A traveler is someone who likes to discover, see, visit, learn about new cultures, countries and emotions, getting angry whenever someone asks him where he was on holiday last summer.
The greatest dream that has accompanied many of these adventure lovers is surely one: the turn of the world.
Probably made famous by Joules Verne, this particular type of journey consists of taking a tour around the globe visiting the chosen countries and returning to the first one.
The choice of countries is up to the travelers, but it is also determined by the time available and the means of transport chosen to complete this great adventure.
Often, to make the experience even more emotional, those who decide to attempt the world tour choose unusual, historical or otherwise unconventional means of transport.
“The longest flight”
On August 5th an expedition departed from Goodwood, wanted by the founders of the British flight academy Boultbee, who will attempt the tour using exclusively an original Spitfire from the 1940s, the famous single-seat warplane, properly restored for the occasion. It’s named “Silver Spitfire – The Longest Flight”, which logo is often associated with IWC today.
The journey will feature 30 different countries (they’ll fly on Italy too!) and will travel about 43,000km.
A new watch for the occasion
With an almost century-old tradition of pilot watches, IWC sponsors the expedition and, for this occasion, has created a limited series of 250 pieces of its beloved and well-known Pilot.
This new Pilot “Spitfire” features an important stainless steel case with 46mm diameter, to make the dial easy to read in any flight situation thanks to luminous indices.
The back is closed and, together with the screw-down crown, makes the watch waterproof up to 6 atmospheres.
The IWC-produced cal.82760 automatic caliber with 60 hours of power reserve is equipped with an advanced automatic time zone adjustment system, thanks to the black bezel with various time-sets insert with the world’s major cities.
Simply turn the bezel to the desired city to ensure that the hours, the 24-hour time indicator and the date automatically adjust to the desired time zone.
The anti-reflective sapphire glass that protects the dial is anti-decompression, a key feature to be used in environments (such as the aircraft) where there may be strong pressure changes due to sudden altitude changes.
The steel of the case, the black dial and bezel, and the military green of the fabric strap pay homage to both the colors of the Spitfire and the avio-military background from which the IWC watches come.
This limited edition of 250 units was created to accompany and assist the two pilots Steve Boultbee-Brooks and Matt Jones in their expedition and will be available on the market for a limited time at a price of 14.200 €.
Translated by Lorenzo Spolaor (@lorenzospolaor)
