IWC and Mercedes-Benz Mark 140 Years With A New Kind of Calendar

A perpetual calendar can now be adjusted forward and backward using only the crown. This is the central engineering story inside the new watch from IWC Schaffhausen. The mechanism, called the Perpetual Calendar ProSet, was first shown at Watches and Wonders in Geneva and now finds its home in a piece celebrating a long-standing partnership.

The watch is the Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar ProSet 140 Years Mercedes-Benz, a reference created to mark the carmaker’s 140th anniversary. It arrives as Mercedes-Benz celebrates under the theme “140 Years of Innovation,” a nod to the patent Carl Benz filed for the first automobile in 1886. The collaboration between the two companies has lasted for 22 years, beginning with Mercedes-AMG in 2004 and later extending to the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team in 2013.

Limited to 140 pieces, the watch features a 42-millimeter stainless steel case, both brushed and polished. Its black dial is set with solid gold appliqués and gold-plated hands, with a minute track printed in white. The aesthetic is clean, but the engineering is where the story deepens.

“What began as a partnership has grown into a friendship, built on mutual respect and deep admiration for each other’s work,” says Chris Grainger-Herr, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen. He frames the collaboration as one rooted in shared values of engineering, performance, and design.

Mathias Geisen, a member of the Board of Management at Mercedes-Benz, echoes this. “Since 1886, Mercedes-Benz has never simply measured time, but defined eras,” he notes. “Together with IWC Schaffhausen, we celebrate a shared belief that true progress is born from craftsmanship, innovation, and attention to every detail.”

A Calendar Reimagined

IWC’s history with mechanical calendars includes the perpetual calendar developed by watchmaker Kurt Klaus in 1985. The new Perpetual Calendar ProSet is a complete reimagining of the complication. The module is based entirely on gears and is protected by four patents. Its ability to be set bi-directionally through a single crown position, without pushers or complex menus, required components with highly intricate geometries. To achieve this, IWC uses the LIGA process, a microstructuring technology based on lithography and electroforming.

The dial displays the date, month, and day of the week on subdials at 3, 6, and 9 o’clock. The four-digit year is shown between 7 and 8 o’clock. At 12 o’clock, the Double Moon® display shows the moon phase for both hemispheres and is calculated to deviate by only one day after 1,040 years. The movement is the IWC-manufactured 82665 caliber, which uses a Pellaton automatic winding system to build a 60-hour power reserve.

On the sapphire-glass case back, a historic logo commemorates the occasion. It is the first joint emblem of Daimler Motoren-Gesellschaft and Benz & Cie. from 1926, combining the Benz laurel wreath with the DMG three-pointed star. The watch is fitted with a black rubber strap that can be changed using the integrated EasX-CHANGE® system.

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