IWC Pilot’s Watch Worldtimer 3262-01: All the Time in The World…

The IWC Pilot’s Watch Worldtimer 3262-01 just makes sense. Globetrotting requires multiple time zones, easily-adjusted time displays, and durability for when the going gets tough. The 45mm stainless steel Pilot’s Watch Worldtimer has all of the bases covered.

The IWC Pilot’s Watch Worldtimer was born into a large family as a part of the 2012 IWC “year of the pilot’s watch” event. But it is the only IWC Pilot’s Watch that features the distinctive and useful “world time” function. By combining a counter-rotating 24-hour chapter ring with an outer rehaut listing 24 reference cities (one for each time zone), the system enables the wearer instantly to discern the time in any of the globes principal time zones. AM/PM status is readily apparent thanks to black/white shading of the 24-hour ring.

IWC’s world time system is a slight variation on the conventional world time system as introduced by Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin in the 1930s. While that system, which has become nearly universal in world time watches, features a mobile reference city ring that can be aligned with an index as the user moves around the world, IWC’s city reference ring is fixed; the logic of the Pilot’s Watch World Timer assumes that the 24-hour ring will be set to UTC (London).

Instead of changing the reference city as the user travels, IWC offers a separate setting position on the crown that can be used to change the indication of the local time at the dial’s center. Once UTC has been set, all global times can be read, and changes in local time zone are effected by moving the local hour hand. The local hour hand will drive the date at three o’clock forward or backward depending on the user’s direction of travel.

At center, the IWC Pilot’s Watch Worldtimer features a classically simple instrument-style display that evokes the 3262’s Big Pilot siblings. Legibility is excellent, and the simplicity of the essential local time display ensures that the everyday practicality of the IWC Pilot’s Watch Worldtimer is not complicated by the peripheral displays.

IWC’s 45mm brushed steel case is styled in the classic fashion of the Big Pilot series. The subdued reflectivity of the brushed finish ensures that the Pilot’s Watch Worldtimer can be worn with formal attire as well as traveler’s adventure gear…

Within the 6-ATM water resistant case, IWC provides a rugged automatic caliber based on the ETA 2892-A2. IWC receives the basic caliber from ETA and performs extensive modifications to the cosmetic and engineering features of the base movement. The highlight of each makeover is the additional world time function and the ability to set the hour hand independently from the minute hand.

Moreover, IWC modifies the ETA caliber to permit setting of the local hour hand without activating the movement’s stop-seconds feature; the balance continues to keep good time as the time zone adjustments are made. Given the amount of engineering invested in the movement at IWC’s Schaffhausen headquarters, the caliber can be justly called semi-in-house.

See this unique and practical IWC Pilot’s Watch Worldtimer 3262-01 in high-resolution images at The 1916 Company.