IWC Schaffhausen and Mercedes-Benz are celebrating the automaker’s 140th anniversary with a new timepiece that brings together the histories of two companies defined by engineering and precision. The Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar ProSet 140 Years Mercedes-Benz Edition is limited to 140 pieces, tying its production directly to the anniversary it commemorates. But beyond its exclusivity and distinctive automotive connection, the watch introduces something far more significant: IWC’s new ProSet mechanism, a patented system designed to make one of watchmaking’s most complex complications considerably easier to operate.
At the heart of the watch is IWC-manufactured Calibre 82665, which allows its perpetual calendar to be corrected both forward and backward through a single crown position. It is a deceptively simple solution to a longstanding inconvenience. Traditionally, correcting a perpetual calendar after it has fallen out of sync can mean advancing the mechanism through days, months, and even years until the correct date is reached. With ProSet, the wearer can simply turn the crown in either direction to bring the calendar back into alignment. Protected by four patents, the system gives this anniversary edition a technical purpose that extends well beyond its commemorative design.
A Big Pilot With a Mercedes-Benz Identity
Shop here
The visual treatment is restrained, allowing the watch’s connection to Mercedes-Benz to emerge through carefully considered details rather than an oversized display of branding. The 42mm stainless-steel case combines brushed and polished surfaces, while the familiar oversized crown reinforces the unmistakable character of the Big Pilot.
The black dial provides the strongest contrast. Solid gold applied hour markers and gold-plated hands bring warmth to the otherwise monochromatic design, with Super-LumiNova ensuring the large, highly legible indications remain functional in low light. Beneath that familiar Big Pilot architecture, the perpetual calendar displays the date, day, month, four-digit year, and moon phase across a series of recessed subdials.
The result is less overtly automotive than some previous IWC and Mercedes-AMG collaborations. There is no racing color palette competing with the dial and no attempt to reproduce the visual language of a particular Mercedes-Benz model. Instead, the watch takes the more interesting route of connecting the two brands through engineering.
IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Mercedes-Benz: The ProSet Mechanism in Detail
That engineering philosophy becomes clearest in the perpetual calendar itself. IWC introduced its ProSet architecture at Watches and Wonders Geneva 2026, positioning it as a new approach to one of mechanical watchmaking’s most demanding complications. Unlike conventional systems that may rely on correctors or multiple crown positions, ProSet uses a synchronized, gear-based architecture to allow the calendar to be adjusted in either direction through the crown.
That matters most when the watch has stopped running. A conventional perpetual calendar can become an exercise in patience if several days have passed and the displays need to be corrected. ProSet turns that potentially cumbersome process into something much closer to setting the time.
The mechanism also incorporates highly complex components produced using LIGA technology, a precision microfabrication process that allows IWC to create intricate geometries that would be difficult to achieve through conventional manufacturing. The calendar module is integrated into the automatic Calibre 82665, which operates at 4 Hz and provides a 60-hour power reserve. Its Pellaton winding system uses ceramic components in high-stress areas, while the movement incorporates a silicon hairspring and nickel-phosphorus escapement.
A Century-Old Mercedes-Benz Emblem on the Caseback
The strongest historical reference is hidden on the reverse of the watch.
Through the sapphire caseback, the movement is framed by a vintage Mercedes-Benz emblem in gold. The logo dates to 1926, following the merger of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft and Benz & Cie. It brought together Daimler’s three-pointed star and Benz’s laurel wreath, creating the visual identity associated with the newly formed Mercedes-Benz company.
It is a particularly appropriate detail for an anniversary edition because Mercedes-Benz itself is using 2026 to reflect on 140 years of automotive innovation, tracing its history back to the birth of the automobile in 1886.
Rather than placing that history on the dial where it would compete with the watch’s functionality, IWC has effectively made it something the owner discovers when the watch is turned over.
A Partnership Built on Engineering
The relationship between IWC and Mercedes-Benz predates this anniversary by more than two decades. IWC Schaffhausen and Mercedes-AMG have been partners since 2004, with the collaboration built around shared interests in engineering, performance, and design. In 2013, IWC became the Official Engineering Partner of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team, extending the relationship into the highest level of motorsport.
That history has produced watches inspired by motorsport, advanced automotive materials, and Mercedes-AMG’s performance identity. The new edition takes a quieter approach. Its connection to the automaker is less about reproducing a car’s aesthetic and more about celebrating the underlying philosophy shared by both companies: complex engineering should ultimately serve a clear purpose.
That makes the IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar ProSet 140 Years Mercedes-Benz more than a commemorative object. The 140-piece limitation establishes its rarity, while the 1926 emblem gives it historical context. But the ProSet mechanism is what gives the watch its reason for existing.
Limited to 140 Pieces
The IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar ProSet 140 Years Mercedes-Benz is limited to exactly 140 pieces, a direct reference to the anniversary it celebrates. The 42mm stainless-steel watch is fitted with a black rubber strap featuring IWC’s EasX-CHANGE system, allowing the strap to be removed without tools. It is water-resistant to 100 meters and is available now through IWC, with pricing provided upon request.
For a collaboration that could easily have relied on logos and familiar automotive cues, the watch makes a more convincing argument through its mechanics. Mercedes-Benz supplies the history; IWC supplies the horological innovation. Together, they have produced an anniversary watch where the partnership is visible, but the engineering remains the story.
Shop similar products
Featured image: IWC
IWC And George Russell Bring Formula One Energy To The Pilot’s Watch
