SINGAPORE – IWC has gone green, literally.

The Swiss luxury watchmaker has mounted a stylish monochromatic pop-up in the heart of Orchard Road. Taking up the Level 3 space in Design Orchard, the IWC Top Gun exhibition will be decked out entirely in striking shades of green to represent “Woodland”, one of the colours in the brand’s ceramic portfolio.

The hue is inspired by the flight suits and uniforms worn by elite pilots of Topgun, the US Navy’s Fighter Weapons School.

Famous for its aviation timepieces including the iconic Big Pilot’s Watch, the brand will be showcasing, for the first time, 14 professional military watches it crafted for the aviation units of the US Navy and Marine Corps.

Interestingly, IWC is now the only watch brand officially licensed to make timepieces for these two branches of the US Armed Forces. Over the years, the watchmaker has collaborated with various squadrons, including the VFA-102 Diamondbacks, the VFA-115 Eagles and VMFA-323 Death Rattlers.

IWC squadron watches are available exclusively to current and former unit members and engraved with the owner’s name and call sign.

Also on display will be models from IWC’s Top Gun line, introduced in 2007 and famous for its use of innovative materials.

Special timepieces aside, the event promises a virtual 3D environment where visitors can enter four monochromatic worlds representing the new ceramic colours – Woodland, Mojave Desert, Lake Tahoe and Ceratanium – for IWC’s Top Gun collection.

This metaverse is designed by New York-based architect Hani Rashid. With the virtual-reality headsets, visitors can go on a virtual guided tour of the history and mechanics behind Top Gun timepieces.

The watchmaker has also prepared 1,868 – a nod to the year the company was founded – NFT (non-fungible tokens) which visitors can collect and later use to unlock benefits, including physical events as well as curated virtual events in the IWC metaverse. The digital identifier tokens are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Besides attending watchmaking classes, talks and coffee workshops, exhibition visitors can also get their hands on the $670 camouflage strap designed by Singapore sneaker artist Mark Ong.

Top gun models to look out for 

Launched in 2007, IWC’s Top Gun line is distinctive for its use of innovative materials and striking colours.

In 2018, the brand dropped the Top Gun Edition Mojave Desert in sand-coloured ceramic. This was followed by the black Ceratanium, which mixes titanium and ceramic, in 2019; and Lake Tahoe and Woodland – white and green ceramic – in 2020. All these new colours have been jointly specified by IWC and Pantone, the global authority for colour expertise.

All these models will be on display at the exhibition.

The IWC Top Gun exhibition is on Level 3 Design Orchard from Oct 22 to 30, noon to 9pm (Monday to Friday) and 11am to 9pm (Saturday and Sunday). Admission is free. Visitors are encouraged to book a slot at watches.iwc.com/TopGunSingapore