IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN MARKS MERCEDES-BENZ’S 140TH ANNIVERSARY WITH A NEW BIG PILOT’S WATCH

In 2026, Mercedes-Benz celebrates 140 years since the invention of the automobile, placing innovation at the centre of its anniversary programme. Under the theme “140 Years of Innovation”, the marque is looking back at a history shaped by engineering, design and advances in mobility while continuing to explore what technology can make possible. IWC Schaffhausen, its longstanding partner, marks the occasion with the Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar ProSet 140 Years Mercedes-Benz (Ref. IW329603), a limited edition of 140 pieces.

The collaboration has a particularly natural point of reference in engineering. IWC’s latest perpetual calendar is not simply a decorative complication: its central achievement lies in making a technically demanding mechanism considerably easier to operate. The Perpetual Calendar ProSet allows the calendar to be adjusted both forwards and backwards from a single crown position. Unlike conventional perpetual calendars that may require additional pushers or a sequence of different crown positions, the system is intended to make correcting the calendar almost as straightforward as setting the time.

The new watch is housed in a 42mm stainless-steel case combining brushed and polished surfaces. Its black dial provides a restrained background for solid-gold appliqués and gold-plated hands, while a white minute track maintains the high legibility associated with the Big Pilot’s Watch. The result is technically elaborate but visually disciplined, with the watch’s functionality remaining central to its appearance.

The reverse introduces the clearest historical reference to Mercedes-Benz. Beneath the sapphire crystal sits the first joint logo of Daimler Motoren-Gesellschaft and Benz & Cie., created after the two companies came together in 1926. The emblem combined the laurel wreath associated with Benz with Daimler’s three-pointed star, linking the anniversary watch not only to the invention of the automobile in 1886 but also to a significant moment in the formation of the Mercedes-Benz identity.

The Perpetual Calendar ProSet itself represents a significant development in IWC’s approach to calendar complications. The company introduced its first perpetual calendar developed by Kurt Klaus in 1985, a mechanism that translated the irregularities of the Gregorian calendar into a mechanical programme. The new ProSet takes that established expertise in another direction, using an entirely gear-based system protected by four patents. Its compact construction incorporates intricate geometries manufactured using LIGA, a microstructuring process based on lithography and electroforming.

Its calendar displays are arranged across four sub-dials: the date at three o’clock, the month at six, the day of the week at nine, and the moon phase at twelve. A four-digit year display occupies the lower portion of the dial between seven and eight o’clock. The moon-phase indication has also been engineered for remarkable long-term precision. According to IWC, the newly calculated reduction gear produces a deviation of only one day after 1,040 years, while the brand’s Double Moon® display presents the lunar cycle for both northern and southern hemispheres.

At its centre is the IWC-manufactured 82665 calibre. The automatic movement incorporates a nickel-phosphorus escapement and silicon hairspring, while its bidirectional Pellaton winding system uses ceramic components. The movement provides a 60-hour power reserve. The watch is completed with a black rubber strap and IWC’s EasX-CHANGE® system, allowing the strap to be exchanged without tools.

The anniversary edition extends a relationship between IWC and Mercedes-Benz that has developed across automotive and motorsport projects. IWC became a partner of Mercedes-AMG in 2004 and has served as Official Engineering Partner of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One™ Team since 2013. Their collaborations have included watches associated with Formula One, AMG and the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, reflecting a shared interest in performance-oriented engineering and technical design.

That relationship continues through Mercedes-Benz’s anniversary programme. For “140 Years. 140 Places.”, three S-Class saloons are travelling to 140 locations around the world, covering more than 50,000 kilometres across six continents. The programme connects the company’s historic milestones with its international presence and its continuing emphasis on technological development.

IWC Schaffhausen’s own history began in 1868, when American watchmaker and engineer Florentine Ariosto Jones founded the International Watch Company in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. His original idea was to combine American manufacturing methods with Swiss watchmaking expertise. Schaffhausen offered the practical conditions Jones needed, including access to hydropower from the Rhine. That combination of industrial production and traditional craftsmanship became an important part of the manufacture’s identity.

More than a century and a half later, engineering remains central to the brand’s work. IWC’s collections include the Portugieser, Portofino, Ingenieur, Aquatimer and Pilot’s Watches, alongside complex mechanical creations. Its history includes expertise in perpetual calendars, chronographs and advanced materials such as titanium, ceramic and Ceratanium®. The brand’s contemporary manufacturing philosophy continues to place precision, durability and functionality alongside traditional watchmaking craft.

The new Mercedes-Benz edition therefore sits within a broader exchange of ideas rather than simply commemorating a date. Its restrained exterior, historical case-back emblem and technically ambitious movement connect different forms of engineering through a common concern with making complex systems useful. Mercedes-Benz’s anniversary looks back to 1886; IWC’s calendar mechanism draws on generations of horological development while introducing a new method of interaction.

For those in the United Arab Emirates, IWC’s current official network includes boutiques at The Dubai Mall, Mall of the Emirates and The Galleria Al Maryah Island in Abu Dhabi, alongside authorised retailers and service locations listed by the brand.

Ultimately, the appeal of this anniversary timepiece lies in the quiet conversation between history and mechanism. Its most significant details are not necessarily the most conspicuous ones: a historic emblem beneath sapphire crystal, a calendar that can move in either direction, and a movement engineered to remain accurate across centuries. In that sense, the watch reflects a particularly considered idea of innovation — not change for its own sake, but the refinement of complexity until it becomes intuitive.

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