Watchmaking and aeronautical engineering have pretty much always gone hand-in-hand — which is evidenced by just how many historically-significant pilot’s timepieces there are. But the folks at IWC are taking that relationship a step further with a new project: this fully-restored 1943 Supermarine Spitfire MX.IX WWII fighter plane they’re calling ‘Silver Spitfire.’
Done in conjunction with Boultbee Flight Academy, this project took over two years, 20,000 individually-inspected rivets, and dozens of painstakingly-sourced original parts to complete. This legendary fighter also received some modern safety upgrades, like fail-safe backups, to ensure it’s better than ever before. The 1,700 hp Rolls-Royce Merlin 70-powered polished aluminum aircraft isn’t just for show, either. It’s actually set to circumnavigate the globe starting on the 5th of August from the Goodwood Aerodrome — marking the greatest distance a plane of this type has ever traveled.
