Pilot’s Watch Top Gun Chronograph

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 16.5 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. 68 hours of reserve is enough to set it down on Friday evening and find it still running on Monday. At 28,800 vph the seconds hand advances 8 times a second.

IW3880-01 is one of 6 executions of the IW3880 base reference. Underneath they are the same watch; what separates this one is a black dial and a ceramic case. Beyond the time it carries a chronograph.

An 89000-family chronograph with a column wheel and an integrated vertical clutch, so the chronograph hand starts without the flinch a lateral coupling gives. Flyback actuation resets and restarts the timing in a single press. It differs from the 89361 in the counter layout: the 89365 registers elapsed minutes only, where the 89361 combines hours and minutes on one subdial. Four winding pawls in paired arrangement feed the barrel.

17 other watches in the library run the IWC 89365.

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Pilot's Watch Spitfire Chronograph Tribeca Film Festival 2014 Red Gold

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Pilot's Watch Spitfire Chronograph Tribeca Film Festival 2014

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