At Watchuseek we have been following a trend in the watch industry for limited editions watches based upon collectors demand, collaborations with reputable watch blogs, collaboration with other designer brands, and inspiration from historical designs. One of the most successful collaboration was between Robert-Jan Broers’ blog Fratello Watches and Omega for SpeedyTuesday which sold 2012 Speedmaster watches online in matter of minutes. Since then there have been several limited editions by various big and small brands. We want to highlight the five notable limited edition pilot watches of 2018.
IWC Pilot Chronograph “150 Years” Edition
In 2018 IWC celebrated their 150th anniversary with twenty-seven limited edition watches. One of the best edition is the white lacquered dial flieger chronograph. The pilot watch comes in 43mm steel case with soft-iron inner case for protection against magnetic fields. It is powered by a heavily modified Valjoux 7750 base caliber.
The lacquered white dial is the highlight of this flieger. It is perfectly contrasted by thermally heated blue hands and glossy black numerals and markers. The anniversary edition is limited to 1,000 pieces and the case back is engraved to indicate the celebration of IWC’s 150th anniversary. Visit IWC website for availability. Price: $5,150
Stowa Flieger Black Forest Edition
Stowa released entry level Verus pilot watch earlier this year. The Verus Black Forest Edition watch is a limited edition of 200 pieces in the color scheme of the Black Forest. It is modern, pure, and extremely functional. It features ETA 2824-2 TOP movement with a very nice finish, plus a black coated case, luminous dial and hands (BGW9 – blue luminescence at night).
The Verus Black Forest is available with or without date indication. Our favorite is the no-date dial. The matching leather strap comes with a black buckle. You will have to check on Stowa website as there may be last few watches available currently. Price: 890 €
Guinand HS 102
The Guinand J41-HS102 is paying homage to the Chronosport pilot “slot-timer” chronograph made popular by Helmut Sinn in the mid-1990’s and 2000’s. This model is strongly reminiscent of the Heuer Bundeswehr chronographs, which were offered under the name Military 1550 by Jubilar Uhren Helmut Sinn.
Helmut Sinn, who died recently in his 102nd year, is regarded as the pioneer of aviation watches. His watches speak their own characteristic design language. The limited edition Guinand J41-HS102 is a befitting homage to Mr. Sinn’s aviation watches. This watch is a limited edition of 102 pieces but was sold out within hours. However, you can bid on Edition #102 on auction for a charity by visiting Guinand website for all the details. Price: 1,916 €
Mühle-Glashütte Terrasport II Zeit Edition
Mühle-Glashütte has been manufacturing the Terrasport II since 2011. The “Edition ZEIT” manufactured exclusively for ZEIT newspaper readers and limited to 100 pieces. The hand-crafted and decorated parts make the Mühle movement, base SW200-1, looking unique. In combination with the special LE engraving on the case back, they make every Terrasport II “Edition ZEIT” a unique piece of watchmaking.
There is also something special to discover on the dial of the Terrasport II “Edition ZEIT”: this is characterized by fine blue minute indices that stand out in style from the matt black background. Visit Zeit newspaper website to purchase this flieger. Price: 1,250 €
Sinn 103 St Sa BE
103 St Sa BE is not only photogenic, but also a stunner when seeing it in-person. This pilot chronograph has an awesome blue dial with sunray pattern, anodized aluminum blue bezel, lumed triangle, ivory (between white and green) lumed hands, and a domed sapphire crystal. It is powered by Valjoux 7750 automatic movement.
This is the first-time Sinn has used sunray pattern and anodized aluminum bezel. The sapphire crystal glass is ground out from an approximately 5 mm solid blank with five different curvature radii, and carefully polished afterwards. The 103 Sa B E is limited to 500 pieces, which is displayed on the rotor with engraving ‘Eine von 500’ (One of 500). Visit Sinn website to read about all the neat technology that went into this watch. Price: $2,950 on bracelet.
Photo Credit: Scott Sitkiewitz and Respective brands