The New IWC Pilot Performance Chronograph Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month

With its long-winded name, IWC’s new watch can best be described as the more complex brother of a Performance Chronograph released in 2023 for four-wheeled pilots. Equipped with the brand’s innovative perpetual calendar movement and its uncommon digital display, the Performance Chronograph IW388801 comes with a dashing black and golden colour scheme.

Presented in 2023, IWC’s Pilot’s Watch Performance Chronograph 41 is a racing chronograph with a tachymeter scale on its bezel, the racetrack alternative to IWC’s well-stocked portfolio of pilot’s chronographs powered by the same in-house automatic chronograph movement: calibre 69385.

The second part of the equation relates to IWC’s unusual digital perpetual calendar combined with a flyback chronograph. Inspired by the displays of IWC’s Pallweber pocket watches from the 1880s with digital hours and minutes, the digital perpetual calendar was unveiled in 2009 on board the Da Vinci (ref. 3761). One of the most innovative perpetual calendars of its kind, with gas-guzzling digital displays of the day, month and leap year, it has appeared in several Ingenieur references and took thematic blue and red Aquaman colours in the Aquatimer version of 2023. Presented in an all-black, matte 43mm Ceratanium case with a matching crown, pushers and bracelet, the 16.5mm thick case is water-resistant to 100 meters. The black polished ceramic bezel features a golden printed tachymeter scale.

The black and golden colour scheme extends to the busy hammered dial with four sub-dials. The golden double-digit month and date discs at 3 and 9 o’clock have a circular reticular structure, while the digital leap year indicator at 6 o’clock shares its sub-dial with the small seconds. Elapsed hours and minutes are concentrated in the single totaliser at noon. True to its Big Pilot origins, the large white Arabic numerals, indices and hands, including the small seconds hand, are treated with Super-LumiNova.

Powered by IWC’s manufacture calibre 89802, this high-end automatic chronograph movement has a column wheel and a vertical clutch and is topped by an in-house perpetual calendar module. A double-pawl winding system builds up a 68-hour power reserve in the mainspring. The complex 474-part movement, with its blackened bridges and skeletonised rotor, can be observed through the tinted sapphire caseback. Price is CHF 80,000 or EUR 90,100. More information at iwc.com.