What Matters To Men
We’ve tracked down the IWC Schaffhausen stopwatch from Tom Cruise’s latest action film.
27 May 2022 by Jamie Weiss
Image: Paramount Pictures
Top Gun: Maverick, the long-awaited sequel to what’s probably the best action movie of the 80s, has just hit cinemas, and it’s an absolute delight for the senses. But watch nerds were delighted to see one watch in particular…
Many of the characters in the film wear IWC Schaffhausen watches – of course, IWC has had a long partnership with the US Navy’s Fighter Weapons School, which is better known as TOPGUN. It’s this elite flight school that the movie revolves around and takes its name from.
IWC has produced a wide variety of TOP GUN watches – for example, the ‘Lake Tahoe’ and ‘Woodland’ that were unveiled at Watches & Wonders earlier this year – but eagle-eyed moviegoers spotted a rather unusual, hitherto unseen IWC in Top Gun: Maverick that’s got people worked up into a lather.
It’s actually not a watch at all but a stopwatch. Hong Kong-based watch collector Erwin Chu has shared the first look at the coveted stopwatch online, and we have to say, it looks cool as hell.
A post shared by Erwin’s Time Travel (@erwinchu)
A small monopusher number, DMARGE can confirm the ‘IWC Schaffhausen Instructor’s Stopwatch’ features a DLC black coating and features the same iconic dial design as IWC’s pilot’s watches.
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As you can see above, the stopwatch comes as part of a set alongside a matching IWC Schaffhausen Pilot’s Watch Mark XVIII TOP GUN Edition “SFTI” wristwatch plus a ballistic nylon lanyard and comes packaged in a Pelican-style dry box. Super cool stuff.
DMARGE has been told that the stopwatch only comes as part of this set. It’s not clear whether or not members of the general public can still purchase this box set – seems they’ve all sold out already. Your best bet? Walk in to your local IWC boutique while humming Danger Zone…
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