In the Chronograph 43, IWC uses its caliber 79320, which is a Swiss Made Valjoux 7750 sourced from ETA. First is the movement, which in this Chronograph 41 watch is the in-house made IWC caliber 69385. The two watches differ in price a bit and are physically distinctive in two important areas. The 2021 IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 at first appears to be merely a smaller version of the also recent Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Le Petit Prince” 43mm (part of the IWC Spitfire collection), especially with this blue dial treatment. They are relatively fair pricing, watch case size, and the blend of component quality and the exclusive in-house mechanical movement. There are three primary reasons why collectors will be interested in this new Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 product line. I think if Indiana Jones were a watch guy, he’d probably wear something like an IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph.

There is probably a reason out of all the vehicles Indiana Jones operates (and destroys), it is his inability to land planes (despite his repeated attempts) that the stories point out more than once. Think of someone like Indiana Jones - certainly a guy who needs good tools but is also apparently motivated by jumping dangerously close to harm’s way. Or at the least, people who are in a risk-taking mood. When we got to pilot’s watches (you’ll have to hear the SUPERLATIVE podcast episode with the IWC CEO to hear the rest), Grainger considered it and then we finally agreed that more so than other sports watches, aviator-style timepieces are preferred by risk-takers. In a recent interview with IWC CEO Chris Grainger, I played a little game with him where I asked him to assign a personality type to each of the major sport watch areas (all of which IWC makes timepieces within). That said, the new-for-2021 IWC reference IWC388101 (also as the IWC388102 in blue on bracelet, the IWC388103 in green with a strap, and the IWC388104 in green on a bracelet) Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 is an excellent formula of a concoction that has been enduringly popular with collectors and mainstream luxury seekers, alike, for years now.

The company has made a watch called the “Pilot’s Watch Chronograph” for some time, and plenty of them look a lot like this. You wouldn’t be blamed for missing that this model is new if you haven’t been hawkish about the latest IWC watches. A long-time fan of IWC’s more entry-level luxury aviator-style chronograph watches, I was happy to get a chance to review this new Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 right before its official debut.

Iwc pilot watch