IWC Big Pilot Top Gun Miramar – IW501902

IWC's Big Pilot is one of the brand's most legendary luxury watches. The instantly-recognisable face, with its large, Arabic-numeralled dial and sharply lumed hands, is a modern classic. And the IWC Big Pilot Top Gun Miramar is one of the most perfectly-formed renditions of that classic.
If you've never encountered a Big Pilot before, but find the dial familiar, it might be because you've seen it on the racing gloves of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Both men are sponsored by IWC, and while they wear Ingenieurs, it's the Big Pilot that takes centre-stage in the cockpit of the car. It's a fitting place for a watch like this. Because, of course, any luxury watch named after the famous USAF flight school is bound to attract a bevy of quotes from the much-loved Tony Scott movie—featuring Tom Cruise as Maverick, the man with the most obvious name in cinema history, and Anthony Edwards as Goose. And you know what the number one line dropped from Top Gun is.
'I feel the need—the need for speed.' No wonder Hamilton and Rosberg have one on their gloves.
In reality, of course, the IWC Top Gun Miramar (IWC ref IW501902) is more of a military watch than a trackside special. Yes, you can get a chrono version, which looks more like the kind of thing you'd find in a pit lane. But for the purposes of this article, I'm interested in the much purer original. Presented on a NATO strap in green fabric, the Top Gun Miramar looks like it's just stepped off the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. Its beautifully-polished black ceramic case is tougher than a drill sergeant. And the 'minute-marker' dial, which is as good to look at as it is useful, enables navigators (like Mav's navigator Goose, before he bought the farm in what must be 80s cinema's most unlikely tearjerker moment) to accurately log radar positions.
Tom Cruise reportedly wore a PVD IWC Big Pilot Chronograph in the movie. That's a lot of watch for a 1980s USAF pilot's salary. The IWC Big Pilot Top Gun Miramar is also a big timepiece for a pilot's paycheck—but not for the bank accounts of the world's most famous people. Ewan McGregor wears an IWC Big Pilot from time to time. As do Quentin Tarantino, Jeremy Renner, and Arnie. And Kevin Spacey loves IWC so much he produced a play inspired by one of its luxury watch lines.
The design of the Big Pilot Top Gun Miramar is closely based on the design of the original Big Pilots. IWC designed the model in the late 1930s, and cemented the international aviation status of the watch in 1948, with the creation of the MkII, a model made specially for the Royal Air Force. The screw-down, military crown on the Top Gun Miramar is identical to the first Luftwaffe Big Pilots, as is the bladed shape of the hour and minute hands. The lume on the hands and hour track is given a vintage look, and (as mentioned above) the standard Arabic hour numerals are replaced by a minute track. A smaller hour track, in red, sits within the dial, and makes a very nice, appropriately military-styled colour contrast with the sandy lume, matte black dial, and olive strap. There's a power reserve indicator (seven days) at 3 o'clock.
All of this functional perfection is of course protected by anti-glare sapphire glass. As befits a proper pilot's watch, the glass is protected against drops in air pressure, and will not displace from the case in-flight. The ceramic case is 48 mm in diameter (IWC doesn't call it the 'Big Pilot' for nothing), making for excellent legibility in the heat of a dogfight. And it's waterproof down to 60 m, so if you do have to eject over the ocean you're not going to damage your luxury watch. Just make sure you don't hit your head, or you'll end up like Goose.
The IWC Big Pilot Top Gun Miramar (IW501902) is a rare thing—a luxury watch designed both to look 'authentically old', and to serve a purpose. It's a tool that works, and a gimmick, if you can call an IWC watch a gimmick, that hits what it's shooting for without being cheesy. The retro colours work. The retro crown works. The lume works. And what you end up with is not a watch that pretends to be military, but a watch that understands and celebrates its DNA. You could pair it with real sergeant's stripes tomorrow, and no-one would laugh at you. Or you could wear it to your next red-carpet event. Not a lot of watch manufacturers can say they've created something that works as well in la-la land as it does in the cockpit of an F-14 Tomcat, but IWC can. And frankly, the Big Pilot Top Gun Miramar can be my wingman anytime. Over and out.
Image Credit – officialwatches.com vedere di piu orologi rolex e Chopard Ladies Classic