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IWC Schaffhausen has released a limited-edition timepiece honoring Mercedes-Benz's 140th anniversary, part of the automaker's global "140 Years of Innovation" campaign marking the 140 years since Carl Benz filed his patent for the first automobile in 1886, with Gottlieb Daimler building his own motorized carriage shortly after.
The two brands have a long history together. IWC and Mercedes-AMG have partnered since 2004, and since 2013 IWC has served as Official Engineering Partner to the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One team, a relationship that's produced several co-branded releases over the years.
The Big Pilot's Watch Perpetual Calendar ProSet 140 Years Mercedes-Benz is limited to 140 pieces. It's a 42mm stainless steel case with a black dial, gold-toned hands and appliqués, and a black rubber strap using IWC's tool-free EasX-CHANGE system. Inside is IWC's new caliber 82665, featuring ceramic-reinforced Pellaton winding, a nickel-phosphorus escapement, and a silicon hairspring, with a 60-hour power reserve.
The standout feature is the new Perpetual Calendar ProSet module, protected by four patents. Unlike traditional perpetual calendars which typically require separate correctors and careful attention to crown position to avoid damage, this gear-based system lets the entire calendar (day, date, month, and four-digit year) be adjusted forward and backward from a single crown position, making it as simple to set as an ordinary watch.
On the dial: date at 3 o'clock, month at 6, day at 9, a four-digit year between 7 and 8, and a Double Moon phase display at 12 o'clock, accurate to within one day every 1,040 years.
Rather than putting Mercedes-Benz branding on the dial, IWC placed it on the sapphire case back, engraved with the brand's first-ever joint emblem created in 1926 when Daimler Motoren-Gesellschaft merged with Benz & Cie., combining the Benz laurel wreath with DMG's three-pointed star.
Beyond the anniversary tribute, the ProSet module represents a genuine engineering advance one that could simplify perpetual calendars across IWC's lineup going forward, making this limited edition notable well beyond its co-branding.