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Big Pilot’s Watch Edition Markus Bühler
A brilliant awards ceremony provided the incentive for the Big Pilot’s Watch Edition Markus Bühler. For long before the exclusive limited edition of twelve watches was realised, the original, artistically refined pocket watch movement had already caused a great sensation: it took first prize at the Prix IFHH de l’Horlogerie 2003 (today Concours IHC) competition for apprentices. Markus Bühler, an IWC apprentice watchmaker at the time and the innovative inventor and builder of the turbine movement, had impressed not only the jury, but also his superiors. The idea of launching a special model based on the victorious movement was born. The watch is an eye-catcher
The watch is an eye-catcher and reveals its extraordinary character even on first encounter. A small-dimensioned aircraft engine rotates as a seconds indicator, and the heart of the watch is made up of the spring barrel and ratchet wheel, which are skeletonised in the form of blade wheels and, in combination with an applied metal ring, represent an aircraft turbine engine in a small format. The Big Pilot’s Watch Edition Markus Bühler also passed through an extraordinary process of development. The modified pocket watch movement caused a stir long before being incorporated into the outstanding timepieces that are shortly coming onto the market exclusively in the Swiss boutiques: the turbine movement took first place in 2003 in a competition for apprentices organised by the educational institute, “Institut de Formation à la Haute Horlogerie”. With 44 points out of a maximum possible score of 50 points, IWC apprentice Markus Bühler outshone his 63 fellow competitors from other notable watch companies. The unusually talented young watchmaker was in the limelight with his creation and won praise from all sides. The idea of producing a small, yet fine special edition of this remarkable work and making it available in a very small, limited series of only twelve watches arose in the midst of this euphoria. It took a couple of years for this idea to mature into the Big Pilot’s Watch Edition Markus Bühler. Markus Bühler passed his final apprenticeship examination some time ago with the outstanding mark of 5.9 (with 6.0 being the maximum mark). His excellent professional knowledge immediately facilitated his passage into the development department, where he brought his expertise to bear as a prototype builder and adviser to the designers before switching to the industrialisation department. Today, he is a Project Manager in charge of movement assembly. He also enrolled on a parttime course of study in mechanical engineering, which undoubtedly stands him in good stead in his daily work.
Challenging competition criteria
The competition jury had set the task of exposing the mainspring of a “Unitas” pocket watch movement in the most creative way possible. To achieve this, the barrel drum, the barrel bridge and the ratchet wheel had to be made visible by skeletonisation. The contestants were expected to adopt a technically impeccable, faultless and functional approach, to assure the functions during winding and on top to score points for originality. Markus Bühler, an impassioned and solution-oriented innovator, opted for a variant which depicts the function in an abstract manner and brings two extremes together. “Replacing the spring barrel of a watch with the miniature turbine engine of a passenger aircraft appears to be a bold idea on first inspection,” reflects Markus Bühler , “and yet both engines perform the same task. They are responsible for providing the drive.” To be precise, the rotational speeds lie at opposite ends of the scale – whereas an aircraft turbine engine operates at 150,000 revolutions per minute, the spring barrel moves through only 0.0033 of a revolution in the same period and thus rotates no more than three to four times in a single day. Indeed, not only did his plans convince the head of the technical apprenticeship training function, but the result also impressed the jury and gained first prize for this talented young man: a trip to New York.
From idea to visual embodiment
Markus Bühler was a latecomer to watchmaking. Although as a child he dismantled and reassembled technical toys with enthusiasm and later became a keen model-maker, he trained as a carpenter and joined the family business, where he went on to qualify as a foreman. The physically demanding work inevitably began to take its toll, and this led Bühler to change his career path. At the age of 28, he found his way into watchmaking and, as a result, to IWC. This decision would turn out to be a stroke of good fortune for both. Not only was Markus Bühler fascinated by mechanics, but he also won over his instructors with his strong will, his high aptitude and his pleasant manner. This ambitious watchmaker set about the Edition Markus Bühler project with his usual thoroughness. Working alongside an IWC designer, Markus Bühler mulled over drafts for an attractive dial, studied cockpit instruments and aero-engines and perfected a number of variants. The turbine would not only be visible on the back of the watch in the final version, but it would also have a role to play on the dial. Bühler decided in favour of featuring the turbine as a seconds indicator. The blade wheel now does its rounds in the form of an intricate bronze casting and endows the Big Pilot’s Watch Edition Markus Bühler with its unmistakable charisma.
