IWC and the Architecture of Shock

Big Pilot’s Watch Shock Absorber Tourbillon Skeleton XPL, IWC Schaffhausen

With the Big Pilot’s Watch Shock Absorber Tourbillon Skeleton XPL, IWC Schaffhausen continues to pursue the extreme edges of mechanical watchmaking. Introduced at Watches & Wonders 2025, the timepiece blends two traditionally opposing qualities—robustness and refinement—through a combination of shock-resistance engineering and one of watchmaking’s most delicate mechanisms: the tourbillon. Limited to 100 pieces, the XPL is both a technical prototype and a finished object, built for movement and designed for impact.

At the centre of the watch is a tourbillon suspended by IWC’s proprietary SPRIN-g PROTECT® shock absorption system. Engineered to withstand shocks in excess of 30,000 g-forces, the mechanism floats within a reimagined calibre 82915, surrounded by a cantilever spring made from bulk metallic glass. The system decouples the tourbillon from direct impact, while reducing the weight of the movement through extensive skeletonisation—resulting in a highly visible architecture and improved efficiency.

Every design element of the watch reflects its functional intention. The movement, weighing just 0.663 grams, is housed within a 44mm Ceratanium® case—light, dark, and engineered for hardness. A black rubber strap with a matching Ceratanium® clasp completes the material logic. The dial is reduced to its necessary points: a skeletonised ring, the floating tourbillon at six o’clock, and minimal triangular hands coated with Super-LumiNova®. Time is stripped back, but never sterile—this is clarity under pressure.

Behind the performance is IWC’s XPL (Experimental Engineering) department, where traditional watchmaking meets simulation modelling, material science, and vibration analysis. The Tourbillon Skeleton XPL is not a showcase of endurance alone; it’s a watch designed to survive force while revealing its complexity. Beneath the sapphire caseback, the skeletonised rotor in 18K gold is finished by hand—a final reminder that impact resistance, in this case, comes with nuance.