IWC. There's hardly any aficionado of horological art for whom these 3 letters don't mean anything. The brand, founded in 1868 by American engineer and watchmaker Florentine Ariosto Jones in Switzerland, with the aim of producing high-quality watches for the American market, was managed and acquired in 1880 by the Rauschenbach family, owned and managed by 4 generations of the family until 1955. The brand, one of the first (already at the end of the 19th century) to start producing wristwatches. Undoubtedly, a founding figure of the so-called "pilot's watches", the first to use titanium for the cases of its chronographs and producing unique works of horological art, such as the representatives of the Portugieser and Ingenieur series.

For us, the term "pilot's watch" automatically leads to "IWC". Perhaps the reason for this is due to the fact that IWC is mainly known for the production of pilot's watches, or perhaps because the brand developed its production especially during World War II, but most likely the main reason for this fact is the fact that the brand supplied its products to both sides of the conflict. Both during the war and after it, the countries involved in the conflict already knew very well the quality of the brand, which gives it several important trump cards in the competition for the customer - recognizability, image, reputation.

It all started back in 1936 with the release of the famous Mark IX - which boldly can be called the progenitor of the pilot series of IWC, and perhaps even of pilot watches in general.

The model was first introduced in 2019 and is part of the brand's new series of pilot watches, which have become legendary. The case is borrowed from the limited edition Hodinkee presented the previous year, and unlike the standard Mark XVIII, it is in the more modern size of 41 mm.

The Top Gun series is named after perhaps the most renowned and well-known fighter pilot academy - that of the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School. Which, besides everything else, was glorified by the two movies starring Tom Cruise.

The model differs from other versions mainly by its case, which, besides being of an enlarged size, is also made of black ceramic, the red "Top Gun" inscription, and the NATO strap it is offered with. The black dial of the watch is a classic design for the Mark series, and the shape of its hands resembles the wings of a World War II fighter plane - the luminescence is strong and in a contrasting white color.

The readability of the watch is one of the best of all the watches that have passed through my hands. The colors of the dial are ordinary - black and white, which confirms the class of the model.

The purity of the design of the date window is also as elegant and legible. Nowadays, we hardly rely on the watch to learn the date exactly, but the fact that after a quick glance at the wrist we can understand this information makes us somewhat calmer and more confident.

The luminosity is one of the strongest for pilot watches in general and shines in a pleasant bluish light. The large Arabic numerals are well depicted and positioned, and the abundant coverage of the hands, which are in the shape of an aircraft propeller, completes this truly unique composition!

At the heart of the watch beats the IWC 32110 - an automatic mechanism from the brand's most modern in-house series of calibers 32xxx, with 21 jewels, 164 components, a frequency of 28,800 vibrations, and a power reserve of over 72 hours.

The placement of a solid caseback does not allow us to enjoy the beauty of the mechanism, but it provides the watch with a higher degree of antimagnetic protection, and the Top Gun logo is placed on the caseback itself - the godfather of the model.