Pilot’s watches for the Little Prince 70’s anniversary
For The Little Prince 70thanniversary, IWC Schaffhausen publisher of luxury watches and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation partner since 2006, will launch two special editions.
The Large Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Edition « Le Petit Prince » red gold, limited to 270 copies, and « The Little Prince » Pilot’s Watch Mark XVII Edition stainless steel, limited to 1000 copies, pay tribute to Antoine Saint-Exupery, the pilot and writer behind this poetic tale.
The Large Pilot’s Watch
This impressive watch in midnight blue features a perpetual calendar which displays the year, the date, day and month. The high quality materials and manufacturing high quality evoke the Aeropostale’s travel and pioneering spirit. The panel design, reminding cockpit instrument blends with the elegant displays of the perpetual calendar. This model is the first IWC Large Pilot’s Watch to integrate the classic moon phase display. Here, the moon is adorned with The Little Prince watching the starry sky on his asteroïd. This picture is also on the 18-carat gold medallion adorning the oscillating weight, which can be admired at the back of the watch through the bottom sapphire glass. The inscription « Le Petit Prince », title of the first edition, is engraved on the winding rotor.
The special edition red gold limited to 270 copies comes with a bound volume of a rare design created exclusively for IWC, a reproduction of the original first edition in English, and a reproduction of the original French manuscript of « the Little Prince » written by hand.
The Pilot’s Watch Mark XVII
Cockpit ambience for this watch whose priority is readability. The designers were inspired by the look of the instrument panel to create the date window that recalls an altimeter with numbers arranged vertically. The date is indicated by a triangle. The little star that balances on the back of the seconds hand represents the star drawn by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
With its soft-iron inner case protection and secured glass against its dial in case of sudden depressurization XVII Mark revives the tradition of the historical model, the legendary Mark 11 1940. The back of the watch is decorated with an engraving showing the Little Prince on his tiny asteroid, with its fluttering scarf. This steel watch is limited to one thousand copies.
« Antoine de Saint-Exupery is still a model of courage, a pioneering spirit, perseverance and passion, » recently said IWC CEO Georges Kern. « His willingness to make things happen is exemplary. As a company assuming social responsibility, IWC is proud to be partner since 2006 of the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation, a commitment that is perfectly in line with humanitarian ideas defended by the writer and french pilot. Already in 2009, IWC Schaffhausen, in collaboration with Sipar and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation, opened a library in Cambodia. Education is the key to the fight against illiteracy and we wanted to make a contribution through the library. We are now moving to the next step with the construction of a school, « says Georges Kern.
Read more about the foundation