Having wrapped up the the 2019 World Championship last month with a full two races to spare, the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi last weekend was essentially a victory parade for Mr Lewis Hamilton. His win in that race and across the whole season follows what is now a well-established pattern. Over the past six seasons, Mr Hamilton has failed to win motor racing’s biggest prize just once, running a close second in 2016 to his then teammate, Mr Nico Rosberg.

As you’d expect, this near-total dominance of the sport has made Mr Hamilton a very marketable young man indeed. One of the brands well placed to capitalise on his sixth World Championship victory is IWC Schaffhausen, the “official engineering partner” of his racing team, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport. The Swiss watchmaker has chosen this week to launch a special-edition timepiece in his honour: the reference IW503002, otherwise known as the “Lewis Hamilton” Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Edition.

Fans of IWC will recognise similarities between this watch and the Rodeo Drive edition Big Pilot released earlier this year: it shares the same matte-finish ceramic case and is powered by the same movement, the in-house calibre 52615. What sets it apart, though, is the beautiful deep burgundy dial and matching textile strap. Honestly, we’ve never seen anything quite like it. That, and the fact that there are a mere 100 examples in existence, make this one very desirable watch indeed, so if you’re interested in owning one we suggest you channel your inner Mr Lewis Hamilton and speed on over to the purchase page as fast as you can. This won’t be around for long.

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