New 2022 IWC Lake Tahoe Pilot’s Chronograph Top Gun

Rubber B was the first company in the world to develop custom rubber watch straps exclusively for Rolex timepieces, and since then, the company has added several other prominent watchmakers to its product portfolio. Rubber B also creates custom rubber watch bands for watches produced by Panerai, Rolex, and Audemars Piguet.

At this year’s Watches and Wonders 2022, one of the more anticipated panels were coming from IWC, or the International Watch Company. The company is well known for producing several different product lines of chronographic watches, with one of the more popular series being the “Top Gun” line. Because the long-awaited sequel to Tom Cruise’s classic 1986 action film is being released this year, there is a particular amount of enthusiasm around the Top Gun line, especially the IWC Lake Tahoe.

New 2022 IWC Lake Tahoe Pilot's Chronograph Top Gun

Furthermore, IWC is uniquely qualified to be producing chronographs, so before we take a closer look at the IWC Lake Tahoe, let’s take a brief look at the history of the company itself to further understand why that might be.

A Look Back At IWC and Its Relationship to Chronographs

IWC, which was founded in 1868 in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, was one of the first companies to successfully mass-produce chronographs and market them to the general public. This was a relatively new idea at the time, as the average person did not need such a precise watch.

Two major historical events set the stage for people to have an interest in precision wristwatches. The first was World War I, which saw men wearing wristwatches for the first time so that they could successfully conduct combat missions, and the other was the successful commercialization of air travel, which saw people suddenly become very interested in planes and pilots alike.

As such, IWC was able to successfully able to capitalize on the public interest in commercial air travel and market chronographic watches to the everyday person. Because their watches have always been more affordable than their other Swiss competitors, but still maintained a high degree of craftsmanship, they played a significant role in mainstreaming the idea of the chronograph during the 1930’s and 1940’s.

How Does the IWC Lake Tahoe Rate From a Technical Standpoint?

The case for the IWC Lake Tahoe measures 44.5 mm and has a height of 15.7 mm, making it slightly bigger than average for most luxury sports watches. It also has a screw-in crown and is water-resistant for up to six bars.

This piece is powered by the 69380 Caliber, which is manufactured in-house by IWC. The movement is automatic and self-winding and has a power reserve of 46 hours. It has a vph of 28800.0 and is comprised of 231 components with 33 jewels.

Overall, the two most notable things about this watch from a technical standpoint about this watch are its case size and its power reserve. The case size is slightly larger than average, which by no means hurts this piece – something that was inspired by fighter pilots should have a little heft to it, after all, so we will count that as a pro.

The only real drawback from a technical standpoint that we can see here is that the power reserve leaves a little bit to be desired. Power reserves of 60 to 70 hours are starting to become more of the industry standard now, and hopefully, IWC will increase their power reserves in future iterations of their chronographs.

Does the IWC Lake Tahoe Fare Well Aesthetically?

There are a couple of things that immediately stand out when looking at this watch, so we will begin with the dial. The dial is pitch black and features black hands that have been coated with luminescent material, as well as three large and highly legible subdials.

Considering that this is a chronograph that was inspired by aviation, it stands to reason that IWC would want it to be highly legible in less than ideal conditions, and in that regard, they have succeeded tremendously.

The true stand out though, from a design standpoint, of the IWC Lake Tahoe is the white ceramic case that the watch comes in. The color for this timepiece was specially designed for IWC by Pantone and was inspired by the winter landscape around Lake Tahoe itself. It is a shimmery, elegant white that is truly stunning to look at, making this one of the most elegant-looking pieces that IWC has put out in quite some time.

What Are Our Final Thoughts on This Watch?

For the most part, IWC should be very pleased with their efforts towards this watch, as it seems they have successfully crafted yet another beautiful to look at chronograph here. While the piece is certainly fine by any reasonable technical standard and will certainly measure up to the job if you’re in need of a reliable chronograph, that is not the best reason to purchase this watch.

What we were truly taken aback by was how stunning it looked – this is a truly elegant piece, and at only $10,700, it is one of IWC’s more approachable pieces, making it an ideal starter chronograph for those who may just be getting into chronographic watches for the first time.

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