70 years ago, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry took off on a reconnaissance flight over France and never returned. Now, IWC Schaffhausen commemorates the last flight of the celebrated pilot and author with three special limited editions, thereby strengthening its longstanding partnership with Saint-Exupéry’s descendants. Moreover, all proceeds from the sale of the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “The Last Flight” in platinum at an auction later this year will benefit the charitable Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation.
“Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s passion for flying guided his life and work, and ultimately determined his fate. Since we began our cooperation with his descendants in 2006, IWC has unveiled a series of special limited editions of its Pilot’s Watch that have kept the memory of this extraordinary pilot and aviation pioneer alive to this day,” says IWC CEO Georges Kern.
Since the very first one, all IWC special editions in honour of the legendary Antoine de Saint-Exupéry have featured the same tobacco colour as the flying suit he used to wear. While this elegant colour was restricted to the dial in earlier models, the new Pilot’s Watches in “The Last Flight” Chronograph Edition are much more consistent, with a brown ceramic case made from silicon nitride, a brown dial and a calfskin strap in the same colour. The titanium pushbuttons, crown and case back provide a pleasing contrast on the 1,700 pieces in the limited edition, a further 170 watches have eye-catching red gold highlights and 17 timepieces feature a crown, buttons and case back in platinum.
IWC Schaffhausen
