Review: IWC’s Top Gun Mojave Desert Might Be The Perfect Everyday IWC Pilot Watch

In 1936, IWC Schaffhausen introduced its first Special Pilot’s Watch, a timepiece engineered for survival. Equipped with a rotating bezel and an antimagnetic escapement, it was built to withstand the brutal realities of early aviation.

Fast forward to 1940, and IWC delivered the Big Pilot’s Watch Calibre 52 T.S.C., a 55mm behemoth designed for cockpit navigation with an oversized crown that pilots could operate without removing their quilted gloves. And that function over form DNA has really come to define IWC’s pilot watches for nearly 90 years.

But in 2007, something shifted. IWC formalized its partnership with the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School, better known as Top Gun, and began producing watches that paid tribute to naval aviation’s most elite training program. The collaboration has since spawned an entire collection rendered in advanced materials including ceramic, titanium, and IWC’s proprietary Ceratanium hybrid — each colorway inspired by the landscapes where these pilots train.

Today, we’re taking a closer look at the IWC Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 Top Gun Mojave Desert, a sand-colored ceramic three-hander that distills decades of pilot watch heritage into a wearable 41mm package. For us as Southern California natives who’ve spent countless hours shooting, camping, and exploring the Mojave’s BLM land, this colorway hits differently. It’s not just a nod to some distant military base — it’s in our own backyard.

The question is: Does an $8,900 sand-colored ceramic pilot’s watch justify its premium over IWC’s more affordable alternatives, or is this just a colorway tax for desert enthusiasts? Let’s get into it.

The Mojave Desert edition is part of IWC’s “Colors of Top Gun” lineup, which also includes the all-white Lake Tahoe, the deep green Woodland, and the standard black ceramic version. Where the Lake Tahoe makes a bold statement with its blinding white case and high-contrast dial, the Mojave takes the opposite approach. It’s subdued, and almost tactical in its presentation, with a sand-colored ceramic case paired to a complementary brown dial and beige markers.

On the wrist, the monochromatic earth-tone palette creates a stealth presence. Depending on your skin tone and what you’re wearing, this watch can almost disappear, which can either be a good thing or bad thing, depending on your perspective. For us, we love how it blends into casual desert tones, feeling more like a field watch than a traditional pilot’s watch despite its aviation pedigree.

In many ways, the watch reminds us of the Hamilton Khaki Field, one of our all-time favorite watches regardless of price.

And let’s address that elephant in the room right out of the gate: the price. This watch retails for $8,900, which is nearly $2,000 more than the black ceramic Top Gun edition that sits at $7,000. The black version shares the same 41mm case, the same in-house 32000-series movement, and the same level of finishing. The differences? The Mojave gets you a different ceramic color, an upgraded textile-inlay rubber strap, and 100m of water resistance versus 60m on the black.

IWC has been working with ceramic since 1986, when it debuted the material on the Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar. Since then, the brand has gone all-in on technical ceramics, developing an extensive color palette that includes everything from the deep blue “Oceania” to the glow-in-the-dark “Ceralume” variant. The Mojave Desert colorway seen here  is achieved by blending zirconium oxide powder with other metallic oxide powders at precise ratios, then sintering the mixture at high temperatures in a specialized kiln. During this process, the ceramic body shrinks by about a third, which means IWC has to account for that dimensional change during the design phase. Although it may sound like a lot of technical jargon, it really is a testament to their manufacturing precision here.

The result is a lightweight, scratch-resistant case that measures 41mm in diameter, 11.4mm thick, with a lug-to-lug span of 50.5mm. These proportions are nearly identical to IWC’s steel Mark XX, making the Mojave Desert far more wearable than its Big Pilot siblings — seen here on our wearer’s 6.75” for reference.

The case finishing is a pretty straightforward affair — there’s no complex beveling or mixed brushing and polishing here. The ceramic has a matte, almost velvety surface that doesn’t catch much light, further contributing to the watch’s understated character. At the 3 o’clock position, you’ll find a screw-down crown rendered in solid titanium, providing a subtle visual contrast against the sand-colored ceramic. The crown is easy to operate and ensures the watch’s 100m water resistance rating, aided by a solid titanium caseback that’s screwed into place.

Inside the case, a soft-iron inner cage protects the movement from magnetic fields — a nod to IWC’s pilot watch heritage, when aircraft engines emitted electromagnetic interference that could wreak havoc on mechanical movements. Today, magnetic fields are everywhere — kitchen appliances, smartphones, laptops – but the soft-iron cage means your Mojave Desert will keep ticking regardless.

Flip the watch over, and you’ll find the Top Gun logo etched in relief on the caseback, encircled by text identifying this as an International Watch Co. Pilots Watch. We’ll address the Top Gun branding later, but for now, it’s worth noting that the logo refers to the actual U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School, not the Tom Cruise movies — though the line between the two has undeniably blurred since the release of Top Gun: Maverick in 2022.

Onto the dial, which is where the Mojave Desert divides opinions a bit. Underneath a slightly domed sapphire crystal with AR coating on both sides, the dial is a matte, desert-sand color with full Arabic hour numerals, a framed date at 3 o’clock, and the signature triangle-and-dots pilot marker at 12. The sword-style hands are also finished in beige, and the seconds hand is a thin needle with a beige tip.

