Fresh from the Showcase here at SwissWatchExpo. I
am super excited to share with you a couple of super unique, super rare,
limited edition pilot's chronographs that we just got in. So let's go ahead and get into it.
The first of these two chronographs that I'm excited to get into is an
IWC Pilot Top Gun Miramar edition. This is one that you might be a little familiar with.
Miramar is named after the air force base in San Diego or outside the San Diego area,
somewhere in Southern California, where I believe the Top Gun movies were set. It's been a really
long time since I've seen them. But regardless of how you feel about that movie or about
being an air force pilot in the first place, this is a really beautiful, really unique watch
with some stunning details that I'm sure you are going to really want to slap this on your wrist.
First thing you'll notice, the Miramar editions, all of them do come in a black ceramic case.
This looks absolutely beautiful. It's in fantastic condition and the color is super, super sleek.
It looks incredibly shiny, which is a little unusual, I think for a pilot's watch. When I
think of military watches, I think something a bit more rugged. I think of something that might
look a little more worn and faded, which we're definitely going to get into in the second watch
that I have to show you, but this one definitely looks incredibly clean, which I guess makes
sense since it's meant to be worn in a cockpit rather than like out in the field or something
like that. The dial is a really great military looking design, which I think is great. You can
definitely tell it's a pilot's watch by first glance. We've actually got the minute markers on
the outside ring of the dial in much larger font and script. And it's in this beautiful looking
khaki colored faux-tina, which goes great with the entire military aesthetic of this pilot's watch.
And of course the hour hand is actually on an inner ring here in red. So it's a really
interesting combination of colors. It's really striking. And it's something that you definitely
notice right away that makes this a super unique watch. Now we do have what looks to
be titanium pushers here on the side. So this definitely adds a little touch of ruggedness,
make it a little bit more military. And of course, we've got the khaki military type of leather strap
on the back here. So this is adding a lot of rugged details and touches to what is at least
on the outside and the case, a very clean looking, very sleek looking, almost dress lock watch kind
of case. We've also got a titanium deployant clasp here, which is great. Very lightweight,
definitely meant, uh, focused on performance and focused on being lightweight as well.
And of course, you've got the Top Gun emblem on the back here. This is a,
I'm a huge fan of this because other top gun additions of this watch
plants it right square in the middle of the dial. And frankly, as someone who thinks these
watches are beautiful, but it's not actually like a former Air Force member or a pilot of any kind,
definitely a bit more subtle and something that can be appreciated possibly by a wider range of
people, rather than just the aviation enthusiasts among us. It's a beautiful watch, a fantastic
price and this particularly is in fantastic condition. And it's a really great combination of
both rugged and dressy. And it's great if you're looking for an oversized chronograph, this is a 44
millimeter case, but it still does look kind of, a little dressy, a little bit cleaner. This is not
like a massive diving chronograph or something with a lot of odd angles and edges on the case.
This is definitely a very classic straightforward pilot's chronograph. Something that might be a
little less common, a little more unique is this wonderful Zenith pilot here. This is
what is called the Cafe Racers Ton Up Edition and this while being a pilots watch is actually based
basically a motorcyclist enthusiast watch. It was named after what was considered the cafe racers in
the UK of post-World war II. They were considered a group of enthusiasts, subculture of motorcycle
racers who rode custom motorcycles around the highways of the UK, trying to go Ton Up,
which apparently means a hundred miles an hour in British slang of the time. I guess they weren't
using the metric system back then, but it's a beautiful looking watch for a fascinating group of
people. You'll notice instantly that this is very much a throwback sort of vintage type of watch.
The case is definitely meant to mimic sort of an aged stainless steel. And it's definitely
sort of mimicking what would be a very vintage motorcycle from the mid century UK.
The case back, I'm going to go right into the case back first because it
really should be one of the first things you notice. It actually does have the engraving
of one of these infamous cafe racers on the back with one of these beautiful
vintage motorcycles. And it has the Zenith emblem behind them. It's a ton of detail into this case,
and it really does look like a relic. You almost look like you're looking at an antique watch here.
Flipping back over from the dial, which I'm sure you've probably noticed first you have these
massive oversized Arabic numbers when there's really, really interesting looking font, it
looks sort of Gothic or something of the like, in a beautiful looking khaki colored faux-tina type.
So this is definitely meant to be a vintage looking watch. You've got a second hand here at
three and then a 30 minute subdial. Both of these watches being pilot watches. They're not going to
have a super long register. They're not going to have a 12 hour sub dial, because what these things
were meant for not really for 12 hour rights, be it, whether you're in a fighter jet or if you're
in a custom motorcycle, you're probably not going to stay on that thing for 12 hours at a time.
The pilot script here is in orange, which I think adds a little pop of modern color
and what is a very classic looking watch And the last thing you notice here at the pushers
definitely have a different type. They're a little longer, a little flatter. You do have
to push them pretty hard to get this thing to engage, but I guess it's sort of like shifting
gears on a classic motorcycle, you really get the feeling that you're handling something very old.
And that's definitely been built by hand. You've also got the oversized, a onion shaped crown here,
which I think is an interesting look, definitely makes it look a lot more like a tool watch and
for practical purposes would make it easier to wind and set. If you happen to have your hands on
a motorcycle handlebar, we've also got a classic looking leather strap here. This is very faded. It
looks very faded, but it's in fantastic condition. This is again matching the whole aesthetic of the
watch. And I think this is a fantastic watch whether or not you're a motorcycle enthusiast,
or if you just like old vintage looking things. I mean, this case finishes not like anything I've
seen and certainly not like anything that you would get without actually going back
in time and getting yourself a very, very old vintage pilot's chronograph.
These are two very different watches, but they are among the same family. So if you are looking for
a very large chronograph, but something that is a bit more classic and vintage looking rather than
say a big diving chronograph, this is definitely something to consider. Again, the details are very
subtle. And so whether or not you're enthusiast, this would be a fantastic choice for anyone who is
looking for a pilot's watch of that more vintage type of caliber. Of course, if you're not looking
for that and looking for something else, like and subscribe to our YouTube channel, because
we're going over a ton of new arrivals that we get in every single day and of course, call us
or send us an email. If you've got any questions about anything you see, at SwissWatchExpo.com.