On the occasion of the F1 GP held today in Silverstone, Great Britain, IWC announced the auction of the latest Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Edition “Toto Wolff x Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One ™ Team”.

This exclusive Big Pilot, created with the intention of recognizing the extraordinary career and achievements to date of Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One ™ Team, will be sold by the international auction house Bonhams.

The entire proceeds will be donated to charity in favor of the Ignite project, born in 2021 from the collaboration between Mercedes and F1 driver Lewis Hamilton.

The partnership between IWC and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team

IWC became the Official Engineering Partner of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team in 2013.

This partnership, founded on elements shared by both the watchmaking and mechanical engineering worlds, has led IWC to create several extraordinary Pilot’s Watches dedicated to the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team.

The first, both launched in 2019, are two watches that feature a matte black ceramic case based on zirconium oxide and a black carbon fiber dial, both of which are high-tech materials, also used in F1 racing.

In addition, this year two other watches were presented that show the characteristic Petronas Green color on them.

The first was created as the first official team watch made by IWC as part of the long-standing collaboration with the team: Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 Edition “Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One ™ Team”.

The second model, on the other hand, is the Big Pilot “Toto Wolff x Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula one ™”, dedicated to the Team Principal of the Silver Arrows.

The Big Pilot Toto Wolff x Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula uno™

Reference IW503607, the watch was presented this year in May and it is a limited edition of 100 pieces dedicated to Toto Wolff.

Watch number 50 (the latest available) is the one that was put up for auction thanks to a partnership between IWC and the international auction house Bonhams.

As for the characteristics of the watch, it is a perpetual calendar capable of automatically recognizing the different duration of the months and leap years.

The mechanical program does not require any manual adjustment until 2100.

Moonphases shown on the counter at 12 o’clock, indicate the moon seen from the northern and southern hemispheres and has a deviation of only one day every 577.5 years.

The remaining three windows, on the other hand, indicate the date and power reserve (counter at 3 o’clock), day of the week and seconds (counter at 9 o’clock), month (counter at 6 o’clock) and four-digit year (window at 9 o’clock). 7).

The dial features a bold font with the iconic Mercedes-AMG team color, Petronas Green.

As for the colors, a red ring has also been added on the crown at 3 o’clock in homage to Niki Lauda, the historic driver who became a friend and colleague of the Team.

The case (46.2 mm in diameter and 15.4 mm thick) and crown are made of Ceratanium®, a revolutionary material developed by IWC: as light and strong as titanium, it is also almost as hard and scratch resistant as ceramic.

Moving on to the beating heart of the watch, the movement that drives it is the IWC-manufactured 52615 caliber.

This automatic movement features the Pellaton winding system reinforced with ceramic components that allows you to accumulate a power reserve of 7 days thanks to two barrels.

By observing the caseback, you can admire the movement of this Big Pilot’s Watch through the sapphire crystal.

Finally, the watch is completed by a black rubber strap with a fabric insert that gives the timepiece a sporty design.

Toto Wolff and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team

Austrian entrepreneur and former racing driver, Toto Wolff became a shareholder and executive director of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team in 2013.

During his tenure as Team Principal & CEO, the team won eight consecutive constructors’ titles between 2014 and 2021.

With the Toto Wolff x Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Big Pilot, Wolff was honored with an IWC watch that bears his name and celebrates all his achievements at the head of one of the strongest F1 teams in history.

Chris Grainger-Herr, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen, honored the Mercedes-AMG F1 Team Principal with the following statement: “Toto Wolff is the outstanding team principal of his generation and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team, under his leadership. , achieved unprecedented success.

Winning a race or a single championship are great achievements in themselves.

However, Toto’s ability to create a dynamic team driven by a high-performance culture has resulted in unparalleled consistency and eight consecutive constructors’ titles in the last nine years of his tenure.

We are proud to honor this extraordinary personality with a one-of-a-kind Big Pilot’s Watch and to once again join forces with our long-time motorsport partner to support a good cause “

The charity auction for the Big Pilot Toto Wolff x Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1

As mentioned above, watch number 50 will be auctioned by Bonhams.

This is a charity initiative by IWC and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Team who have decided that the proceeds will be donated to Ignite.

This project, inaugurated by Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes in 2021, is aimed at fostering diversity and inclusiveness within motorsport.

The auction will take place online and it will be possible to submit bids until July 7, 2022.

The watch will also be accompanied by a 10-minute video call with Toto Wolff and a tour of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 ™ team headquarters and operations center.

For more information about the auction, I give you the link to the page where you will find all the details.

Finally, to learn more about the watch, you can consult the page of the IWC website where the Big Pilot “Toto Wolff x Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula one ™” is presented.