IWC’s annual male protagonist is handsomely debuted by the Top Gun naval air combat unit. Not only is it more complete in size, but also launched a patented material of ceramic titanium and a variety of new color ceramics, and joined hands with PANTONE to name an exclusive color number, showing both military watches. A creative attitude of high performance and color beauty.
IWC Schaffhausen, which uses a single watch series as the stage for the show every year, this year is the turn of the Top Gun naval air combat unit. The brand is full of strength at the “Watches and Miracles” watch exhibition, and the current CEO Christoph Grainger-Herr is the background for architectural design. Originally, IWC used the method of “virtual and real co-construction” at the watch exhibition, working with architect Hani Rashid and Web3 start-up company Arianee to create a giant container showroom and IWC Diamond Hand Club (Diamond Hand Club) incorporating the new colors of Top Gun watches. ), issued community member tokens NFT, so that watch fans can log in to the online platform to experience 3D watch exhibitions with tokens. “This year’s watch exhibition is a ‘hybrid’ experience.” Grainger-Herr explained, “IWC has always loved bold exploration , brave breakthrough, the Web3 space has huge potential for brands to fully embody this spirit of innovation. Our unique 3D virtual experience on the Spatial platform will provide a modern way for us to communicate meaningfully with our customers.”
Military needs to promote material research and development
IWC will undoubtedly maximize the sense of touch and feel of the watch at the exhibition. “Material research and development” and “exclusive color number” are the two keywords of this year’s Top Gun Naval Air Force, with 41mm, 43mm, 44mm and other sizes. , with ceramic titanium metal (Ceratanium®) and new colors of technical ceramics, showing the research and development character, making the series more complete, and cooperating with PANTONE to name an exclusive color number, and invited the Oscar-winning soundtrack master Hans. Hans Zimmer composed an exclusive suite for Top Gun’s new watch, allowing watch fans to appreciate the watch from audio-visual touch and multiple senses.
There will be more drama following the show. “Top Gun: Maverick (Defender: The Lone Ranger)”, which achieved box office success in the first week of its release and evoked the memories of fans around the world, is the sequel to the original cast of “Top Gun” in 1986. Matching: Sunglasses, flight jackets, watches made by IWC for Top Gun in the film, all set off a wave of crazy discussions.
The IWC Top Gun Naval Air Force was launched in 2007. It is a sub-series of IWC pilots, and it is also the watch series with the most direct connection between the brand and the military system; its name comes from the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics (United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics). Instructor program, SFTI), IWC manufactures watches sold exclusively to officers and graduates for the school, and it is also the only brand authorized to put the name of Top Gun on watches – only this one, no semicolons, more Highlight the unique and collectible value of this military watch. In addition to the military-only model, the brand launched the first Top Gun split-seconds chronograph with a black zirconia ceramic case and a titanium case back in 2007, so that military fans and watch fans can also enjoy the blood on their wrists. Fan, since then Top Gun is characterized by low-contrast color matching, durable, sturdy materials and other design elements that meet military needs.
The new Top Gun Ceramic Titanium (Ceratanium®) Chronograph 41 is the first 41mm chronograph in the series to use Ceratanium® for the case, pushers and crown. Ceratanium® was successfully developed and launched in 2019. Combining the two advantages of ceramic wear-resistant and scratch-resistant, and the lightweight of titanium metal, “titanium alloy” is used as the basic material and ceramic material is integrated. During the sintering process, the special composition of titanium alloy will make Oxygen diffuses into the material and produces a phase change, resulting in a hard, scratch-resistant and wear-resistant ceramic property and texture on the surface of the object. Another major feature is the slightly metallic “fog black”, which is very different from the watch industry in the production of “black” watches, which mostly use PVD coating technology to create a black effect, but it is easy to cause coating following impact or knock. Damaged peeling. Ceratanium® is a special material in which the surface and the substrate are integrated, which can avoid the risk of damage and peeling, and following sintering, it will show a unique fog black color, which is very restrained and beautiful.
The pioneer of ceramic watchmaking, the diversification of colors
In the field of top watchmaking, IWC is a pioneer in the use of engineering ceramic watchmaking. It started in the 1980s. The first work was the 1986 Ref. IW3755 Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Chronograph, which was made of “black zirconia ceramics”. , blue, green, pink ceramics, etc. to produce prototype watches or limited watches.
In 1994, the brand used the “zirconia ceramic case” in the pilot series for the first time, with a production of more than 1,000 pieces. In 2007, the Top Gun split-seconds chronograph once more used the zirconia ceramic case. In 2015, two ceramic watches wrote a milestone: pilot Chronograph The Last Flight (Ref. 3880) is made of brown silicon nitride ceramic, and the Ingenieur Automatic AMG GT Special Edition (Ref. IW324602) is made of black boron carbide ceramic; 2019 Top Gun Chronograph “Mojave Desert” The special edition uses “sand-colored” ceramics to interpret the vast landscape of the Mojave Desert, establishing IWC’s position in non-ferrous ceramic watchmaking.
The reason for choosing “engineering ceramics” lies in the excellent physical properties and chemical resistance of the “inorganic non-metallic materials”. If you have the opportunity to wear a ceramic watch and a common stainless steel watch, you will definitely feel the difference. In addition to being light and wear-resistant, the ceramic feels warm to the touch. Compared with the coldness of ordinary metals, ceramics are more “hand-warming”. The surface is smooth and delicate like a mirror, and it is more elegant and beautiful than metal under light and shadow. It is a watchmaking material with a unique “temperament”.
The source of engineering ceramic materials developed by IWC is polycrystalline powder (mainly minerals such as silicate, alumina or silicon carbide). After numerous tests, the most beautiful colors and the best pigment mixing ratio have been found. Challenging, the biggest difficulty in firing is that the ceramic will shrink by regarding one-third during sintering, and it is easy to affect the yield due to changes in material particle size, firing temperature and other factors.
The new Top Gun engineering ceramics have three colors, the first black zirconia ceramic large pilot watch with 43mm case size, “Lake Tahoe” white and “Woodland” green 44.5mm chronograph, all from the United States Naval Air Combat School pilots, colors refined in interstate training fields and uniforms.
Team up with PANTONE to name the tabulation color number
The beautiful colors of the miniature natural landscape are the ingenuity of human beings to pay tribute to nature. In order to find the ideal ceramic color, engineering research and development, material engineers, testing laboratories and other departments worked together. “First, we have to create new ceramic colors, and then carefully coordinate these colors with all other watch components.” Design Director Christian Knoop explained, “Translating the newly developed colors into different materials was a huge challenge, each with completely different properties and manufacturing processes.”
Although engineering ceramics are wear-resistant and scratch-resistant, they are prone to cracking and damage due to milling and drilling, and are not suitable for the production of small parts. Therefore, the new products are made of Ceratanium® for smaller accessories such as crowns, buttons, and buckles. The “lightweight, wear-resistant and scratch-resistant” characteristics of the entire watch, as well as the colors of the hands, luminous materials, date dial, strap fabric lining and stitching, have been repeatedly pondered, and the smallest details have been pursued – the results are undoubtedly Perfect and rich, IWC Top Gun shows unprecedented variety of colors, miniaturizing the enthusiasm of pilots going up and down the sea and flying into the blue sky. Also, the aforementioned Top Gun Ceramic Titanium Chronograph 41 is called “IWC Ceratanium®”. In the future, the color ticket will not be asked for, and it will become the reference color of the watch factory’s watchmaking, and the watch with the “exclusive color number” will not only The recognition is high, and the personality is more vivid.