- IWC Fliegeruhr Moonphase by heartbreaker

IWC Fliegeruhr Moonphase by heartbreaker

Dear PuristS,
some days ago, Nilomis has posted some pictures of his very nice and much desirable IWC Fliegeruhr DoppelChronograph Edition "Le Petit Prince". In my reply I've anticipated that, given I'm both an IWC and an Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's "Le Petit Prince" fan, I wanted to propose a new watch designed by me, suitable for this special dedication. It's a long time I don't work on watch design and I'm very glad to restart exactly with an IWC!

So, here it is the IWC Fliegeruhr Moonphase Edition "Le Petit Prince" by heartbreaker.

The idea of such a watch came from the fantastic moonphase display introduced with the IWC Big Pilot's Watch Perpetual Calendar Edition "Le Petit Prince", equipped with the 51613 caliber. This watch was released in 2013, 70 years after the first publication of “The Little Prince”, written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and now one of the bestselling books in world literature. The reference IW502802, 46 mm. red gold case, was limited to 270 pieces. The "270" pieces commemorate the fact that the book has been officially translated into 270 languages. Here's an official picture.

We also had the reference IW502801, 46 mm. platinum case, as a unique piece. It was the result of a joint effort between Sotheby’s and IWC to support the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation: this unique piece was actually presented on 12 November 2013 in the "Sotheby’s Geneva auction of Important Watches" and all the proceeds from the sale was given to the Foundation, to contribute to the construction of a school with a library in Cambodia. For the record, this unique piece was sold for CHF 173.000. Here's an official picture.

The reason why I've described as "fantastic" that moonphase display is because it represents one of the illustration that adorn the book, making it so special since they was all actually drawn by M. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry himself. Here's how it look the little prince on the asteroid B 612 on my own copy, bought... some decades ago...

And here's how it look the moonphase display in a close-up.

Ok, let's proceed to illustrating the design process I've pursued, starting by saying that the moonphase function is one of my preferred one, but unfortunately I still haven't a watch equipped with this rather romantic complication.

To guarantee the adequate emphasis to the above much loved "Little Prince" moonphase display I've preferred to design a simple watch. But, that quite large display needed a counterbalance on the dial. A date window could have been a logical solution, but in my imagination a similar design couldn't reach the wanted elegant appeal.

So, I've started browsing for an IWC caliber equipped with moonphase and small seconds. Here's what I've found to be suitable.

The first reference that popped out was the IW5448, 46 mm. stainless steel case and equipped with the 98800 calibre, one of the six watches called "Vintage Collection" released in 2008 to celebrate 140 Years of IWC Schaffhausen. Here's an official picture of the IWC Portofino Vintage Collection.

The second reference was the quite legendary (especially for IWC lovers) 5251, 46 mm. yellow gold case and equipped with the 9521 pocketwatch movement, released in 1984. Here's two pictures of the IWC Portofino Pocket Wrist Moon Phase, beautifully shot by SteveG.

Now, you already know I've decided to design my proposal using the latter as a base. After all, mine is only a fantasy exercise and to dream not only is for free, but it keeps you alive.
So, I had a moonphase display and a reference calibre: the major choices had been made. Many other characteristics had to be considered as mandatory: the Pilot's case shape, the dial colour and overall look, the big onion crown and the riveted alligator strap. Then, I've put likewise quickly my final touch: I've chosen an atypical titanium case. As far as I know the first IWC Fiegeruhr using a similar case was the Big Pilot's Watch released in 2007 for Sincere Haute Horlogerie, a prestigious name in luxury watch retail. Despite the grey colour of the case, I've decided to confirm the red gold moonphase display, because I liked that splash of colour.

Once I've decided every single design characteristics, it remains a technical question to define: the watch diameter.

You know, every time I've proposed a new design I've tried to use the exact dimensions and proportion and I didn't want to give up to this rule. I always wanted my proposals to be as much realistic as possible. And the watch I'm talking about makes no exception. For example, I'd like to underline that the slight asymmetrical position of the two subdials (small seconds at 9 and moonphase at 3) is not an error: please take a look at the 5251 pictures and you'll understand.

The quite large movement I've chosen, whose diameter is equal to 16 3/4 lignes (37,8 mm), was of course an urgent constraint. This diameter is exactly the same of many calibres from the current IWC collection, and precisely the ones belonging to the following families: 50000, 59000, 94000, 98000. Solved some initial uncertainty, I've finally chosen one of the smaller diameter ever used: 43 mm. An example of a watch having this exact calibre is the reference IW510204. Here's an official picture of the red gold IWC Portuguizer Hand-Wound Eight Days.

Last, but not least, a brief note regarding my quite limited means. I've based the design on images found on the Internet, working with only two very basic graphic software: Gimp (GNU Image Manipulation Program) and Inkscape (vector graphics editor). In general, I must admit that it was more difficult than expected.

Do you like it?
Thank you, ciao,

Elio