This is a vintage Mark XI IWC Pilot watch, the most coveted of IWC’s Pilot watches. Produced beginning in 1948, the IWC Mark XI uses a hand wound caliber 89 movement. According to IWC “It was one of the very first watches to meet the demanding requirements of a professional pilot’s watch. Its movement was enclosed in a soft-iron inner case in order to shield the mechanism from magnetic fields.”

The Mark XI comes in a stainless steel case that measures 36 mm in diameter by 11 mm thick. It features an acrylic crystal with a screwed-on case back. This is a military watch, and accordingly, it is fitted with a Nato strap. The dial is black with Arabic numerals, center seconds and luminous hour and minute hands, as well as luminous markers at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock – no date. An arrow shaped pilot emblem is printed just beneath the branding on the dial; it is also engraved on the movement bridge and case back.