Lume isn’t just for dials anymore. We’ve seen a slow intrusion of the material into other elements of a watch, from the strap, to the case, and this week; IWC takes that a step further with the introduction of a new material called Ceralume. The material, developed by IWC’s experimental division XPL, is a fully luminous ceramic seen here in the form of their Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41, paired with a luminous strap and dial to create a monochromatic theme around lume. Working with novel or exotic materials is nothing new for IWC, and have been working with ceramic since the mid-80’s, a decade prior to the iconic 3705 reference. Their latest creation builds on that knowledge, and the concept offers a tantalizing glance at what we might expect in production ready references.
IWC’s experimental division, or XPL, is responsible for the Big Pilot’s Watch Shock Absorber revealed in 2021 (and which received a very small production run), and now they’ve turned their attention to material sciences. The Ceralume material was created by “homogeneously mixing ceramic powders with high-grade Super-LumiNova pigments”. Presumably, they are using the X1 grade of Super-LumiNova, which retains its brightness the longest of the three grades. IWC claims that the case retains a glow for up to 24 hours based on their testing. The engineering challenge here is ensuring a perfectly homogeneous distribution of the materials, as they are mixed prior to the sintering process.
The fully luminous Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 is the body showcasing this material, proving that it can be done to a standard ready for production. As far as we know, at least. IWC claims that this will “form the foundation of future developments and releases” which I don’t doubt. Given the difficulty in reliably and consistently producing their last proprietary material, Ceratanium, I am curious as to how this might differ in a manner that will allow larger scale production. My hope is that they’ve solved any ongoing issues here and are more readily able to meet demand for watches featuring such materials.
It’s easy to imagine what an Ingenieur or Aquatimer might look like rendered in this material, and further still, if any other color might be achievable given Super-LumiNova’s existing range of hues. A fully ceramic Inge of any type sounds incredibly appealing, let alone one that exhibits fully luminous qualities. Fingers crossed on that one.
We got our first look at this watch on the wrist of F1 driver Lewis Hamilton this past weekend as he arrived at the paddock for the Monaco GP. Lewis is a spokesperson for IWC and has been pictured wearing other one-off pieces, so it’s a natural delivery vehicle for mass exposure. As of now, the Ceralume Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 is not commercially available, but keep an eye on IWC for that to change in the near future.