IWC has linked their watches to ‘Le Petit Prince’ —The Little Prince— for a while and numerous limited editions, as well as regular production watches, have been released honoring one of the greatest books ever written. Its author, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was a French writer, aristocrat, but also a pioneering aviator, which is the main reason why IWC has decided to link their Pilot’s watches to him.
The IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon Edition 'Le Petit Prince' ref. IW504803 in 18K Armor Gold —a special gold alloy developed by IWC that is harder than regular 18K 5N rose gold— is to us a perfect watch to talk about on Valentine’s Day.
Why? Well, because if you’ve read ‘The Little Prince’ —Le Petit Prince— you know that this book is a masterpiece that talks about love and you would remember the rose that appears in a couple of the chapters and how the meaning of love is addressed in a pure and beautiful context so that both children and adults can grasp invaluable life lessons from it. Le Petit Prince is a must-read that helps shape the human character to better understand our purpose in life and what love really means.
Although the rose appears only in a couple of chapters, her role in the book is crucial. And it is because of her, that Le Petit Prince leaves his planet to explore other horizons. It is also because of the rose, that the little prince decides to return to his planet. Even though the rose appears for the most part vain and naive, the little prince deeply loves his rose because of the time he has spent caring for her. Ultimately, the rose embodies the fox’s statement that love comes from investing in others. While much has been said about the rose in the book being used as an analogy to relationship between the author Saint-Exupéry and his wife, the rose in reality is one of the purest and most eloquent symbols of love.
Now, back to talking about the perfect watch for Valentine’s Day with Le Petit Prince standing on its moon phase indicator.
Things to Know About the Watch
The IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon Edition 'Le Petit Prince' ref. IW504803 combines the convenience of a perpetual calendar with a mesmerizing tourbillon cased in a very generous 46.2 mm 18K Armor Gold case and in a highly exclusive limited edition of only 50 pieces. Featuring a sunburst blue dial like all other ‘Le Petit Prince’ editions from IWC, this perpetual calendar features everything one can hope for including a digital display for the year. The Arabic numerals, white transfers, and red pointers make for a very handsome watch.
While the tourbillon making a rotation every 60 seconds takes the center stage at 12 o’clock, the month and moon phase indicator at 6 o’clock is yet the real cherry on top of the cake. This indicator recreates a real moon in 18K rose gold with the little prince standing on it and gazing out at the stars —exactly as it appears in the illustrations from Saint-Exupéry’s book.
Easy to read and highly visible thanks to its white transfers and red-tipped pointers, the perpetual calendar information is intelligently distributed throughout the dial with a day of the week indicator at 9 o’clock, a date with a 7-day power reserve indicator at 3 and a month, and moon phase indicator at 6. Additionally, the IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon Edition 'Le Petit Prince' goes where very few other watches go and includes a digital aperture between 8 and 7 o’clock to display the year information with all its digits —only Jaeger-LeCoultre part of Richemont has also included an identical indicator in their perpetual calendar.
Exquisitely finished, the Armor Gold case is slightly harder than regular 5N 18K rose gold and the watch features the signature screw-down iconic onion-shaped conical knurled crown with the IWC ‘Probus Scafusia’ —Latin for good, solid craftsmanship— hallmark.
The Movement
Powered by the in-house IWC calibre 51950, the Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon Edition 'Le Petit Prince' features a bidirectional Pellaton pawl-winding system with two barrels. The perpetual calendar recognizes the different lengths of the months and leap years automatically and requires no correction until 2100. Perhaps the best part about this perpetual calendar, is that there are no correctors on the case and everything can be set via the crown.
This in-house automatic movement is composed of 456 parts and 54 jewels and is equipped with a very special 18K rose gold oscillating weight with the little prince standing on one of the asteroids covered with roses. A perfect ode to love and one of our all-time favorite books. The watch provides a power reserve of 7 full days when fully wound while beating at a frequency of 19,800 vph. The exquisitely decorated three-quarter plate movement with Côtes de Genève and perlage is fully visible via the display case back.
On the Wrist & Price
On the wrist, the IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon Edition 'Le Petit Prince' ref. IW504803 wears true to its size and with incredible wrist presence. Without a doubt, this is our favorite ‘Le Petit Prince’ watch from IWC. The watch is delivered on a brown calfskin strap with a folding clasp in 18K Armor gold and available in a limited edition of only 50 pieces. Happy Valentine’s everyone!
Sticker Price $117,000 USD. For more info on IWC click here.
