Announced at Watches and Wonders 2022, IWC Schaffhausen will support the Polaris Dawn mission, the first of three human flights into space under the Polaris program. The company was born from an idea of the American entrepreneur Jared Isaacman with whom IWC already collaborated for the Inspiration4 mission last year.
Following the announcement of this partnership, IWC has decided to create a custom watch for the four members who will make up the crew of the Polaris Dawn mission. Presented these days, on the wrists of the four astronauts there will be the new Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Polaris Dawn”.
This white ceramic chronograph with a space blue dial will take off, along with its crew, from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than the fourth quarter of 2022. After the journey into space and back to Earth, the watches will be auctioned to collect funds for the life-saving work of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®, a leading institution in the development of treatments for childhood cancer and other pediatric diseases.
The characteristics of the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Polaris Dawn”
This space-themed watch, designed and made in only four copies, each of which will go on the wrist of the four crew members, was made with a white ceramic case measuring 44.5 mm in diameter and 15.7 mm thick.
The resulting brilliant color is the result of a complex manufacturing process in which zirconium oxide is mixed with other metal oxides in a precisely defined ratio and then sintered at high temperatures in an oven.
The dark blue dial has a lacquered finish with countless stars and the mission logo that is placed inside the chronograph counter at 6 o’clock.
Looking at the back of the watch, you can see the titanium caseback with the name of one of the four crew members engraved on each of the four watches.
The movement that beats within the white ceramic case of this watch is the in-house automatic caliber 69380 which guarantees a power reserve of 46 hours.
Polaris Dawn
The Polaris Program is a one-of-a-kind initiative aimed at promoting humanity’s exploration of space and helping to solve Earth’s most challenging problems.
The program will consist of three human flight missions in space; the first mission, Polaris Dawn, is scheduled for no earlier than the fourth quarter of 2022 and will be commanded by Jared Isaacman, an experienced pilot and astronaut who commanded Inspiration4, the world’s first fully civilian in-orbit mission that helped raise over 240 million dollars for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®.
Jarred Isaacman declared:
“With Polaris Dawn we will try to reach the highest Earth orbit ever flown and to carry out the first commercial spacewalk in the world. In addition to these important goals, we will support scientific research to advance human health on Earth and our understanding of human health during future long-duration space flights. “
In this first mission of the Polaris program, which will depart from NASA’s historic Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A in Florida, the crew will attempt to reach 1,400 km (the highest Earth orbit ever flown) and attempt the first commercial spacewalk. .
In addition to Jared Isaacman, who will be the commander, retired lieutenant colonel of the United States Air Force Scott “Kidd” Poteet and space engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon will take part in the Polaris Dawn mission.
In addition to conducting research in space, Polaris Dawn will raise funds and awareness for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®, a leading children’s hospital in the treatment of childhood cancers and the most difficult pediatric diseases.
L’asta dei Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Polaris Dawn”
After spending approximately five days in orbit, the spacecraft will return to Earth and the four IWC chronographs on the crew’s wrist will be auctioned to fundraise for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®.
To stay informed about the auction that will take place at the end of the mission, you can visit the dedicated web page.
To learn more about IWC visit their website or our dedicated section in the magazine.
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