The New IWC BP Perpetual Calendar Toto Wolff, and the Only Chance to Get the Last One is this Charity Auction

Here’s a new IWC… Well, we’re a bit exaggerating the “novelty” effect since this watch, a new and bold edition of the Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar in Ceratanium with a smoked sapphire dial revealing parts of the movement and Petronas Green accents, isn’t really available anymore. Surprisingly, IWC starts to communicate about this 100-piece limited edition while also claiming that it’s not available anymore. Disappointing, since it looks quite stunning (not discreet, but quite impressive). Well, there’s one last chance to get your hands on the last available piece (number 50/100), which is now under auction for Ignite Charity by Bonhams. Let’s discover more about the hardly accessible IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Edition “Toto Wolff x Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team” reference IW503607.

With this watch, IWC pays tribute to a long friend and partner, head of the F1 team that the Schaffhausen-based manufacturer has been sponsoring for new several years. In 2013, the Austrian entrepreneur and former racing driver Toto Wolff became a shareholder and executive director of the Mercedes-AMG F1 Team. During his time as the Team Principal & CEO, the team has won eight consecutive constructors’ titles between 2014 and 2021. With this new and bold watch, Wolff was finally honoured with an IWC watch that carries his name.

The watch in question, this new reference IW503607, is a strong, bold and ultra-technical evolution of a well-known and highly appreciated piece, the Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar Top Gun Ceratanium. Again here, we have a 46.2mm case in IWC’s innovative titanium alloy with ceramic properties, a full black style and a black rubber strap with textile inlay. Inside, the movement is also rather famous, being the oversized 7-day automatic base with Pellaton winding system fitted with the in-house, Kurt Klaus-developed perpetual calendar module on top. As always with IWC, there are plenty of indications on display, with the hours, minutes and small seconds, but also a power reserve indicator and a perpetual calendar with date, day, month, year in four digits and perpetual moon phase for the northern and southern hemisphere.

What really matters in this new Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Edition “Toto Wolff x Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team” is the dial, which is made of sapphire crystal, thus revealing the mechanism underneath. Following the AMG F1 Team Edition of the Pilot’s Chronograph, this new complex watch also features the signature Petronas green accents on the tracks, numerals and hands. And there’s a little red touch next to the crown, a tribute to now-deceased friend and colleague Niki Lauda. The back reveals a movement that appears darker than usual, thanks to a tinted sapphire crystal. The IWC Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar Toto Wolff has been made in 100 pieces, which are now all allocated, with the exception of one piece, number 50 of 100.

So here’s your last chance to get the watch… Not ideal, for sure, but at least it will benefit a nice cause. The watch carrying the number 50 will be auctioned online by the international auction house Bonhams. The proceeds will go to Ignite. This charitable initiative launched in 2021 by the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team and Lewis Hamilton focuses its work on supporting greater diversity and inclusion in motorsport. The watch comes with a 10-minute video call with Toto Wolff and a tour of the Mercedes-AMG HQ and Operations Centre, offering exclusive, behind-the-scenes insight into what goes into designing, manufacturing and running the world’s most advanced racing cars.

The watch is now available through an online auction by Bonhams, which will end this coming Thursday (July 7, 2022 – 4PM Central Europe Time) and is estimated at GBP 40,000-100,000. The details about the auction as well as the live bid can be seen here, at www.bonhams.com/auction/28074.