2018 IWC Pilot's Chrono Edition "Antoine de Saint Exupéry" Complete!

IWC Pilot's Watch Chronograph Edition "Antoine de Saint Exupéry" — Ref. IW377713

DISCONTINUED — ~2021 (replaced by current-generation Saint-Exupéry models with in-house Cal. 69385)
IWC has built special editions with dozens of partners over the years, and the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry collaboration is the one that outlasted all of them — a partnership with the estate of the French author and aviator who wrote The Little Prince and Night Flight and disappeared over the Mediterranean in 1944 flying a P-38 Lightning on a reconnaissance mission. The brown colorway is the visual signature: the dial, the strap, the entire warm palette is inspired by the leather flight suit Saint-Exupéry wore, and no other pilot's chronograph from any brand replicates it. The brown sunray dial with slightly recessed subdials in concentric circle texture creates depth that a flat-printed dial cannot, and the polished diamond-shaped hands with luminous fill catch light against that warm brown field in a way that reads as distinctly vintage without any of the compromises vintage watches carry. The red small seconds hand at 9 o'clock is the single accent — one deliberate break in the monochromatic brown-and-silver palette that draws your eye to the running indicator and confirms the watch is alive. The brown Santoni calfskin strap with white stitching is made by the Italian luxury leather house and carries a suppleness and finishing quality that matches the dial it sits beneath.
The Cal. 79320 is built on the Valjoux 7750 — the same proven chronograph architecture that powered the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M Chronograph we covered earlier — and IWC houses it inside a soft-iron inner cage that shields the movement from magnetic fields, which is the same Faraday cage protection found in the Mark XX and the reason the caseback is solid rather than exhibition. The chronograph records single and aggregate times up to 12 hours across two subdials — 30-minute counter at 12, 12-hour counter at 6 — and the day-and-date double window at 3 o'clock gives you both complications in a single aperture. At 43mm with a 15.2mm thickness, the case carries real pilot's watch presence without tipping into Big Pilot territory, and the brushed surfaces with polished beveled corners give it a finishing language that reads as deliberately restrained rather than unfinished. IWC has since moved the Saint-Exupéry line to in-house movements, which makes this reference the last generation to carry the 7750-based caliber — a movement that any qualified watchmaker on Earth can service, with parts availability that will outlast every in-house replacement.
Key Details

• Case diameter: 43 mm
• Case thickness: 15.2 mm
• Lug-to-lug: ~51 mm
• Lug width: 21 mm
• Weight: not officially listed
• Case material: stainless steel, brushed with polished beveled corners
• Crystal: convex (domed) sapphire, anti-reflective coating both sides
• Water resistance: 60 m / 200 ft / 6 bar
• Caseback: solid, screw-in
• Magnetic protection: soft-iron inner case (Faraday cage)
• Bezel: fixed, stainless steel
• Crown: screw-down, IWC logo on fluted crown
• Pushers: two chronograph pushers
• Dial: brown, fine sunray finish
• Subdials: slightly recessed, fine concentric circle texture
• Hands: polished diamond-shaped, silver-tone, luminous fill; red small seconds hand at 9 o'clock
• Hour markers: combination Arabic numerals and indexes, bold luminous triangle at 12 o'clock, quarter-hour indexes luminous
• Minute track: white-printed
• Day/date: double window at 3 o'clock
• Chronograph: central seconds hand, 30-minute counter at 12 o'clock, 12-hour counter at 6 o'clock
• Small seconds: subdial at 9 o'clock (red hand)
• Caliber: IWC 79320 (based on ETA/Valjoux 7750)
• Movement type: self-winding automatic chronograph
• Frequency: 28,800 vph / 4 Hz
• Jewels: 25
• Power reserve: 44 hours
• Certification: IWC in-house testing
• Strap: brown Santoni calfskin leather with white stitching
• Clasp: stainless steel tang buckle