IWC Mark XV

Technology is the appeal of an IWC – the watches have an almost industrial quality. There is a perception of precision and a sense that every IWC has been specially engineered. This is what appeals so much to collectors of these unique timepieces – particularly in German speaking parts of the world where engineers are prized and efficiency revered. 

One just has to look at the stark, functional styling of the classic dark background military dials that are so much a part of the identity of the aviators’ IWCs to appreciate the strong identity that has characterized these watches since their debut. The first watch from Schaffhausen made specially for pilots was the Mark IX. Launched in 1936, it had a black dial, high-contrast luminous hands and a rotating bezel with an inlaid arrow. The ribbed bezel could be turned until the arrow was adjacent to the watch’s minute hand. This feature permitted the wearer to measure elapsed time accurately as an aid to navigation and could also be used to time periods of up to one hour’s duration. The 83-calibre, hand-wound movement used in this watch was shock-resistant and featured an antimagnetic escapement. To ensure that it would function correctly in the rarefied and potentially freezing atmosphere of aircraft in those days, the watch was tested and adjusted at extreme temperatures.

Almost seventy years after it was first put into production the Mark IX is still a stunning-looking timepiece. Even more so when one imagines the aesthetic impact of this revolutionary piece of technical equipment during the early years of the twentieth century. The Mark IX is today one of the most sought-after of IWC pilot’s watches but as well as its value to collectors and students of the brand, its wider significance rests in the fact that the Mark IX spawned a watch dynasty. The Mark X arrived in 1945. Three years later the Mark XI was adopted by the Royal Air Force as its official pilot’s watch.

The Mark XI, the first pilot’s watch equipped with an additional soft-iron inner case to protect the movement against magnetic fields, could hardly have been more marked. The Mark XI was characterized by understatement. A relatively small case size, allied to the reduction of external features to an absolute minimum has made it an essential item in any IWC collection. The Mark XI is a genuine cult timepiece in its own right. Moreover its hand-wound movement is also one of the most complex and precise. It proved so successful that it was not until 1993 that the Mark XII made its debut with an automatic movement.

Stainless steel RAF Issue IWC Mk XI, originally issued in 1951. Probably the most famous military wrist watch ever made, the Mk XI has lost none of its mystique over the years. In fact the mystique has been added to by IWC who have "mined" the legend and reputation of this watch to produce several recent watches that call heavily upon its design. The first was the "Fleigerchronograph", then the even more derivative Mk XII and Mk XV were produced. All of these watches have dials which are very reminiscent of the Mk XI, this in fact is quite ironic as IWC did not design the dial. It was produced by them to a British Air Ministry design and this self same design can also be seen on the Jaeger Pilot's watch produced to the same specification. 

Both of these watches (and the Omega which followed them) can make a claim to be the first wristwatches in the world designed from scratch to be anti magnetic. They all feature a very thick dial, which is cup shaped and so covers the side of the movement; the movement cover is similarly shaped and rises to meet the dial sides. This means that the movement is completely encased in a non magnetic "Faraday cage", thereby providing a high degree of anti magnetic shielding. 

The 1990s saw a tremendous resurgence in the popularity of the aviators’ watches. Over six decades after it first appeared on a pilot’s wrist, there is now Mark XV, launched in 1999 and is still today’s IWC bestseller.