The Ceramic Frontier

Stainless steel is an excellent material from which to build a hard-wearing timepiece — robust, corrosion-resistant, and durable, it has been widely used in watchmaking since the early 20th century. However, this common substance does have its drawbacks: Somewhat heavy, it scratches relatively easily and can cause allergic reactions in some wearers. At the International Watch Company, the development of a timepiece that would help aid the resurgence of mechanical watchmaking also provided fresh possibilities in materials science. 

During the Quartz Crisis, when the common battery threatened to relegate mechanical movements to the dustbin of history, IWC sought a way to regain its former luster. Then under the direction of visionary CEO Günter Blümlein and employing brilliant watchmaker Kurt Klaus, it developed the Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar, a complicated timepiece that paired a perpetual calendar module with the common Valjoux 7750 automatic movement. Debuting at the Basel Watch Fair in 1985, the reference 3750 was a hit, and signaled a broader resurgence of mechanical watchmaking in Switzerland and beyond. 

However, it wasn’t just the watch’s mechanics that were significant: In 1986, one year after the launch of the Ref. 3750, IWC released the Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar reference 3755, the world’s first serially produced wristwatch machined from zirconium oxide, a type of industrial ceramic. Though other brands had produced timepieces made from tungsten carbide (a metal/ceramic hybrid) in the past, zirconium oxide came to define the revolution in ceramic watchmaking — i.e. the use of materials composed of inorganic, non-metallic solids that are hardened by firing at high temperature. Highly scratch resistant, lighter than stainless steel, extremely hard, hypoallergenic, and able to be colored without the use of a coating, ceramic has proven an excellent watchmaking material. 

Since the debut of the Ref. 3755, IWC has continued to innovate in ceramics. In 1994, the brand debuted the Ref. 3705 Fliegerchronograph, its first ceramic take on its famed pilot’s watch. While the Ref. 3755 combined a ceramic case middle with yellow gold hooded lugs, crown, and pushers, the Ref. 3705’s case was entirely composed of ceramic save the crown and pushers, making for a particularly tactical look appropriate to the model family’s military origins. Special TOP GUN references in black followed in the late 2000s, after which IWC began experimenting with new colors. This, however, isn’t a straightforward process. The ceramics used in watchmaking are composed of a mix of polycrystalline powders and additives that are machined into a rough shape and then fired in a kiln — it is at this point that the ceramic’s color forms. If the mix of powders and additives isn’t just right, the process must begin anew. Additionally, ceramics shrink by roughly a third when fired, which must be carefully accounted for during the design process.  

However, the International Watch Company soon developed a particular talent for managing this process and for developing colored takes on its Flieger watches. By the 2010s a wide array of beautiful shades could be found in its catalog. The Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 TOP GUN Mojave Desert debuted in 2019, while the green Woodland version followed in 2022 and the blue Oceana in 2023. Meanwhile, IWC developed Ceratanium, an entirely new material that appears black in color. Introduced in 2017, this unique substance — which was designed and is produced in-house — combines the best qualities of titanium and ceramic. Fired in a kiln like zirconium oxide, it is light, robust, hard, and scratch resistant. However, unlike ceramic, it doesn’t shrink when fired, meaning that IWC can produce small Ceratanium parts, including the crown and pushers of a chronograph, rather than only larger ones such as a midcase or bezel.  

One of the few high-end watchmakers that boasts the capability to produce its own cases, IWC continues to release colored ceramic and Ceratanium cases across its different collections and sub-collections. 

This year alone, the Schaffhausen-based firm debuted ceramic and Ceratanium versions of its Ingenieur Automatic 42; Big Pilot’s Watch Shock Absorber XPL; Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41; Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon; Pilot’s Watch Performance Chronograph Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month; and more. The Big Pilot’s Watch Shock Absorber XPL Toto Wolff x Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team — with its incredible shock absorption system that protects it from accelerations in excess of 30,000 g — is a particularly striking use of black Ceratanium, where it is paired with light blue componentry in a visually arresting package.  

More recently, the light blue Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 TOP GUN Miramar and sandy-toned Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 TOP GUN Mojave Desert have delighted those who adore the brand’s pilot’s watches. The former, inspired by the sky-blue color of instructors’ uniforms at the U.S. Navy’s TOP GUN fighter pilot school, is named after the program’s old seaside location in Miramar, California. The latter, with its Mojave Desert moniker, is inspired by the desert landscape near the school’s current location at China Lake and by the flight uniforms worn by its pilots. The colorful cases, matched with handsome dials featuring triple-register chronograph layouts and day-date displays, are well sized at 41mm, making them large enough to be legible in any situation while still offering excellent ergonomics. (The matching two-piece rubber straps, with their soft feel, also help in this regard.) Designed in collaboration with Pantone, the colors are vibrant, rich, and reflective of the military environment that continues to inspire the TOP GUN collection. 

With relatively few brands offering colored ceramic tool and luxury sports watches, IWC is uniquely poised to attract a wide array of buyers and collectors. Indeed, its handsomely colored timepieces, inspired by natural landscapes, aviation, the automotive world, and more, manage to inject a degree of modernism into watch-world tropes without veering into kitsch — which is no easy feat, to be sure. From the light blue of the Miramar models and the blinding, summery white of the Lake Tahoe editions; from the deep blue of the Oceana and Le Petit Prince references to the dusty brown of the Mojave Desert chronograph; and from the forest green of the Woodland edition to the tactical black of numerous pilot’s watches and other executions, IWC’s colored ceramic and Ceratanium timepieces are both a technical breakthrough as well as an aesthetic revolution.