Big Pilot Stainless Steel / Silver / Japan

In Context

At 46.2 mm it is a large watch — well above this catalogue’s 40 mm median, and enough to dominate a narrow wrist. At 15.8 mm it is a tall case, and it will catch on a cuff. The case back is closed, so the movement stays out of sight, and the sapphire crystal will resist everything short of deliberate abuse. 60 m covers rain and hand-washing comfortably; it is not a watch to swim in.

The movement winds itself from the motion of your wrist. 168 hours of reserve puts it well past a weekend — several days off the wrist and it is still going. At 21,600 vph the seconds hand advances 6 times a second, the slower and more audible rate of an older design.

IW5004-18 is one of 31 executions of the IW5004 base reference. Underneath they are the same watch; what separates this one is a silver dial and a stainless steel case. It was a limited edition.

IWC

Black · Stainless Steel

IW5004-01 · 46.2 mm

IWC

Grey · White Gold

IW5004-02 · 46.2 mm

IWC

Silver · Red Gold

IW5004-06 · 46.2 mm

IWC

Green · Stainless Steel

IW5004-07 · 46.2 mm

IWC

Black · Red Gold

IW5004-08 · 46.2 mm

IWC

Black · Rose Gold

IW5004-09 · 46.2 mm

IWC

Black · Titanium

IW5004-10 · 46.2 mm

IWC

Black · Titanium

IW5004-11 · 46.2 mm

+ 22 more variants in this family.

Pellaton automatic winding with a seven-day reserve, running at 3 Hz with a Breguet overcoil hairspring and an 18K gold rotor weight. Pellaton winding uses pawls driven by a cam rather than a conventional reversing wheel, so it harvests energy from rotor movement in both directions and from very small movements — the reason a movement this slow-beating can fill a week's worth of mainspring in ordinary wear.

27 other watches in the library run the IWC 51011.

IWC

Portuguese Automatic Red Gold / Oriental Watch Co.

IW5001-22 · 42.3 mm

IWC

Big Pilot Stainless Steel / Silver / DFB

IW5004-32 · 46.2 mm

IWC

Portuguese Automatic Red Gold / Boutique Edition

5001 · 42.3 mm

IWC

Big Pilot Stainless Steel / Black / Boutique USA

IW5004-12 · 46.2 mm