Reviewing IWC Big Pilot Annual Calendar Edition “Antoine de Saint Exupéry”

IWC Big Pilot Annual Calendar Edition “Antoine de Saint Exupéry” is the obvious hero piece of the trio, coming in a 250-piece, limited-edition set with an attractive 18k rose gold case. More replica IWC Big Pilot.

The tobacco brown dial, gold-plated hands, and brown calfskin strap match handsomely to the case and are meant to recall the pilot suits from the days when Antoine de Saint-Exupéry took to the skies and wrote about his aerial adventures in classics such as The Little Prince and Night Flight. A stylized “A” underneath the Annual Calendar indicator offers a nice nod to the  French pilot and author’s initial.

The seven-day power reserve comes courtesy of the IWC in-house Caliber 52850 that includes a Pellaton winding system with parts made from long-lasting ceramic. But the real selling point for horological enthusiasts and fans of Le Petit Prince? A rotor constructed from 18k rose gold and crafted into the shape of a Lightning P-38, the same airplane model that Saint Exupéry took off in on that fateful Mediterranean summer night in 1944 — and never returned from.