IWC Schaffhausen brings up a stunning collaboration in partnership with the iconic Mercedes-Benz G Wagon. The Big Pilot’s Watch AMG G 63 in Armor Gold is the result of what we think is a great collaboration between these two brands that have been involved with one another for 20 years since the early days of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team partnership.

The Mercedes-Benz G Wagon, also known as the G-Class or Geländewagen, is a legendary off-road vehicle that has carved its place in the annals of automotive history. Born out of a collaboration between Mercedes-Benz and Austrian company Steyr-Daimler-Puch, the G Wagon first made its appearance in 1979 and has since become an icon in the world of luxury SUVs. Originally designed as a military vehicle, the G Wagon was intended to handle rugged terrains and extreme conditions with ease. The intention was to create a vehicle capable of conquering the most challenging landscapes while providing unmatched durability and reliability. Its name in German, Geländewagen, translates to ‘cross-country vehicle’ in English, perfectly capturing the essence of its purpose.

Just like IWC Schaffhausen has done over the years, the G Wagon has evolved both in terms of design and technology while staying true to its original essence. Despite being introduced as a utilitarian off-roader, it didn't take long for the G Wagon to transcend its military roots and be embraced as a symbol of luxury, class, and performance. As part of this partnership, IWC released two special edition Big Pilot’s watches inspired by the G-Class, while echoing signature G-Class design features such as the headlights or the spare wheel cover, they are both made from extremely robust and resilient case materials. One is cased in 18K Armor Gold and the second is IWC’s first timepiece with a ceramic matrix composite —CMC— case. However, this review will dive deep into the Armor Gold reference IW501201.

Things to Know About the Watch

The Big Pilot’s Watch from IWC Schaffhausen and the G-Class from Mercedes-Benz share a similar history and are deeply rooted in a utilitarian legacy. Both were initially developed to meet purely functional criteria —one to be easy to read and highly robust, the other to offer uncompromising offroad capabilities.

The Big Pilot’s Watch AMG G 63 reference IW501201 in 18K Armor Gold features a case with a diameter of 46.2 mm and a thickness of 14.4 mm. Equipped with a gorgeous black dial that is inspired by the exterior paintwork and interior finishing of the recently launched Mercedes-AMG G 63 ‘Grand Edition’ —European Exclusive Launch—, the watch has a very luxurious yet utilitarian look thanks to its black rubber strap with black microfiber inlay —so good it almost looks like suede.

For those of you not familiar with IWC’s Armor Gold, this is an innovative alloy that elevates the hardness values of gold to a whole new level and makes this comparatively soft, precious metal much more resistant to external influences such as dings or scratches. Thanks to an improved microstructure, this special alloy is significantly harder and more wear-resistant than conventional 5N gold.

The combination of sand-blasted surfaces and polished edges lend this Big Pilot’s Watch a classy, contemporary character in one of the most uniquely finished gold timepieces we’ve reviewed. Even though the case and case back have been finished with a sand-blasting technique with contrasting high-polished areas, the folding clasp on the strap is finished with a vertical satin-brushed finish.

In addition to the Big Pilot’s characteristic power reserve indicator at 3 o’clock, the black dial of the Big Pilot's Watch AMG G 63 Armor Gold also features a small running seconds indicator at 9 o’clock and a discreet date aperture at 6 o’clock.

The opposing subdials with external white rings imitate the typical headlights on the front of the G-Class. The black dial is embossed with a relief-like technical structure inspired by the air intakes of Mercedes-AMG performance cars. Unlike the usual Big Pilot’s Watch —which has printed numerals—, the special edition IWC Big Pilot's Watch AMG G 63 Armor Gold features appliques that have been PVD-coated in black and filled with luminous material.

The Movement

The Big Pilot’s Watch AMG G 63 is powered by the IWC-in-house calibre 52010. This automatic movement is very robust and quite precise. Developed by IWC’s former Technical Director Albert Pellaton during the 1940s, the ingenious self-winding mechanism uses even the smallest movements of the rotor in both directions to build up a power reserve of seven days in two barrels.

Turning the watch over reveals the display case back fitted with a tinted sapphire crystal that features the Mercedes-Benz star logo in a way that resembles the spare wheel cover on the back of the G-Class. The sapphire crystal also bears the inscription “Stronger Than Time. Edition G-Class.”

On the Wrist & Price

On the wrist, the Big Pilot’s Watch AMG G 63 Armor Gold wears true to its size and is not too heavy for a solid gold piece. Either the case has been hollowed drastically around the interior of the case band, or this new type of gold alloy includes some percentage of titanium in it to provide greater strength and lightness to the case. The watch wears very nicely and its color combo is strikingly beautiful.

The Big Pilot’s Watch AMG G 63 Armor Gold is a regular production watch without specific limitations but is only available in limited quantities exclusively sold through the IWC Boutiques and eligible for registration under the My IWC care program, benefitting from a 6-year extension to the standard 2-year International Limited Warranty.

Sticker Price USD 33,400. For more info on IWC click here.