Watch Paparazzi

Pilot Lewis Hamilton spotted wearing IWC

Lewis Hamilton was photographed wearing the IWC Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Chronograph, reference IW392103, a timepiece that made its global debut at SIHH 2017 and represented one of the year's most significant re-launches from the Schaffhausen manufacture. The sighting reinforces Hamilton's reputation as one of motorsport's most watch-literate personalities, consistently gravitating toward pieces with genuine mechanical substance.

The IW392103 is built around IWC's proprietary calibre 89630, a self-winding movement beating at 28,800 vph with a 68-hour power reserve. The movement integrates a flyback chronograph mechanism with a perpetual calendar that automatically accounts for months of unequal length and leap years, requiring no manual correction until the year 2100. The moon phase display is accurate to one day's deviation every 577.5 years — a figure IWC engineers are justifiably proud of. All of this is presented in a 43mm stainless steel case with a ceramic bezel insert, water-resistant to 30 metres, secured on a brown alligator leather strap.

The 2017 Da Vinci relaunch was a deliberate departure from the angular, avant-garde cases IWC had used in the 2000s, returning to the round, integrated-lug architecture that defined the original 1985 Da Vinci perpetual — itself one of the first automatic perpetual calendar wristwatches ever produced. That heritage gives the IW392103 genuine horological lineage, not merely aesthetic novelty. Among collectors, the combination of an in-house flyback chronograph and a perpetual calendar in a single movement remains a respected complication pairing, and IWC's execution is considered clean, legible, and robust.

Hamilton has built a public watch collection that spans Patek Philippe, Richard Mille, and now IWC, reflecting both breadth of taste and an understanding of what makes a movement significant. His choice of the Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Chronograph rather than the more obvious Pilot or Portugieser lines suggests a deliberate lean toward the brand's more architecturally refined offerings.

At UK list price of approximately £36,000, the IWC Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Chronograph IW392103 sits in a competitive segment against similarly specced perpetual chronographs from Patek and A. Lange & Söhne, though at a considerably more accessible price point. On the grey market, demand has remained steady, with pre-owned examples trading close to retail — a reliable indicator of lasting collector confidence.