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Basketball player Michael Jordan spotted wearing IWC

Michael Jordan was photographed wearing the IWC Big Pilot 'Platinum Blue' Limited Edition, reference IW500202 — a 500-piece run that represents one of the Schaffhausen manufacturer's most restrained and refined special releases of its era. For a man whose wrist has hosted everything from Patek Philippe complications to diamond-set Rolexes, the choice of a pilot's watch with classical proportions says something deliberate about the mood of the occasion.

The IW500202 houses IWC's Calibre 51111, a self-winding movement with a seven-day power reserve delivered via a double-barrel configuration — a technical signature the brand has refined across its Big Pilot family since reintroducing the line in 2002. The 46mm platinum case is substantial without being theatrical, and the deep midnight-blue dial with luminous Arabic numerals and oversized cathedral hands maintains the utilitarian DNA of the 1940s Ref. 431 that inspired the modern lineage. The oversized onion crown, engineered for gloved operation at altitude, remains the visual anchor of the design.

From a collector standpoint, the 'Platinum Blue' occupies a specific and respected niche. Platinum Big Pilots in limited runs surface infrequently on the secondary market, and the colour pairing here — noble metal against a cool, saturated blue — has aged considerably better than some of the boutique editions that surrounded it. The 500-piece ceiling keeps supply genuinely constrained, and examples in full set condition attract sustained demand at auction.

Jordan's relationship with luxury watchmaking is well documented. The six-time NBA champion and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient has long used fine timepieces as a personal currency of taste, and his sightings tend to generate measurable secondary-market interest in whatever reference he's wearing. The IWC Big Pilot is a logical fit — architecturally bold, technically serious, and free of the ostentation that characterises some celebrity watch choices.

The UK list price was set at £32,000 at launch, placing the IW500202 at the upper tier of IWC's commercial catalogue. On the grey market, platinum-cased Big Pilot limited editions in strong condition have traded at premiums above retail, reflecting both the precious-metal content and the scarcity of the reference. A Jordan association does nothing to soften that trajectory.