For over a decade, the IWC lineup lacked a successor to the legendary IWC Mark II. In mid-90s, during its golden era, IWC decided to fix this and introduced the IWC Mark XII. The IWC Mark XII included many modern upgrades such as sapphire crystal and an automatic movement with date and a screw down crown. In addition, a metal bracelet was offered. The water resistance remained unchanged at 6 ATM along with the dial that’s immediately recognizable as a pilot watch.

The IWC Mark XII was sold and produced from mid-90s to late 90s until it was replaced by IWC Mark XV in 1998-1999. Ever since then, pilot watches have represented a major part of IWC catalogue in various forms. Among normies, IWC is probably best known known for their pilot watches. After the introduction of the Mark XII, IWC introduced many other iconic pilot’s watches such as the Big Pilot and Pilot’s Chronograph. The Mark series continues still today as an entry-level watch in the IWC collection.