The New IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph TOP GUN Edition “STFI” takes its inspiration from a watch created in 2018 but only available to graduates of the US Navy’s fighter school. The original was meant to honor the US Naval Aviation Community. This new piece is a little more accessible to the rest of us.
The new watch takes its initials and inspiration from that first Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor” piece. Officially called the IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph TOP GUN Edition “STFI” it swaps words for initials and gains the legendary nickname. The newly-announced piece is once again housed in a material befitting the extreme strain that the pilots themselves have to face. The 44mm case is of black zirconium oxide ceramic, the case back and chronograph pushers of Ceratanium. Ceratanium is a recent innovation from the engineers of IWC, and is as light durable as titanium but also as hard and scratch-resistant as ceramic. The entire watch is pretty much matte black for case and face, with the only flashes otherwise being the stark white hands and indices and the red on the seconds hand subdial and on the fighter-jet-shaped short end of the center sweep seconds hand. The strap also differs in color, a nice military green textile material. The watch also displays day and date, and is powered by the IWC manufactured calibre 69380.