Dawn of time

Space–flown Watches Sold to Benefit St. Jude

Four chronographs, returned from the highest Earth orbit ever flown, will be auctioned to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®. Place your bid for a watch that has flown higher in Earth’s orbit than any other in the history of timekeeping: IWC Schaffhausen presents the Pilot's Watch Chronograph Edition “Polaris Dawn” in white ceramic with a dark blue lacquered dial.
COMING TO AUCTION DECEMBER 9th 2024 in NEW YORK
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 A JOURNEY LIKE NO OTHER

IWC Schaffhausen is proud to support the Polaris Dawn commercial spaceflight mission, the first of three spaceflights planned as part of the Polaris Program. Seeking to demonstrate important capabilities that will help further human space exploration to the moon, Mars and beyond, the program will begin with Polaris Dawn before culminating with the first human spaceflight on SpaceX’s Starship. The Polaris Dawn mission set launch from Florida on September 10th.

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 A JOURNEY LIKE NO OTHER

IWC Schaffhausen is proud to support the Polaris Dawn commercial spaceflight mission, the first of three spaceflights planned as part of the Polaris Program. Seeking to demonstrate important capabilities that will help further human space exploration to the moon, Mars and beyond, the program will begin with Polaris Dawn before culminating with the first human spaceflight on SpaceX’s Starship. The Polaris Dawn mission is set to launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on 31 July 2024.

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Expedition Information Graphic

The Mission
Orbit at 1,400 KM
1st commercial spacewalk
Test starlink-based comms
The Polaris Dawn crew will spent five days on-orbit aboard the Dragon spacecraft, during which they endeavored to reach the highest Earth orbit ever flown…
… the first commercial spacewalk in the history of space travel ….
… and test Starlink laser-based communications in space.
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Stratosphere
Orbit at
700 km
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700 km
500 km
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OUR CAUSE

In addition to conducting research in space, Polaris Dawn will raise funds and awareness for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® - a leading research institution and hospital treating childhood cancer and other pediatric diseases. IWC Schaffhausen and Christie's are proud to partner with Polaris Dawn to support this goal.

IWC Schaffhausen has designed and donated four space-themed chronographs. The Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Polaris Dawn” features a 44.5-millimeter case made of white ceramic. Its dark blue lacquered dial is printed with countless stars. Stop times of up to 12 hours are displayed in two totalizers at 9 o’clock and 12 o’clock. The small seconds display at 6 o’clock features the Polaris Dawn mission patch.

White ceramic is emblematic of IWC’s materials expertise. It is created in a complex process in which zirconium oxide is mixed with other metallic oxides, shaped to a “green body”, machined and then sintered at extremely high temperatures in a kiln. Ceramic is extremely scratch-resistant and remarkably light – making it the perfect material for a watch that has to withstand the extreme conditions during space travel.

On the titanium case back, each of the four chronographs features an engraving with the name of one of the four Polaris Dawn crew members. Alongside Jared “Rook” Isaacman, who serves as the mission’s commander, the crew consists of retired United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Scott “Kidd” Poteet and SpaceX Lead Space Operations Engineers Sarah “Cooper” Gillis and Anna “Walker” Menon.

The Polaris Program aims to rapidly advance human spaceflight capabilities by demonstrating new technologies and conducting extensive scientific research to expand our knowledge of humans adapting, living, and working in space. Dozens of science and research experiments from over 20 partner institutions are designed to advance both human health on Earth and on future long-duration spaceflights.

After traveling to space with the Polaris Dawn crew and returning to Earth, the four chronographs will be auctioned in December 2024 to raise funds for the lifesaving work of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®. Christie's is proud to conduct the auction.

The Auction
Live Auction | 9 Dec
Dawn of Time. Space–flown Watches Sold to Benefit St. Jude
New york
Browse Auction
OUR CAUSE

In addition to conducting research in space, Polaris Dawn will raise funds and awareness for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® - a leading research institution and hospital treating childhood cancer and other pediatric diseases. IWC Schaffhausen and Christie's are proud to partner with Polaris Dawn to support this goal.

SIGN UP FOR UPDATES

IWC Schaffhausen has designed and donated four space-themed chronographs. The Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Polaris Dawn” features a 44.5-millimeter case made of white ceramic. Its dark blue lacquered dial is printed with countless stars. Stop times of up to 12 hours are displayed in two totalizers at 9 o’clock and 12 o’clock. The small seconds display at 6 o’clock features the Polaris Dawn mission patch.

White ceramic is emblematic of IWC’s materials expertise. It is created in a complex process in which zirconium oxide is mixed with other metallic oxides, shaped to a “green body”, machined and then sintered at extremely high temperatures in a kiln. Ceramic is extremely scratch-resistant and remarkably light – making it the perfect material for a watch that has to withstand the extreme conditions during space travel.

On the titanium case back, each of the four chronographs features an engraving with the name of one of the four Polaris Dawn crew members. Alongside Jared “Rook” Isaacman, who serves as the mission’s commander, the crew consists of retired United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Scott “Kidd” Poteet and SpaceX Lead Space Operations Engineers Sarah “Cooper” Gillis and Anna “Walker” Menon.

The Polaris Program aims to rapidly advance human spaceflight capabilities by demonstrating new technologies and conducting extensive scientific research to expand our knowledge of humans adapting, living, and working in space. Dozens of science and research experiments from over 20 partner institutions are designed to advance both human health on Earth and on future long-duration spaceflights.

After traveling to space with the Polaris Dawn crew and returning to Earth, the four chronographs will be auctioned in December 2024 to raise funds for the lifesaving work of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®. Christie's is proud to conduct the auction.

The Auction
Live Auction | 11 Dec
Dawn of Time. Space–flown Watches Sold to Benefit St. Jude
New york
Browse Auction

CONTACTS

Rebecca Ross
Specialist EMEA & Americas