Big Pilot Antoine De Saint Exupery Stainless Steel
REF. IW5004-22
5/10
ScarceCase
Dial
In Context
At 46 mm it is a large watch — well above this catalogue’s 40 mm median, and enough to dominate a narrow wrist. At 16 mm it is very tall, and sits high off the wrist. 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.
IW5004-22 is one of 31 executions of the IW5004 base reference. Underneath they are the same watch; what separates this one is a brown sunburst dial and a stainless steel case. It was a limited edition. Introduced in 2009.
The IW5004 family
IW5004-22 is one of 31 variants sharing the IW5004 base reference — same watch underneath, different dial, bezel, or bracelet execution. Browse the others:
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.
Inside: Caliber 51111
Explore this caliber →A seven-day movement wound by IWC's Pellaton system, in which a cam on the rotor rocks a pair of pawls so that motion in either direction feeds the barrel. The 168-hour reserve comes from a single oversized barrel rather than two, and the slow 3 Hz beat is what lets one barrel run that long. Compared with the 51011 it gains a balance bridge in place of a balance cock — anchored at both ends, so the balance staff stays truer under shock.
35 other watches in the library run the IWC 51111.
Discussion
0 commentsLoading…