IWC Schaffhausen extends its Colors of Top Gun collection with the Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 Top Gun Mojave Desert. Its 41-mm case is crafted from sand-colored ceramic, Mojave Desert, a color inspired by Navy pilots’ flight suits and the landscape around China Lake area in the Western Mojave Desert, where the US Navy operates an air base for its most skilled pilots.
The case is complemented by a brown dial with muted indices and numerals and a beige rubber strap with a textile inlay, resulting in eye-catching monochromatic design. The IWC-manufactured 32112 caliber with an automatic pawl winding system offers a generous power reserve of 120 hours.
IWC Schaffhausen looks back on almost four decades of experience in manufacturing ceramic watch cases. In 2019, the brand introduced Mojave Desert as the first ceramic color in its Colors of Top Gun collection. The color Mojave Desert is a discreet earth tone with notes of beige and khaki. The Swiss luxury watch manufacturer now adds a new Mojave Desert watch to its collection.
The Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 TOP GUN Mojave Desert (Ref. IW328106) features a meticulously crafted sand-colored ceramic case with a diameter of 41 mm. Engineering ceramics undergo a complex manufacturing process. It begins with powdered raw materials, which are shaped into a pre-form known as “green body” and then machined closer to the final geometry. The next step involves sintering the case at high temperatures in a kiln. During this heat process, ceramic obtains properties like its extreme hardness and resistance to scratches. The distinctive Mojave Desert color is achieved by blending zirconium oxide with other metallic oxides in a precisely defined mixing ratio. As the color changes during the sintering process, countless trials are needed to achieve exactly the desired result.
The Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 TOP GUN Mojave Desert is characterized by its tone-in-tone design. Matching the ceramic case, the brown dial features a minute scale and numerals in a subdued tone, all coated with Super-LumiNova to ensure perfect legibility in low light conditions. The monochromatic design is complemented by a beige rubber strap with a textile inlay and a titanium pin buckle. Light and robust titanium is also used for the case back, which is engraved with the “Top Gun” logo.
The Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 TOP GUN Mojave Desert is powered by the IWC-manufactured 32112 caliber. Its balance oscillates at a frequency of 4 Hz, ensuring a precise rate. The movement is equipped with an automatic pawl winding system. It uses movements of the rotor in both directions to generate a power reserve of 120 hours.
The new model joins the line-up of existing Mojave Desert watches, which includes the Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar TOP GUN Edition Mojave Desert (Ref. IW503004), the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 TOP GUN Mojave Desert (Ref. IW389402), and the Big Pilot’s Watch TOP GUN Edition Mojave Desert (Ref. IW506003).
IWC Schaffhausen is a leading Swiss luxury watch manufacturer based in Schaffhausen in the northeastern part of Switzerland. With collections like the Portugieser and the Pilot’s Watches, the brand covers the whole spectrum, from elegant to sports watches. Founded in 1868 by the American watchmaker and engineer Florentine Ariosto Jones, IWC is known for its unique engineering approach to watchmaking, combining the best of human craftsmanship and creativity with cutting-edge technology and processes.
Over its more than 150-year history, IWC has earned a reputation for creating professional instrument watches and functional complications, especially chronographs and calendars, which are ingenious, robust, and easy for customers to use. A pioneer in the use of titanium and ceramics, IWC today specializes in highly engineered watch cases manufactured from advanced materials, such as colored ceramics, Ceratanium, and titanium aluminide.
A leader in sustainable luxury watchmaking, IWC sources materials responsibly and takes action to minimize its impact on the environment. Along the pillars of transparency, circularity, and responsibility, the brand crafts timepieces built to last for generations and continuously improves every element of how it manufactures, distributes, and services its products in the most responsible way. IWC also partners with organizations that work globally to support children and young people.
