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They had to be able to adjust the time mid-flight while wearing thick, leather gloves. Watch brands could have easily developed a complex complication with intricate extra buttons to operate the watch while wearing leather gloves, but at times of war budget was short and costs had to be cut. Instead, they just made the crown bigger. Problem solved. These pilot watches were also incredibly big for the time. Most dress watches were between 32 and 36mm in the World War II area. Sports watches and chronographs were between 36 and 40, which was considered pretty big back then. These pilot watches were between 47 and 51mm. For that time, it must have felt like wearing the Big Ben on your wrist. Since every plane today is equipped with High-Tech computers, the big crown has completely lost its function. Nevertheless, IWC still uses the big crown as a trademark feature, so they can stay linked to their history. Many German brands made pilot watches for the German Luftwaffe which looked very similar. These watches were called ‘B-Uhr’. Other brands that made these were A. Lange & Söhne, Wempe, Walter Storz (now knows as Stowa) and Lacherer & Company (now known as Laco). |