In the interests of developing young talent
As Project Manager for his own watch, Markus Bühler also involved the company’s own up-and-coming watchmaking talent in the building of this special edition. Whereas the competition jury at the time allowed him only 30 hours within a period of two weeks in which to complete his task, the highly motivated IWC apprentices invested all their skill and all their ambition in the “Bühler project”, which quite simply had to be perfect regardless of the hours of work. Bühler developed all the jigs and fixtures along with the tools specifically to build his watch and made these together with the apprentices. He supervised the working process down to the smallest detail, gave precise instructions here and lent a helping hand there, and was pleased with the enthusiasm shown by the internal succession. Markus Bühler turned his own hand to the decoration of the bridge. With the assistance of the apprentice surface finisher, he completed the asymmetrical cylindrical grinding as an intricate manual operation on the lathe. “It was a magnificent experience to be involved as a joint effort in the realisation of this watch,” sums up Bühler, “and our apprentices have not only shown how much latent potential there is inside them, but have also done a splendid job.” Like every IWC watch, all twelve of the Big Pilot’s Watches Edition Markus Bühler have undergone stringent testing and quality controls.
Long training tradition
Watchmaking is not only a profession, but also a passion in its own right – this is borne out by the fact that watchmakers often continue to tinker and build watches in their own time after their day’s work is done. Markus Bühler, for instance, has devoted around eight hundred hours of his free time to building his own tourbillon. Consisting of 87 unmachined parts – from the plate to the button and the tourbillon cage – he has produced entirely from his own resources a unique marine chronometer that is a credit to the old ship’s timepieces. It goes without saying that this showpiece is not for sale. IWC is known to attach considerable weight to a sound apprentice training. After all, the company has been training apprentice watchmakers continuously, ever since it was founded in 1868. “Our young talent is our future,” emphasises CEO Georges Kern. Even in the crisis years of the 1970s, the International Watch Company did not abandon the mechanical watch and steadfastly invested its entire expert knowledge in new employees. This was a good decision, which is proving to be a valuable asset in particular today, at a time when the shortage of a skilled workforce has become a problem for many companies.
A brilliant awards ceremony provided the incentive for the Big Pilot’s Watch Edition Markus Bühler. For long before the exclusive limited edition of twelve watches was realised, the original, artistically refined pocket watch movement had already caused a great sensation: it took first prize at the Prix IFHH de l’Horlogerie 2003 (today Concours IHC) competition for apprentices. Markus Bühler, an IWC apprentice watchmaker at the time and the innovative inventor and builder of the turbine movement, had impressed not only the jury, but also his superiors. The idea of launching a special model based on the victorious movement was born. The watch is an eye-catcher
The watch is an eye-catcher and reveals its extraordinary character even on first encounter. A small-dimensioned aircraft engine rotates as a seconds indicator, and the heart of the watch is made up of the spring barrel and ratchet wheel, which are skeletonised in the form of blade wheels and, in combination with an applied metal ring, represent an aircraft turbine engine in a small format. The Big Pilot’s Watch Edition Markus Bühler also passed through an extraordinary process of development. The modified pocket watch movement caused a stir long before being incorporated into the outstanding timepieces that are shortly coming onto the market exclusively in the Swiss boutiques: the turbine movement took first place in 2003 in a competition for apprentices organised by the educational institute, “Institut de Formation à la Haute Horlogerie”. With 44 points out of a maximum possible score of 50 points, IWC apprentice Markus Bühler outshone his 63 fellow competitors from other notable watch companies. The unusually talented young watchmaker was in the limelight with his creation and won praise from all sides. The idea of producing a small, yet fine special edition of this remarkable work and making it available in a very small, limited series of only twelve watches arose in the midst of this euphoria. It took a couple of years for this idea to mature into the Big Pilot’s Watch Edition Markus Bühler. Markus Bühler passed his final apprenticeship examination some time ago with the outstanding mark of 5.9 (with 6.0 being the maximum mark). His excellent professional knowledge immediately facilitated his passage into the development department, where he brought his expertise to bear as a prototype builder and adviser to the designers before switching to the industrialisation department. Today, he is a Project Manager in charge of movement assembly. He also enrolled on a parttime course of study in mechanical engineering, which undoubtedly stands him in good stead in his daily work.
