IWC Schaffhausen Auctions Off Luxury Pilot’s Watch To Raise Money for Thai Youth

At the important Watches auction held on 10 November in Geneva, auction house Sotheby’s sold a unique chronograph by luxury Swiss watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen.

The Pilot’s Watch Double Chronograph Edition “Le Petit Prince” in red gold went for CHF47,500.  All the proceeds from the sale will benefit the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation, with whom IWC Schaffhausen has been working closely for many years.  The Foundation will use the money to support a hospitality and catering school in the northern Thai city of Mae Sot, which offers training courses for young Thais.

The Pilot’s Watch Double Chronograph Edition “Le Petit Prince” features a mechanical 79420-calibre chronograph movement and a split-seconds mechanism.  One unique feature is the day display in the centre of the midnight blue dial, which is illuminated by a different gold star on each day of the week.  The stars symbolize the seven planets visited by the little prince on his journey through the universe.  The seven stars are also decoratively engraved on the back of the watch, along with the names of the inhabitants the little prince encounters along the way.

The Foundation was established in 2008 by the heirs of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and seeks to maintain the spirit and humanist vales of the great French writer and aviator.  It supports a host of projects all over the world to improve the day-to-day lives of young people and offer them a brighter future.  “Support for children and young people facing challenging circumstances is one of the corner-stones of our corporate social responsibility.  That’s why we have been working closely with the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation ever since it was established, cultivating an intensive and fruitful partnership,” explains Georges Kern, CEO OF IWC Schaffhausen.

The Hour Glass is an official retailer of IWC watches.