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IWC and Mercedes-Benz Celebrate 140 Years With a Limited Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar

IWC's ProSet module, a first major revision of Kurt Klaus' perpetual calendar, debuts in a co-branded anniversary piece.

Image: source

On 13 August 2026, IWC and Mercedes-Benz unveiled a limited edition under the latter’s “140 Years of Innovation” banner. The Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar ProSet “140 Years” Mercedes-Benz (ref. IW329603) is limited to 140 pieces. IWC’s press release links the 140-piece run to Mercedes-Benz’s 140-year history, one watch per year.

A quick note on the math. The 140 years are the carmaker’s, counted from Carl Benz’s 1886 automobile patent. IWC itself dates to 1868. The two companies have worked together since 2004, and IWC has been Official Engineering Partner of Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One since 2013. CEO Chris Grainger-Herr describes a relationship in which “what began as a partnership has grown into a friendship.”

The mechanical highlight is the ProSet module, first shown at Watches and Wonders Geneva earlier this year and now presented in this new execution. IWC describes it as a calendar “based entirely on gears and protected by four patents” that can be corrected forwards and, for the first time, backwards from a single crown position. It is a significant update to the architecture Kurt Klaus designed for IWC in 1985.

The 42 mm steel case mixes brushed and polished finishes. The dial is black, with gold appliqués and gold-plated hands over a white-printed minute track. Through the sapphire back sits the 1926 laurel-and-star emblem marking the union of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft and Benz & Cie.

IWC’s release stops short of water resistance and price, though it does state the caliber (82665) and power reserve (60 hours). Figures are circulating elsewhere. We would rather wait for IWC’s own spec sheet.

Source: announcement

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