The IWC Big Pilot traces its lineage to 1940 and the original Grosse Fliegeruhr, reference 431. Built to a German air-force specification for an observation watch, or Beobachtungsuhr, it was a 55mm giant powered by the pocket-watch-derived Calibre 52 T.S.C. with indirect central seconds and a long blued-steel hand. Its conical onion crown could be operated with gloves, its triangle-and-numeral dial was instantly legible, and its sheer size made it the largest wristwatch IWC had ever produced. Roughly a thousand examples reached the Luftwaffe, while a batch of related movements went to the British Royal Navy as deck watches, and the design became one of the few true archetypes of the military pilot's watch.
The modern Big Pilot was born in 2002, when IWC revived the B-Uhr as a contemporary flagship. The reference 5002 used the in-house Calibre 5011 with IWC's Pellaton automatic winding and a seven-day power reserve, adding central seconds, a date at six o'clock and a power-reserve indicator at three. At 46mm it was unmistakably oversized and faithfully echoed the 1940 dial. The revival had been championed by Gunter Blumlein, the executive who also rebuilt A. Lange & Sohne, though he died in October 2001, shortly before the watch reached the market.
The line then evolved steadily. In 2006 the reference 5004 updated the movement and refined the dial, removing the numeral 9 and partially showing the numerals at two and four. The 2012 reference 500901 kept the Calibre 51111 but added a redesigned crown and stem-sealing system for better water resistance. In 2016 the flagship reference 501001 adopted the dual-barrel Calibre 52110 with hard-wearing ceramic Pellaton components, keeping the seven-day reserve, date and power-reserve display in a 46.2mm case. In 2021 IWC added the Big Pilot's Watch 43 (reference 329301), a more wearable 43mm steel watch with the purist original dial and the 60-hour Calibre 82100.
Beyond the core models, the Big Pilot built a rich world of special editions. The 2009 Antoine de Saint-Exupery (reference 500422) introduced tobacco-brown dials, and the long-running Le Petit Prince family, beginning with the 2014 reference 500908, brought midnight-blue dials and engraved casebacks that became collector favourites. Perpetual calendars, Top Gun ceramics and chronographs further expanded the family. Today collectors prize the Big Pilot for its commanding presence, its genuine military heritage and the technical seriousness of the seven-day movements.
Bedesten Watches has sold authentic IWC Big Pilot watches in Istanbul since 1999. Whether you are looking for a pre-owned everyday Big Pilot or a full-set collector edition, our inventory regularly includes references such as the 5002, 5004, 500901, 501001 and the Big Pilot's Watch 43, as well as Le Petit Prince and Saint-Exupery editions when available. Visit our Suadiye store in Kadikoy or message us on WhatsApp +90 532 327 88 26 for current stock and prices on request.