IWC’s Pilot’s Watches feature different styles, such as the Big Pilot or the Top Gun Ceramic, but the core models in the collection still maintain its timeless and classic design. And in this year’s SIHH, IWC had recreated an interesting reiteration of the Pilot’s Watch: the Automatic 36.
The Automatic 36, at the first glance, reminds us of either a reduced version of the Mark XVIII, or a modern version of the Mark XI or XII. It retains the classic, timeless design that has been featured on countless Pilot’s Watches over the years. Interestingly, it does not look outdated, despite sharing similar aesthetics to watches that have been around for a good half a century. This perhaps can be attributed to the fact that it is a simple design, and one that will not go out of style or fashion. In fact, we think that such classic watches will retain the same looks many years down the road, as it was a few decades back.
For the hard-core IWC fans, one of the main highlights of the this piece would be the inclusion of the number “9” on the dial. This bit was excluded in the Mark XVI and XVII, for some reason, to the dismay of some ardent fans. But we are glad that they have put it back into this year’s novelties, which include the stunning Mark XVIII, and it certainly makes the dial look more complete.
Another interesting aspect of the dial is its design, in which it is segregated into two portions – the inner ring with the Arabic numerals, and the outer ring that contains the minute markers. The separation makes the watch looks cleaner and allows us to tell the time a bit easier, as the hour indices are not placed too close to the minute markers.
The hands, notably, are similar to the ones that were fitted to the Mark XVIII. It is nice and definitely legible, but we feel that it would been a tad more fascinating if they had fitted the watch with rectangular hours hand and thin sword-like minutes hand that were similar to the ones that we have seen in the earlier iterations of the Mark series.
The watch comes with a few different dial variants, of which we actually prefer the grey dial version. It gives the watch a suave appearance, and we feel that the contrast is really beautiful on this one. Additionally, we think that the sunburst effect looks better on the grey dial as well.
The watch is powered by the Calibre 35111, which is based upon the Sellita SW300. The movement features a date indicator, and it boasts a decent power reserve of around 42 hours. It also features a central hacking seconds to ensure accuracy during adjustments.
The IWC Pilot’s Watch Automatic 36 is an incredibly stunning watch, no doubts about that. We like its size, and the classic design that will remain in fashion in time to come. It is seemingly perfect, especially when the watch is paired with a nice suit.
Honestly, some people might think that 36mm is a bit too small for a guy. Well, it ultimately depends on the size of your wrist. For a typical Asian, we think that the 36mm watch looks perfectly fine on our wrists. It sits pretty nicely and it feels very comfortable as well.
