The Blue Asteroid Reverie: A Pilot’s Time, A Prince’s Dream

On a quiet Montréal evening, somewhere between the hush of falling snow and the amber glow of a bedside lamp, he fastens the last button of his cuff.

A man of cultivated taste in his mid-forties, he moves with the calm assurance of one who has spent a lifetime collecting not just objects, but stories.

Tonight, however, the story belongs to his son—his own petit prince—tucked beneath linen sheets, waiting for the ritual that has outlived decades: a tale first encountered at six, now retold with deeper meaning.

In his hand rests a watch from IWC Schaffhausen—one of the new Le Petit Prince Anniversary Editions unveiled at Watches and Wonders Geneva.

Its deep blue dial catches the light like a distant planet. It is not merely timekeeping—it is memory, flight, and longing distilled into form.

He begins, softly, recounting the journey of Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry—the pilot who wrote not as a storyteller alone, but as a man who understood the vast loneliness of the skies.

Published in 1943, the book has since travelled across more than 650 languages, a quiet conqueror of hearts. It is, as he often reflects, a rare creation: a children’s tale that whispers truths only adults fully comprehend.

As his son’s eyes grow heavier, the father’s gaze drifts again to his watch. The anniversary collection—five pieces spanning 36 to 43 millimetres—feels like a constellation in itself. Each model carries the signature deep blue sunray dial, luminous like twilight over the Sahara, where Saint-Exupéry once flew.

He turns his wrist, admiring the Pilot’s Watch Mark XX in 18-carat 5N gold. Its warmth against the cool Montréal air feels deliberate, almost poetic.

The gold appliqués and hands glow softly, filled with Super-LumiNova®, echoing starlight guiding lost aviators home.

Inside, the 32112 calibre hums with quiet authority—120 hours of power, a testament to IWC’s mastery of endurance and precision.

The stainless steel counterpart offers a different kind of allure—restrained, modern, and quietly confident. It is the kind of piece that belongs beneath a tailored cuff, yet carries the soul of adventure.

For those drawn to complexity, the chronographs—43mm and 41mm—introduce the rhythm of measured time, powered by the 69385 calibre with its classical column-wheel design.

There is something deeply satisfying in their symmetry, like the precise geometry of flight paths traced across an endless sky.

And then, the smallest piece—the Automatic 36—rests like a secret. Refined, elegant, and intimate, it feels almost like the book itself: deceptively simple, yet layered with meaning.

Each case back, whether engraved or revealed through sapphire glass, bears the Little Prince—standing alone, gazing outward. It is a detail that transforms these watches from instruments into companions.

He pauses in the story, watching his son drift into sleep. In that silence, a thought lingers—one sharpened by years, by travel, by collecting.

The enduring power of Le Petit Prince lies in its duality. It belongs equally to innocence and experience, to wonder and reflection.

Much like IWC’s Pilot’s Watches, born from aviation yet refined for modern life, both speak to a shared human desire: to explore, to understand, to return.

This is where literature meets horology—where a pilot’s story becomes a watchmaker’s muse.

He switches off the lamp. The room darkens, but the watch dial glows faintly, like a distant star. Somewhere, beyond time, a prince continues his journey.

And here, in Montréal, a father keeps it alive—one night, one story, one watch at a time.

The IWC Schaffhausen’s Le Petit Prince Anniversary Edition Pilot’s Watches are available now in all IWC Schaffhausen boutiques worldwide.

*Photos courtesy of IWC Schaffhausen.