Lovers of German and Swiss engineering now have a watch of their very own. IWC has teamed up with Mercedes-AMG for a new variant of its famed Big Pilot’s Watch called the Constant-Force Tourbillon Edition “AMG One Owners.” The special timepiece will only be made available to members of an exclusive group—the 275 owners of the One hypercar.
IWC and the German automaker’s performance sub-brand go way back. The Swiss watchmaker has been an “official engineering partner” of the AMG Petronas Formula One team dating back to 2013, and its star driver, Lewis Hamilton, has been one of the IWC brand ambassadors throughout that time. Hamilton and IWC also released a collaborative chronograph earlier this year. Despite this rich history, the latest collaboration may be the most impressive yet.
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A watch named after the One has an awful lot to live up to. The hypercar, which finally made its much-anticipated debut recently, sports a futuristic design, a Formula One-derived hybrid powertrain that churns out a combined 1,063 horses, and is street legal. And sure enough, the “AMG One Owners” looks up to the task. It has a 46.2 mm case made from titanium aluminide that, under a convex sapphire crystal, houses a black dial that has a tourbillon at a moon phase at 1 o’clock, power reserve indicator at 5 o’clock and a tourbillon at 9 o’clock. The dial, case and rubber strap all reference the racing team’s aqua green, black and silver colours.
It may not be as ground-breaking as the One’s plug-in hybrid powertrain—which consists of a turbocharged V-6 and four electric motors—but the timepiece’s movement is no slouch. IWC’s manual-winding 94800 Calibre includes 341 components, 41 jewels and utilizes the company’s constant-force technology to ensure it’s as accurate as possible throughout its 96-hour power reserve.
IWC’s press release makes no mention of how much the “AMG One Owners” Big Pilot’s Watch will cost. One thing we do know, though, is that the entrance price to even be eligible to buy it is very steep. Although a final cost has never been confirmed, the German hypercar is believed to cross well into the seven-figure range.
Previously published on Robb Report.
