Schaffhausen, 27 August 2026 — There is a moment in every Formula 1 season when the paddock stops pretending it is all about lap times and admits that it is also about releases. IWC Schaffhausen chose that moment wisely. With the Singapore Grand Prix scheduled for 11 October, the brand has taken the wraps off its fourth official team watch for the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team, and this one is impossible to miss: a Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 with a deep purple dial, the first purple dial in the history of the Pilot’s collection.
I was in Schaffhausen when the press release crossed the wire, and the colour is the story. It is not a racing livery purple or a marketing purple; it is a saturated, almost velvety shade drawn from the Vanda Miss Joaquim, the orchid that serves as Singapore’s national flower. IWC says the choice is deliberate — resilience, boldness and innovation being traits the brand shares with its partner team. George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were photographed wearing the watch (ref. IW388121) ahead of the night race, and on the wrist the dial reads far more dramatic than any render suggests.
Design: An Instrument Dial in PETRONAS Green and Purple
The case is grade 5 titanium, 41mm in diameter and 14.5mm tall, with a brushed finish that plays up the alloy’s silvery-grey lustre. Titanium is not random here: it is the material of connecting rods, valves and the Halo device that arches over the cockpit, and IWC has used it in every team chronograph since the 2022 Miami edition. The purple sunburst dial carries PETRONAS green numerals and indices, the same teal tone that wraps the team’s W16, and the black hands are filled with Super-LumiNova in that identical green. Against the vivid dial the effect is electric.
The subdials sit recessed with a snailed finish. The layout is IWC’s hallmark vertical arrangement — minutes at 12, hours and seconds below — a configuration that has defined Pilot’s chronographs for more than four decades. At 3 o’clock sits a combined day-date window; IWC uses a black disc with PETRONAS green digits, so even the calendar plays the team colours. Between the dial work and the caseback text, every component of this watch is a nod to Brackley.
Calibre 69385: The Engine Room
Under the hood is the IWC-manufactured calibre 69385, a column-wheel chronograph running at 28,800 vph with 46 hours of power reserve. The bidirectional pawl winding system keeps it topped up, and the hacking seconds make setting it to race time a precise affair. Through the sapphire caseback you can see circular graining, Geneva stripes, polished screws and an openworked rotor — and a printed PETRONAS green legend on the underside of the glass. Monochrome’s first look noted the movement’s finish is a cut above what you might expect at this price point.
The Fourth Team Watch — And a Growing Series
This is IWC’s fourth official team watch. The series began with the titanium Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 “Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team” (ref. IW388108) at the 2022 Miami Grand Prix, followed by the Ceratanium-bodied Performance Chronograph 41 (ref. IW388306) at Las Vegas in 2023 and the slim Mark XX (ref. IW328210) at the start of 2025. Each generation has leaned further into performance materials — titanium, ceramic, Ceratanium — and this purple edition pushes the colour language further than any of its predecessors. The watch is also being worn trackside by mechanics and engineers, not just drivers, which says something about how IWC sees it: a tool, not a trophy.
The launch lands alongside a new Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS kit collection from adidas, the team’s official clothing partner, and the two releases share the same violet-and-teal palette. IWC’s partnership with the team dates to 2013, when it joined as Official Engineering Partner — this is year 14 — and the brand’s broader Mercedes-Benz connection goes back further still, as our earlier coverage of the Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar ProSet 140 Years Mercedes-Benz shows.
On the Wrist and On the Strap
IWC pairs the watch with a purple rubber strap with a titanium pin buckle, and the EasX-CHANGE system means swapping it for a different strap takes a button-press rather than a trip to the boutique. On the wrist the 14.5mm thickness is noticeable but not clumsy; the weight, as you would expect from titanium, is a pleasant surprise. At CHF 7,700, the watch sits exactly where the recent Pilot’s chronographs live — above the steel three-handers and below the perpetual calendars — and it is not a limited edition, which is refreshing for an F1 tie-in. If you have ever wanted a chronograph that looks like it belongs in the pit lane but works like a flight instrument, this is the one. For collectors of the series, it also completes a useful study in how far the team-watch concept has travelled in four years.
IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team Specifications
| Reference | IW388121 |
|---|---|
| Case | Grade 5 titanium, 41mm diameter, 14.5mm height |
| Bezel | Fixed titanium, brushed |
| Crystal | Convex sapphire, anti-reflective coating on both sides |
| Caseback | Sapphire crystal, openwork rotor visible, PETRONAS green printing |
| Water Resistance | 100m |
| Movement | IWC-manufactured calibre 69385, automatic column-wheel chronograph, 28,800 vph |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, hacking seconds, chronograph (12-hour totalizer, 30-minute counter at 12 o’clock), day-date at 3 o’clock |
| Power Reserve | 46 hours, bidirectional pawl winding |
| Dial | Purple sunburst; PETRONAS green numerals, indices and Super-LumiNova hands; recessed snailed subdials |
| Strap | Purple rubber strap with EasX-CHANGE, titanium pin buckle |
| Price | CHF 7,700 |
| Availability | Permanent collection, from IWC boutiques and iwc.com |
Images courtesy of IWC Schaffhausen. The pilot’s watch with a purple dial and PETRONAS green accents was unveiled on 27 August 2026 for the Singapore Grand Prix.
