Tuesday, December 24, 2013

IWC & The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

This year, IWC celebrates the French pilot and author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and pays tribute to his book Le Petit Prince - The Little Prince.

The book celebrates its 70th Birthday and IWC is launching 2 Limited Special Edition watches to commemorate this occasion. The book has sold more than 150 million copies and translated into 270 languages. The two watches - Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar and Pilot Mark XVII feature the little boy from the story. IWC hosted the event at the Ion Boutique.
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The boutique was decorated with all things The Little Prince…
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And a group of us came in a dressed theme of red pants/bermudas with white top and jacket. But some came with other red and white combo for one reason or the other. Here are the brothers on song...
Le Petit Prince Event The Red & White Gang photo LittlePrinceEvent01.jpg

Free flow of good food and Schaffhausen wine… what more could we ask for - a free watch maybe?
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Le Petit Prince Event Pan-Fried Scallop photo LittlePrinceEvent08.jpg

And Edouard opened the evening with a speech - explaining to those not in the know the history of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and the collaboration with the brand.
Le Petit Prince Event photo LittlePrinceEvent03.jpg

What is the Little Prince event without little princes and princesses? Some bigger than others but many friends of the brand brought their family along. Making a special appearance with a reading of the book was local celebrity Mr. Chua En Lai.
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Mr. Chua assisted by Sidney of IWC. And Massi paying special attention to his little princess in the front row.
Le Petit Prince Event Chua En Lai photo LittlePrinceEvent09.jpg

But to many who turned up, we came here for a reason - to see the watches. Both watches come with blue dial which is reserved for special editions of IWC timepieces. The Pilot Mark XVII is simple enough yet special.
Le Petit Prince Mark XVII photo LittlePrinceMarkXVIILePetitPrince01.jpg

The special feature on the watch is found on the seconds hand. A small star is found at the end of the seconds hand.
Le Petit Prince Mark XVII photo LittlePrinceMarkXVIILePetitPrince04.jpg

The blue dial is a deep midnight blue and as with all IWC Pilot watches comes protected against magnetic fields. The steel watch is limited to 1,000 watches.
Le Petit Prince Mark XVII photo LittlePrinceMarkXVIILePetitPrince02.jpg

And I really like the blue dial - JoKoh, this one is for you!
Le Petit Prince Mark XVII photo LittlePrinceMarkXVIILePetitPrince03.jpg

And the other attraction for the night is the Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar edition Le Petit Prince.
Le Petit Prince Big Pilot Perpetual photo LittlePrinceBigPilotPerpetualLePetitPrince06.jpg

Already an icon for the brand, the rose gold limited edition is limited to 270 watches.
Le Petit Prince Big Pilot Perpetual photo LittlePrinceBigPilotPerpetualLePetitPrince01.jpg

Featuring a full perpetual calendar with 4 digit display for the years, the Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar has a midnight blue dial and if you look carefully will spot the very special feature.
Le Petit Prince Big Pilot Perpetual photo LittlePrinceBigPilotPerpetualLePetitPrince02.jpg

Coming with a full 7 days power reserve courtesy of the IWC-manufactured 51613 calibre, the Big Pilot perpetual calendar has a definite presence. On the moon phase is where you find the special feature...
Le Petit Prince Big Pilot Perpetual photo LittlePrinceBigPilotPerpetualLePetitPrince03.jpg

The little prince standing on the moon gazing into the star filled sky. IWC did a good job of presenting the moon phase the way they did. Awesome!
Le Petit Prince Big Pilot Perpetual photo LittlePrinceBigPilotPerpetualLePetitPrince05.jpg

Edouard mentioned that some of the proceeds of the sale of the watches will go to helping establish a school in Cambodia.

And before long, it was time to go. But I will revisit the boutique again soon to discover more IWC timepieces especially the Portuguese hand wound 8 days. Another beautiful piece by IWC. Thanks to the IWC team for a wonderful night. Well done!

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