Case #736 — IWC Pilot Chronograph Le Petit Prince 43 Ref. IW377714

Case #736 — IWC Pilot's Watch Chronograph Edition "Le Petit Prince"

Ref. IW377714

Status: Available

Condition: Excellent Pre-Owned

Scope: Box, Papers, and Cards

Year: 2019

🔎 Case Notes

Most pilot's chronographs are instruments first and objects second. The Le Petit Prince edition is the exception that proves the rule — a fully functional IWC flieger chronograph that happens to carry a literary dedication, and whose trademark midnight blue dial turned what could have been a marketing exercise into one of the most recognisable modern Pilot's Watches IWC has made.

This is the 43 mm stainless steel version, reference IW377714, dated 2019. The blue dial shifts between navy and near-black depending on light, framed by the familiar flieger triangle, luminous Arabic numerals and three vertically stacked chronograph registers with the day-and-date aperture at 3 o'clock. The bezel is polished steel and fixed; the crystal is sapphire. Beneath it all sits the 79320-calibre chronograph movement, which handles single stop times and aggregate timing up to 12 hours and is shielded against magnetic fields by a soft-iron inner case.

The caseback is where the edition declares itself. This Pilot's Watch carries an engraving on the rear of the little prince with his cape and sword — the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry connection rendered as a quiet detail rather than a dial-side slogan.

Condition is Excellent Pre-Owned, with no specific flaws recorded at inspection. It arrives on a leather strap with tang buckle, complete with Box, Papers, and Cards, and is sized to fit an approximately 8-inch wrist.

🕰️ The Evidence

• Reference: IW377714
• Model / Collection: Pilot's Watch Chronograph Edition "Le Petit Prince"
• Year: 2019
• Case: Stainless steel
• Case Diameter: 43 mm
• Thickness: Approximately 15.4 mm
• Lug-to-Lug: Approximately 53 mm
• Lug Width: 21 mm
• Dial: Blue, luminous Arabic numerals, day and date display at 3 o'clock
• Crystal: Sapphire, convex, antireflective coating on both sides, secured against displacement by a drop in air pressure
• Bezel: Fixed stainless steel, polished
• Crown: Screw-in crown
• Caseback: Solid, engraved — Le Petit Prince motif
• Movement: IWC Calibre 79320, self-winding, 25 jewels; 28,800 vph (4 Hz), 240 components
• Movement Type: Automatic
• Power Reserve: Up to 44 hours
• Functions: Hours, minutes, small hacking seconds, day, date, 12-hour chronograph
• Water Resistance: 6 bar (60 m)
• Strap: Leather strap
• Clasp: Tang / pin buckle
• Bracelet Fit: Approximately 8-inch wrist
• Condition: Excellent Pre-Owned
• Included: Box, Papers, and Cards

🌟 Collector Provenance

The Pilot's Watch Chronograph is the backbone of IWC's aviation collection — the reference most people picture when the brand is mentioned. The classic 43 mm steel case, the day-date aperture at 3 o'clock, the triple-register layout: this is the shape IWC has refined across decades, and the IW3777 family is its most widely collected modern expression.

Within that family, the Le Petit Prince editions occupy a distinct position. They are not numbered limited editions, but special editions, and the IW3777-14 was produced from 2016 to 2022 and carries the blue dial common to other Le Petit Prince models. That blue is now so closely identified with the series that it has effectively become a sub-brand within IWC's Pilot's catalogue — and it is the reason this reference is remembered while plenty of black-dial contemporaries blur together.

It is also a generation with a defined endpoint. The reference is now discontinued, superseded by IWC's later 41 mm Pilot's Chronograph architecture with its exhibition caseback and in-house 69000-series movement. That makes the IW377714 the final expression of the larger 43 mm, solid-caseback, 79320-powered formula — a clear generational marker rather than simply an older model.

🌟 Technical Provenance

The Calibre 79320 is IWC's execution of the Valjoux 7750 architecture — the cam-and-lever chronograph that has done more aviation and motorsport timing duty than any other automatic movement of the modern era. It is robust, serviceable anywhere in the world, and famously tolerant of hard wear. Forty-four hours of reserve at 4 Hz is exactly what that platform is known for.

What IWC adds is aviation-specific engineering. The soft-iron inner case shields the movement against magnetic fields — a genuine cockpit concern rather than a specification-sheet flourish — and the crystal is secured against displacement by a drop in air pressure, a provision inherited from IWC's pilot-watch design doctrine dating back to the Mark series. The screw-in crown and 6 bar rating complete a watch built for altitude rather than depth.

🧾 From the Case File

At 43 mm wide, roughly 15.4 mm thick and around 53 mm lug-to-lug, this is a watch with deliberate presence. It suits a larger wrist, and this example is already sized to fit approximately 8 inches — no immediate trip to a watchmaker required. The 21 mm lug width is unusual enough to be worth noting: it is a real spacing, widely available in aftermarket straps, but not the 20 or 22 mm most buyers assume.

Functionally, it is one of the more genuinely useful chronographs in this price territory. Day and date together make it a complete calendar for daily use, the 12-hour totaliser covers long-duration timing, and hacking small seconds allow precise setting. The 7750-derived calibre is a known quantity for any competent independent watchmaker, which matters for long-term ownership cost in a way exotic in-house chronographs often do not.

The practical argument for this example is completeness and configuration. It is a discontinued reference, in Excellent Pre-Owned condition, with Box, Papers, and Cards intact — documentation that is straightforward to lose and impossible to recreate. Buying new is no longer an option for this generation; buying one with its full paperwork and the blue Le Petit Prince dial is the version of this watch most collectors are actually looking for.

🗝️ BST Verdict

A 2019 example of IWC's most recognisable Pilot's Chronograph, in the dial colour that defines the Le Petit Prince series, with the engraved caseback that gives the edition its character and the soft-iron-shielded 79320 that gives it its credibility.

Discontinued, complete with Box, Papers, and Cards, presented in Excellent Pre-Owned condition, and sized for an approximately 8-inch wrist. The last of the 43 mm solid-caseback generation, and a straightforward one to live with.

👉 Every case deserves a closer look.