Watch Dandy

Editor’s note: As far as birthdays go, 150 years is a whopper. And amongst all the shimmer and shine of IWC’s celebratory jubilee collection sits this lusciously lacquered new dial variant of the perennially popular IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph. Silky smooth white dial, crisp blue hands, and an in-house made movement. Does it get any better? By now you’ve likely been beaten over the head with the endless coverage of IWC’s cool Tribute to Pallweber, with its jumping hours and minutes, and  seen the additions to the growing Portofino collection. Hiding in the corner of IWC’s presentation, alongside a pair of Big Pilot models, rested a lone chronograph – the IWC Pilot’s Chronograph Edition “150 Years”. Limited to only 1000 pieces worldwide, this new version of IWC’s classic 3777 isn’t particularly groundbreaking, though it is one of the cooler interpretations we’ve seen in a while. Though at first glance this may seem like a simple white dial, a closer examination reveals something much more charming. All of the 27 watches in IWC’s new “capsule collection” unveiled for the brand’s 150th anniversary are fitted with either white or blue lacquer dials with printed indices, and either blued or rhodium-plated hands. A total of 12 layers…

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The idea of a ‘birth year’ watch is nothing new, though after a recent discussion I came to realise that it poses an interesting question. For the older ‘Gen X’ crowd in the room there’s no shortage of vintage hotness to pull from, through the ’60s and ’70s, but once you start creeping into the millennial years, finding a birth year watch that (for lack of a better term) doesn’t suck is an interesting proposition. The ’80s and ’90s weren’t exactly the best years for high design in watchmaking, and there’s a lot of stuff out there that already looks pretty dated and gaudy. This predicament begged for a deeper dive. Could we find suitable birth year watches for all of our fellow millennials and the new ‘Gen Z’? Only one way to find out. Obviously, these two generations take up a lot of years, so we’ve narrowed the field to six, focusing on milestone birthdays between the far cusp of millennial status — 1983 (35 years old), to 2005 (13 years old). The year: 1983 The milestone: 35th birthday The watch: Blancpain Complete Calendar In the early ’80s, Blancpain was in a tough place, leading to the brand’s acquisition…

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