The Creation of an #IWCON

The Big Pilot’s Watch 43 begins its story at the steel mill. Recycled scrap metal is smelted in an electric arc furnace to make the stainless steel used to produce the watch case and crown. The steel passes through several stages to refine it and process it into slabs. These are then remelted to remove any remaining impurities. Finally, a hot rolling mill produces the bars that serve as raw material for further processing. The case of the Big Pilot’s Watch 43 consists of about a dozen different components. Apart from the casing ring, these include the back and the retaining ring. There are also several seals, the front glass, the glass back and the crown. The case components are manufactured individually from stainless-steel bars and pass through several production steps involving state-of-the-art, computer-controlled lathes and milling machines. To give the Big Pilot’s Watch 43 its flawless case, IWC’s surface specialists complete around 30 individual steps, each of them painstakingly carried out by hand. The facets and chamfers are polished, while most of the casing ring’s surface is satin-finished, giving the case its unmistakable aesthetic.