Big Pilot’s Watch Annual Calendar Spitfire

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 open, so the movement is visible without taking the watch apart, 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 28,800 vph the seconds hand advances 8 times a second.

IW5027-02 is one of 8 executions of the IW5027 base reference. Underneath they are the same watch; what separates this one is a grey sunburst dial and a stainless steel case. Introduced in 2016. Beyond the time it carries an annual calendar.

The 52850 is IWC's seven-day annual calendar: the 52000-family automatic with the month, date and day in three windows at 12 o'clock. It powers 16 watches in this library. The annual calendar knows the length of every month and needs correcting once a year, at the end of February, where a perpetual calendar corrects itself; the glossary sets out the [annual calendar](/glossary/annual-calendar). The base holds 168 hours in two barrels at 28,800 vph, with the Pellaton winding system on ceramic pawls and 36 jewels at 38.2 mm across; the [Pellaton piece](/blog/iwc-pellaton-winding) explains the generation and reads the jewel counts of its members. In the library it powers 9 [Big Pilot](/brands/iwc/big-pilot) Annual Calendar references at 46.2 mm, the Le Petit Prince editions among them, and 7 [Portugieser](/brands/iwc/portugieser) Annual Calendar 5035s at 44.2 mm. 11 are limited editions. The [52010](/calibers/iwc-52010) is the same base with a date alone, and the [52615](/calibers/iwc-52615) the perpetual calendar above it.

15 other watches in the library run the IWC 52850.

IWC

Portugieser Annual Calendar BFI London Film Festival

IW5035-05 · 44.2 mm

IWC

Big Pilot’s Watch Annual Calendar Edition Le Petit Prince White Gold

IW5027-05 · 46.2 mm

IWC

Portugieser Annual Calendar Stainless Steel / Pisa

IW5035-07 · 44.2 mm

IWC

Big Pilot’s Watch Annual Calendar Edition Le Petit Prince Piece Unique

IW5027-04 · 46.2 mm