Iwc pilot's venturer vertical drive ref iw328601 1

With the Venturer, IWC Reinvents the Pilot’s Watch for the New Space Age

By Elliot Nash - News

Updated: 17 April, 2026

Readtime: 5 min

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Built from the ground up for spaceflight, not adapted from aviation
Crown removed entirely, replaced by a bezel and rocker switch system
Certified for use on Haven-1, the first commercial space station
24-hour display designed for orbit, where day and night lose meaning
120-hour power reserve with integrated GMT for dual time tracking

Most pilot’s watches spend their lives nowhere near a cockpit. IWC just built one for orbit. But IWC Schaffhausen didn’t just modify another aviation watch to create the Pilot’s Venturer Vertical Drive (Ref. IW328601). It’s been designed from scratch for spaceflight, right down to how you interact with it.

There’s no crown. Instead, everything is controlled through a rotating bezel and a rocker switch on the side of the case. Try adjusting a traditional crown while wearing a pressurised glove, and you’ll see the problem this solves immediately. This is designed not just to survive the environment, but to function in it.

Iwc pilot's venturer vertical drive ref iw328601 6 — IWC Pilot’s Venturer Vertical Drive (Ref. IW328601) | Image: IWC

But getting to space is part of the challenge. Rocket launches subject equipment to intense vibration and forces of up to 4g. Once you’re in space, everything changes. Vacuum, radiation, and temperature swings that can move from over 100°C in direct sunlight to well below -100°C in the shade. No one can hear you scream, but at least you’ll know what time it is.

IWC partnered with space company Vast, putting the watch through vibration and pressure testing before certifying it as the first IWC watch for use on Haven-1, the world’s first commercial space station currently in development. In other words, “space-inspired” doesn’t give this justice. It is a space watch.

That’s why the build leans heavily into advanced materials. The case is made from white zirconium oxide ceramic, chosen for its extreme hardness and resistance to heat and corrosion. The bezel and case back use IWC’s Ceratanium, which combines the lightness of titanium with the scratch resistance of ceramic. Even the strap can withstand an orbital strike, with an FKM rubber construction designed to resist UV exposure and thermal stress without degrading.

Iwc pilot's venturer vertical drive ref iw328601 7 — IWC Pilot’s Venturer Vertical Drive (Ref. IW328601) | Image: IWC

The dial strips back to the essentials, with a 24-hour display that reflects how time actually works in orbit. When you’re circling the Earth every 90 minutes, day and night stop being useful markers, so astronauts stick to a fixed reference like UTC instead. The watch mirrors that, while still letting you track a second time zone if needed. It’s all driven by IWC’s newly engineered 32722 calibre, with a 120-hour power reserve, an integrated GMT module, and a date at 3 o’clock.

And while all of that functionality feels pretty exclusive to space travel, it harkens back to the origins of the Pilot’s watch. These tool watches were big, legible and easy to operate under pressure. Over time, that purpose softened as they became everyday luxury pieces. This is what it looks like when that idea gets pushed back to its logical extreme, just in a very different cockpit, and well beyond cruising altitude.

Aside from actual astronauts, no one on planet Earth needs a watch that can operate in zero gravity. But that’s kind of the point. Designing for an environment this unforgiving forces decisions you’d never make otherwise. Remove the crown. Rethink how time is displayed. Build something that can be used without compromise.

Iwc pilot's venturer vertical drive ref iw328601 8 — IWC Pilot’s Venturer Vertical Drive (Ref. IW328601) | Image: IWC

As Chris Grainger-Herr, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen, puts it, “Every single detail of this watch has been single-mindedly optimised for the unique requirements of human spaceflight and timekeeping in space.”

The closest most owners will get to using it properly is a window seat on a long-haul flight.

But that doesn’t make it pointless. This “new space age is shaped by companies pushing the boundaries of science and technology,” says Christian Knoop, Creative Director at IWC Schaffhausen.

Iwc pilot's venturer vertical drive ref iw328601 2 — IWC Pilot’s Venturer Vertical Drive (Ref. IW328601) | Image: IWC

Yes, you could call this the watch of tomorrow, for a world where getting to space doesn’t involve a NASA clearance or knowing someone with a rocket. But it feels more accurate to call it the watch of today, and a snapshot of what’s possible when you design without everyday constraints.

Because of how quickly things move these days, the gap between those two ideas might not be as wide as it sounds. We might not be booking orbital flights just yet, but at least this IWC is ready when we are.