Believing that "...sport has the power to change the world," IWC has partnered with the Laureus Sport for Good foundation for the past fifteen years to support hundreds of children's sports programs worldwide, aiming to end violence, discrimination, and disadvantage for young people. To continue raising awareness for the foundation, IWC has released its fifteenth special limited edition Laureus watch - and this year we see a 41mm Pilot in blue ceramic, a first for the Schaffhausen manufacturer.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
Brand: IWC
Model: Pilot’s Watch Automatic Edition "Laureus Sport for Good" (ref. IW328101)
Dimensions: 41mm (thickness 11.4mm)
Water Resistance: 100 meters
Case Material: Blue Ceramic
Crystal/Lens: Sapphire
Movement: IWC 32111 (in-house automatic caliber with time and date display)
Power Reserve/Frequency: 5 days (120 hours, 4 Hz)
Strap/Bracelet:Blue rubber strap with textile inlay
Price & Availability: $6,250 USD, limited edition of 750 pieces
In fact, this is not the first time IWC has made 41mm three-hand Pilot watches for the Laureus charity. The 12th release of the partnership back in 2018 featured a black case Mark XVIII with the signature blue sunburst dial. This version is built using the latest IWC caliber 32111 (it seems to be an update to the power reserve of the 32110 used in many other Pilot watches), which is protected from magnetic fields by a soft iron cage and provides a generous five-day power reserve.
This Laureus model also deviates slightly from tradition with a matte blue dial (as opposed to the usual "sunburst" used in past Aquatimer, Ingenieur, Portugieser, and Pilot models) and a fully matte blue ceramic case, but even at a glance, the red-tipped second hand and whimsical engraving on the titanium case back reveal its participation in the long-running Laureus series, following the recent Portugieser chronograph with a mono-pusher and manual winding.
Another fun tradition of the Laureus Sport for Good program is found on the case back, where a unique engraving has always been the winner of a children's drawing competition that IWC organizes with Laureus. This year, the Pilot watch features the work of 12-year-old Melissa Mejía Castilla from Colombia, who titled her drawing "Vivir en Armonia" ("Living in Harmony"), expressing gender equality through sport. Past works have their own stories and unique artists, adding charm to this thoughtful, ongoing charitable collaboration.
When it comes to brightly colored ceramics, achieving the right shade is a unique challenge in itself, but blue ceramic is not new in the watch space - we've already seen a lot of blue ceramic cases from other high-end brands like Omega, Blancpain, and Hublot. But it's a first for IWC, which has been increasingly using colored ceramics lately - notably with the recent Inspiration4 chronograph in a white case, as well as the popular Top Gun series in Mojave case. Considering all circumstances, blue is a fitting choice to continue the thread that has connected all other Laureus editions over the years, and it's great to see IWC continuing to explore new case compositions with its most familiar properties.
With a production run of 750 pieces, slightly more limited than usual, the blue ceramic IWC Pilot’s Watch Automatic Edition "Laureus Sport for Good" (ref. IW328101) retails for $6,250. Collectors and watch enthusiasts should expect this model to appear in IWC retail stores and online any day now. You can learn more about the Laureus initiative and purchase IWC pilot watches at iwc.com.