If you’re coming from high-contrast pilot watches, the Mojave’s subdued palette will feel a bit jarring at first as legibility is not at the forefront here. The brown-on-beige scheme offers enough contrast to read the time easily in good lighting, but in dim conditions or at certain angles, the dial can blend together. 

The lume application is adequate but certainly not exceptional. The hour markers, triangle, and hands receive a coating of Swiss Super-LumiNova that glows green in the dark, but the charge doesn’t last as long as we’d like. And the seconds hand gets no lume at all, which feels like a missed opportunity at this price point.

That said, the dial’s execution is clean and purposeful. The printing is crisp, the markers are applied elements with depth, and the overall composition feels balanced. And, the Top Gun script has notably been removed from the previous iterations — which is a welcomed update in our book.

Under the closed caseback beats IWC’s Caliber 32112, an in-house automatic movement co-developed with Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier (VMF), a Richemont Group sibling that specializes in movement design. The 32112 offers a standout feature: a 120-hour power reserve, or five full days of runtime when fully wound. 

The movement operates at 28,800 vibrations per hour (4Hz), uses 21 jewels, and incorporates silicon components in the escapement wheel and pallet lever for increased durability and magnetic resistance. The bidirectional pawl winding system — similar to the Pellaton system IWC has used for decades — winds the mainspring efficiently in either direction of rotor movement. The movement hacks and hand-winds, and although you can’t see it through the solid caseback, IWC finishes the caliber with circular Côtes de Genève and a semi-skeletonized rotor.

The extended power reserve is where IWC justifies a chunk of this watch’s premium. Building a 120-hour movement that runs at 4Hz is no small feat — it requires careful management of energy distribution across two mainspring barrels, and helps separate itself from off-the-shelf movements.

Moving onto the strap, which is hands down one of our favorite elements of this watch. IWC ships the Mojave Desert on a beige rubber strap with a textile inlay running down the center — it’s essentially a NATO strap sandwiched inside a rubber dive strap.

The strap measures 20mm at the lugs and tapers to 18mm at the signed titanium pin buckle. On the underside, you’ll find a grippy texture with an X-pattern that keeps the watch locked in place, even in sweaty or wet conditions. And comfort is immediate here — there’s absolutely no break-in period, and the strap conforms to your wrist from day one.

The textile inlay adds some nice visual interest and a distinctly military vibe, evoking the fabric straps worn on vintage field and pilot watches. It’s a thoughtful design touch that elevates the overall package and helps justify the premium over the black ceramic version, which comes on a standard rubber strap without the textile inlay.

So as we round out our review, we once again ask the question, is the IWC Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 Top Gun Mojave Desert worth it?

And at just under $9,000, the honest answer is: it really depends on what you value.

If you’re purely focused on specs-per-dollar, the black ceramic Top Gun at $7,000 offers 90% of what the Mojave delivers. You get the same case construction, the same movement, and the same finishing — just in a more traditional colorway with slightly less water resistance and a simpler strap. Hell, IWC’s Mark XX  hovers around the $6,000 mark and delivers similar functionality in a dressier package. For most buyers, those alternatives will probably make more sense.

But here’s the thing most of us in this hobby are very aware of: watch collecting isn’t always about logic. Sometimes, a specific colorway speaks to you on a level that transcends rational cost-benefit analysis. For us, the Mojave Desert does exactly that, and the sand-colored ceramic and brown dial feel deeply personal.

Now, about that Top Gun branding — as that seems to be a big point of contention online. For some buyers, the caseback logo is a dealbreaker, and we get it. The association with the Top Gun movies is unavoidable, and if you can’t shake the image of Tom Cruise playing beach volleyball every time you flip your watch over, this probably (and understandably) isn’t the piece for you. 

But it is important to remember: the Top Gun logo refers to the actual U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School at Naval Air Station Lemoore, a program with serious military heritage dating back decades. And, IWC’s partnership with the Navy has produced legitimate military-issue watches worn by actual pilots. That context matters, even if Hollywood has blurred the lines.

Recap

IWC Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 Top Gun Mojave Desert Edition

IWC’s Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 Top Gun Mojave Desert blends nearly 90 years of pilot watch heritage with a modern sand-colored ceramic case, offering a wearable, technical take on a classic aviation formula. In the end, whether it’s worth the $8,900 comes down less to specs and more to how much that unique desert colorway and Top Gun connection resonate with you personally.

Pros

• Cohesive and unique desert colorway with understated presence
• Lightweight and highly scratch-resistant ceramic case
• Wearable 41mm proportions with slim thickness
• Comfortable textile-inlay rubber strap with no break-in
• Excellent 120-hour power reserve at 4Hz
• Improved 100m water resistance over the black ceramic version

Cons

• Significant price premium over nearly identical black ceramic model
• Subdued dial contrast reduces legibility in low light
• Lume performance is adequate but not impressive for the price
• Minimal case finishing and visual complexity
• Top Gun branding on caseback may be polarizing
• Similar functionality available for less money in the Mark XX