An Unexpected Brand Made a Watch for a Super Risky Space Mission

Polaris Dawn is an extraordinary mission. It calls for an extraordinary watch.

Published August 21, 2024

·

The Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union may have ended in the 1970s, but today a new Space Race is brewing.

This new race isn’t between hostile nations. Hell, it doesn’t even involve astronauts. Instead, a handful of billionaire-funded aerospace technology companies are seemingly in a race to see who can send civilians on the most insane outer space journey.

Blasting into the lead is Elon Musk‘s SpaceX with its upcoming Polaris Dawn mission, which will take four civilians — led by mission organizer and Shift4 Payments CEO Jared Isaacman — further into space than any human since NASA’s Apollo program.

The Polaris Dawn Mission

the four crew members of the polaris dawn space mission — The four members of the Polaris Dawn mission are set to embark on the most daring civilian space mission ever attempted.

Over five days onboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, the amateur astronauts of Polaris Dawn will travel into the dangerous Van Allen radiation belt to test its effects on their health, take part in the first-ever commercial spacewalk, and attempt to reach the highest Earth orbit of any human ever.

The mission seems incredibly risky, to say the least, and Isaacman and company — retired Air Force pilot Scott Poteet and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon — are going to need to rely on their equipment in order to survive. Part of said equipment will be an outer space chronograph watch created just for the mission, and no, it’s not an Omega Speedmaster.

IWC Will Accompany Polaris Dawn’s Amateur Astronauts

two white iwc watches with one face up and one face down — IWC made custom versions of its ceramic Pilot’s Chronograph watch to send into space.

For the Polaris Dawn mission, IWC Schaffhausen has crafted four special chronographs for the intrepid travelers to wear in outer space. The watches are modified versions of IWC’s Pilot’s Watch Chronograph “Lake Tahoe” and feature the same 44.5mm white ceramic case and titanium caseback.

The watches also appear to be powered by the same movement as the standard Pilot’s Chronograph, the in-house IWC Cal. 69380. It’s an automatic chronograph with a day-date complication and a 46-hour power reserve.

a white iwc watch — The space-themed lacquered dial of IWC’s Polaris Dawn watch is mesmerizing.

The dial of the new watches is entirely different, however, as IWC has replaced the matte-black dial of the standard “Lake Tahoe” with a blue lacquered dial decorated all over with stars and adorned with the Polaris Dawn mission logo on the 6 o’clock chronograph register. Additionally, each watch’s caseback is engraved with the name of the crew member who will be wearing it.

Outside of the aesthetic makeover, IWC doesn’t seem to have made any changes to the Pilot’s Chronograph, but it likely didn’t need to. Like other watches from the brand’s Pilot’s line, the chronograph has a soft-iron inner case protecting the movement from magnetic fields, and the sapphire crystal is reinforced to prevent it from popping off in case there’s a drop in air pressure.

You Can Own a Piece of Outer Space History

four iwc watches in a display box — All four watches will be auctioned off for charity following the mission’s completion.

The mission is just the start of the journey for these four IWC watches. After the crew of Polaris Dawn returns to Earth, the watches will be auctioned off by Christie’s in New York to raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

If you’re interested in owning a rare piece of outer space history, you can sign up for updates on the auction here. Polaris Dawn is set to embark on its mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on August 26.