Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. The New IWC Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 TOP GUN Lake Tahoe
The full white ceramic Lake Tahoe now comes in a compact, simpler form.
It is widely known that IWC has experience with ceramic watches since it was the first brand to release a timepiece made of zirconium oxide (the real name for ceramic) in 1985 with the Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar. In recent years, the Schaffhausen-based brand has been playing a lot with colours, releasing Top Gun models in black (of course), beige (Mojave), green (Woodland), blue (Oceana) and white, with the Lake Tahoe editions, until now available with a chronograph movement or a perpetual calendar. Now, the concept returns in a simpler, smaller and more accessible watch based on the Mark XX range, with the new Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 TOP GUN Lake Tahoe IW328104.
What we’re looking at here is essentially a “Tahoed” version of the Mark XX, the latest evolution in the classic Mark series of IWC. As such, you won’t be surprised to see that most of the specifications of this new compact Lake Tahoe are shared with the standard steel models, as well as the limited or special titanium versions, such as the Patrouille Suisse or the AMG Petronas. However, besides the new material, there are a few notable evolutions to report.
Being part of the Lake Tahoe sub-collection, which for now only includes a large chronograph and an even larger Big Pilot QP, the case here is a mix of white zirconium oxide ceramic and a stainless steel crown and titanium caseback. However, as is often the case with ceramic watches at IWC, the case dimensions are slightly updated. This TOP GUN Lake Tahoe IW328104 has a 41mm diameter and a thickness of 11.4mm versus 40mm x 10.8mm for a steel model. Nothing too drastic, as this remains one of the most compact takes on the pilot’s watch by IWC. The rest is familiar, with a steel screw-in crown, a screwed back with TOP GUN engravings, a soft-iron inner case for protection against magnetic fields and a sapphire crystal with AR coating secured against displacement by drops in air pressure. Water-resistance is rated at 100m, more than sufficient for daily use.
In addition to the new case material, the dial has also been slightly updated, in line with previous Lake Tahoe models. The base dial is traditional matte black, with printed markers and white tracks – most of them coated in Super-LumiNova. Reinforcing the instrument look, the hands are here blackened, and the date disc matches the colour of the dial – a steel version would be fitted with a white disc. To complement the white ceramic case, the smaller Lake Tahoe is worn on a 20mm textured white rubber strap, closed by a titanium pin buckle.
Inside the case, once again, we’re in familiar territory with the automatic calibre 32112, the same base movement found in the Mark XX and Ingenieur Automatic 40. This movement, made using Richemont’s ValFleurier architecture, has a solid 5-day power reserve and beats at 4Hz. It is fitted with a bidirectional pawl winding system and features a stop-seconds.
Now available from the brand and part of the permanent collection, the new IWC Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 TOP GUN Lake Tahoe IW328104 is priced at EUR 9,000 or CHF 7,800. For more details, please visit iwc.com.
6 responses
lug2lug?
It would have been a perfect daily watch but.. that rubber strap with woven faux rope texture is obscene and it looks so cheap
“zirconium oxide (the real name for ceramic)”
This is misleading.
Ceramic refers to a class of materials, in materials science. Broadly speaking, a ceramic is composed of a metal, as a carbide, nitride, or oxide, that does not have a regular crystalline structure. Zirconia is commonly used for watch cases because it’s tougher (less brittle) than, say, aluminum oxide ceramics. Silicon-based ceramics are also common. There’s also titanium ceramics.
So, ok, it’d be right to say “the specific type of ceramic”…but it’s not the “real name” at all.
Bordering on twice the price of the steel version, the need for a backstory and propaganda increase mathematically as the prices increase! And this must be where the watch blog phenomenon comes into play. Who woulda thought.
The Mark XX is a fantastic watch, but that non-eccentric, centered date placement really throws me off.. it’s the one thing stopping me from adding it to my collection.
I think this is stellar looking! Overall design, strap, and size, all on point. Wait until it hits the secondary market and buy at a 30% discount, then it may be worth it!