and aviation as a whole. 

A Legacy Revisited

The facts of how the flyback chronograph function came to be is well-established but what led to the initiative to develop it remains unclear. The possibility is that as aviation developed, aviators required a way to take quick sequential measurement of elapsed time, necessary when navigating in correspondence with visible landmarks against waypoints on the map. In situations where pilots encounter poor weather conditions that hinder the pilot’s view of landmarks or light buoys at sea, a measurement of precise elapsed time from the last known waypoint, along with other tools such as a sextant and compass would help to determine position and distance from the next waypoint on the flight plan.

A flyback chronograph would essentially meet this requirement, an invention that took the basic chronograph and upgraded it with a flyback function, allowing the watch to instantaneously begin a new measurement without the usual start, stop and reset sequence. Instead of stopping after starting, a quick push of the lower pusher allows the chronograph seconds hand to instantaneously return to zero and begin measuring elapsed time again.

Being a supplier to pilots, it is no surprise that Longines would be the brand to come up with this complication, either through anticipation of this specific need, or in response to a request from the pilots who were already using Longines timepieces in their flights. In fact, it was Longines who supplied famous aviators such as Amelia Earhart, the first female aviator to do a solo flight across the Atlantic, and Admiral Charles Byrd, the first pilot to fly over the South Pole. Even Charles Lindbergh, the first man who flew solo across the Atlantic from New York to Paris in 1927, sought the help of Longines’ to develop the Hour Angle watch in 1931, a tool that would enable easier navigation over long distances.

In any case, history records that the earliest mention of a wristwatch chronograph with flyback function comes from the Longines archives dated to 1925, making the brand the inventor of this complication. It was a calibre 13.33Z chronograph modified with flyback mechanism and not mass produced. Longines filed a patent for the flyback chronograph in 1935. The parent was awarded in 1936.

In the Spirit of Reinvention

The Longines Spirit Flyback Chronograph is a modern interpretation of the brand’s historical pilot watches, with important functional elements that pay tribute to the spirit of the pioneers of aviation and their achievements, remade and dressed in contemporary materials and styling.

The large Arabic numeral hour markers and hands are coated with Super-Luminova, ensuring that the time is easy to read and oriented to in the dark. Continuing on this theme as well is the 60 minute scale bi-directional bezel with ceramic inlay also coming with Super-Luminova coating – fairly uncommon still nowadays in the watch industry – which ensures that it also remains functional in the dark. 

Being a chronograph, the dial is of a bi-compax design, with running seconds at 9 o’clock and a 30-minute chronograph minutes counter at 3 o’clock. The bronze hands and peripheral rings, and the sunk-in diamond-shaped relief for each hour are nice and subtle details, adding a hint of vintage feel to the watch. 

In a contemporary size of 42mm, the case is brushed and polished at the chamfer. To avoid making the watch any bigger than necessary, the lugs are well-proportioned and so are the pushers, which don’t protrude too much due to provision on the case for pushers’ travel distance.

Produced exclusively for Longines by ETA, the Longines Spirit Flyback chronograph runs a  calibre L791.4, which  is a column-wheel actuated chronograph movement with 68 hours of power reserve, silicon hairspring and flyback function. The COSC-certified automatic movement with the globe and “Longines Flyback” proudly etched on the rotor, can be viewed through the sapphire exhibition caseback set in place by 6 screws. The watch comes in two dial variations –  Sunray Blue and Sunray Black.

A watch with a story to tell

The Longines Spirit Flyback Chronograph may sit tall on the wrist at 17mm but this number has to be considered in context since part of the height is due to the use of a domed crystal as you look at the watch from the side. On the wrist, it wears like any typical 42mm wide chronograph and will tuck nicely under a shirt cuff that isn’t unreasonably tight. In any case, it is suitable as an everyday watch since it is formal or casual depending on how you dress it up, and best of all it is a watch with a plenty of aviation related stories to tell. The versatility of this watch is demonstrated through the availability of various band options, including matching leather straps to the two dial variations or on a stainless steel bracelet. The one I find most pleasing however, is the beige NATO strap that comes as an option with the black dial variant.

As part of the Spirit collection, the most distinguishing feature of the  Longines Spirit Flyback Chronograph is how it embodies the long-standing relationship between watchmaking and men’s quest to take flight. Furthermore, wearing a watch like this allows us to honour and remember the brave men and women who took to the skies more than a hundred years ago, into the development of aviation that we enjoy today.

As there are more watch brands than complications, wearing this watch on the wrist does feel a little more special since it made by the brand that invented the complication it carries. In a way, its like wearing a tourbillon watch from Breguet. The extra special dimension of owning such a watch is that Abraham Louis Breguet the watchmaker, was the man who invented the tourbillon. While flyback chronographs can be acquired from many other brands, none have as great a legitimacy for the complication than Longines.

Technical Specifications

Model No.:
L3.821.4.53.2/6/9
L3.821.4.93.2/6

Collection:
Spirit

Water Resistance:
10 bar (100 m / 330 ft) with screwed crown

Weight:
178.3 g

Case Shape:
Round

Width (mm):
42

Average Thickness (mm):
17

Lugs width (mm):
22

Case Material:
Stainless Steel & Ceramic Bezel
Transparent case back with 6 screws

Crystal:
Scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, with layers of anti-reflective coating on both sides

Dial Colours:
Sunray Blue or Sunray Black

Indexes:
Applied Arabic numeral with Super-LumiNova®

Hands:
PVD Bronze color baton hands filled with Super-LumiNova®

Power Reserve:
68 hours

Movement:
Longines self-winding column-wheel movement, L791.4
COSC certified
With silicon balance-spring and magnetic resistant
13¼ lines, 28 jewels, 28’800 vibrations per hours

Functions:
Hours, minutes and seconds at 9 o’clock
Flyback function
Chronograph
Central 60-second hand
30-minute counter at 3 o’clock

Strap Details:
Longines interchangeable system

Strap Colour:
Stainless Steel Bracelet / Brown Leather/ Blue Synthetic strap / NATO synthetic strap

Buckle:
Double security folding clasp with micro adjustment system