Just released by IWC is a pair of Aquatimer Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month watches done in partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures for the upcoming superhero flick Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Done in red and blue iterations, both are based on the same watch that debuted in 2017 with a Ceratanium case. These big complicated dive watches are not actually worn in the movie but are inspired by the prop watches worn by the two villains (Black Manta, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Dr. Stephen Shin, played by Randall Park). I actually got to see the actual prop watches from the movie as well and, boy, would they make for one popular production model. But let’s stick to the two watches IWC has actually released for now.
I love that these are based on the IWC watches worn by the villains rather than the titular superhero played by Jason Momoa. That does seem appropriate for a movie directed by James Wan who has a knack for making the “bad guys” become fan favorites (Jigsaw from the Saw series certainly comes to mind). Practically speaking the 100m of water resistance may not sound Atlantis-proof but remember to keep in mind just how horologically complicated a perpetual calendar with flyback chronograph is.
Let’s get it out of the way that, yes, these superhero sized at 49mm wide and 19.5mm thick (100m of water resistance). In fact, they likely look comically oversized on my admittedly non-super-heroic wrist. Still, the Ceratanium titanium alloy makes for a lightweight watch no matter the size. Also note there is the IWC SafeDive system which prevents unintentional changes to the dive time by making the outer bezel only adjust counterclockwise. Either of the editions has the corresponding red or blue on the dial, hands, and inner bezel done in Super-Luminova.
There’s a lot of information going on here, so let’s take the dial apart starting at 12 o’clock. In addition to perpetual calendar, the watch also has a chronograph function with the hour and minute totalizers at 12 o’clock. The digital date and month apertures at 3 and 9 o’clock each have two digital windows and have a honeycomb-esque view of the discs beneath them. At 6 o’clock is the running seconds hand as well as digital leap year indicator. From the case back you can see the in-house caliber 89802 movement which operates at 28,800 vph and has a 68-hour power reserve.
In above photo you will see the prototype used in the movie as well as the official press shots that really illustrate the individual red and blue color schemes. While reminiscent of a few previous Aquatimer watches including the actual model with 2000m of water resistance, these are truly just prop watches which is why you’ll notice there’s no seconds hand.
Even the standard model of this watch is quite rare and one that you don’t often see out in the wild. Honestly, I find a wildly over-engineered piece like this refreshing precisely due to the fact that one strains to think of who the ideal buyer is which leaves the need to please the masses completely out of the equation. For those comic book and watch enthusiasts with the Jason Momoa-sized wrist and bank account, the IWC Aquatimer Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month in red (Ref. IW379405) and blue (Ref. IW379406) will be produced in 25 pieces of each color priced at $57,600.
To learn more, visit IWC, here.