IWC Schaffhausen is putting some new Big Pilot’s Watches out into the world. The brand has many a feather to its cap, but one of the most popular is their large-case old-school vintage-looking Big Pilot’s Watches. With one of these on your wrist, the past is almost something you could reach out and touch.

Now, IWC has a few more ready to take flight. And one of them is the latest tribute to the internationally acclaimed author and pilot Antoine de Saint Exupéry, who penned the book “The Little Prince.” This classic, ever-youthful children’s tale is a treasured memory for many of us from our own youths. But even today, whether you read the novel anew or see it performed on the stage in one of the countless adaptations it has inspired, “The Little Prince” has much to say to even an adult.

IWC Schaffhausen is releasing the Big Pilot’s Watch Annual Calendar Edition “Antoine de Saint Exupéry.” It’s a limited edition of 250 pieces, with an 18 carat red gold case 46.2mm in diameter. The watch, Ref. IW502706, has a brown dial, and gold-plated hands. That tobacco brown on the dial combines with the white stitching on the brown calfskin leather strap to recall the pilot suits from the era wherein Antoine de Saint Exupéry made his flights.

The watch is stunning even from the back: the rotor of the watch movement is in the shape of a Lightning P-38 airplane. It is a fitting reminder of the last flight of Antoine de Saint Exupéry, a reconnaissance across the Mediterranean Sea from which he never returned.

IWC Schaffhausen has created many watches honoring this delightful writer. They have long been partners with the Antoine de Saint Exupéry Foundation, an organization that helps us all to remember not just the airborne flights of this man, but also his timeless stories, and his outlook on life. For many of us, Antoine de Saint Exupéry has truly never stopped flying.