Challenging competition criteria
The competition jury had set the task of exposing the mainspring of a “Unitas” pocket watch movement in the most creative way possible. To achieve this, the barrel drum, the barrel bridge and the ratchet wheel had to be made visible by skeletonisation. The contestants were expected to adopt a technically impeccable, faultless and functional approach, to assure the functions during winding and on top to score points for originality. Markus Bühler, an impassioned and solution-oriented innovator, opted for a variant which depicts the function in an abstract manner and brings two extremes together. “Replacing the spring barrel of a watch with the miniature turbine engine of a passenger aircraft appears to be a bold idea on first inspection,” reflects Markus Bühler , “and yet both engines perform the same task. They are responsible for providing the drive.” To be precise, the rotational speeds lie at opposite ends of the scale – whereas an aircraft turbine engine operates at 150,000 revolutions per minute, the spring barrel moves through only 0.0033 of a revolution in the same period and thus rotates no more than three to four times in a single day. Indeed, not only did his plans convince the head of the technical apprenticeship training function, but the result also impressed the jury and gained first prize for this talented young man: a trip to New York.
From idea to visual embodiment
Markus Bühler was a latecomer to watchmaking. Although as a child he dismantled and reassembled technical toys with enthusiasm and later became a keen model-maker, he trained as a carpenter and joined the family business, where he went on to qualify as a foreman. The physically demanding work inevitably began to take its toll, and this led Bühler to change his career path. At the age of 28, he found his way into watchmaking and, as a result, to IWC. This decision would turn out to be a stroke of good fortune for both. Not only was Markus Bühler fascinated by mechanics, but he also won over his instructors with his strong will, his high aptitude and his pleasant manner. This ambitious watchmaker set about the Edition Markus Bühler project with his usual thoroughness. Working alongside an IWC designer, Markus Bühler mulled over drafts for an attractive dial, studied cockpit instruments and aero-engines and perfected a number of variants. The turbine would not only be visible on the back of the watch in the final version, but it would also have a role to play on the dial. Bühler decided in favour of featuring the turbine as a seconds indicator. The blade wheel now does its rounds in the form of an intricate bronze casting and endows the Big Pilot’s Watch Edition Markus Bühler with its unmistakable charisma.
In the interests of developing young talent
As Project Manager for his own watch, Markus Bühler also involved the company’s own up-and-coming watchmaking talent in the building of this special edition. Whereas the competition jury at the time allowed him only 30 hours within a period of two weeks in which to complete his task, the highly motivated IWC apprentices invested all their skill and all their ambition in the “Bühler project”, which quite simply had to be perfect regardless of the hours of work. Bühler developed all the jigs and fixtures along with the tools specifically to build his watch and made these together with the apprentices. He supervised the working process down to the smallest detail, gave precise instructions here and lent a helping hand there, and was pleased with the enthusiasm shown by the internal succession. Markus Bühler turned his own hand to the decoration of the bridge. With the assistance of the apprentice surface finisher, he completed the asymmetrical cylindrical grinding as an intricate manual operation on the lathe. “It was a magnificent experience to be involved as a joint effort in the realisation of this watch,” sums up Bühler, “and our apprentices have not only shown how much latent potential there is inside them, but have also done a splendid job.” Like every IWC watch, all twelve of the Big Pilot’s Watches Edition Markus Bühler have undergone stringent testing and quality controls.
Long training tradition
Watchmaking is not only a profession, but also a passion in its own right – this is borne out by the fact that watchmakers often continue to tinker and build watches in their own time after their day’s work is done. Markus Bühler, for instance, has devoted around eight hundred hours of his free time to building his own tourbillon. Consisting of 87 unmachined parts – from the plate to the button and the tourbillon cage – he has produced entirely from his own resources a unique marine chronometer that is a credit to the old ship’s timepieces. It goes without saying that this showpiece is not for sale. IWC is known to attach considerable weight to a sound apprentice training. After all, the company has been training apprentice watchmakers continuously, ever since it was founded in 1868. “Our young talent is our future,” emphasises CEO Georges Kern. Even in the crisis years of the 1970s, the International Watch Company did not abandon the mechanical watch and steadfastly invested its entire expert knowledge in new employees. This was a good decision, which is proving to be a valuable asset in particular today, at a time when the shortage of a skilled workforce has become a problem for many companies.
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