Parents divorced when he was young, his father took on both roles and worked three jobs at the same time, just to buy a go-kart for his six-year-old son. He devoted his life to helping his son get involved in this racing sport that had never had any black participants, hoping that one day he would succeed. This is the growth story of F1 champion Lewis Hamilton, which sounds like a typical inspirational story. The only difference is that this boy has now made incredible history by officially winning his seventh world championship, putting him on par with the “car god” Michael Schumacher in the history books.
From the age of eight, Lewis Hamilton officially started his career in professional racing. In a world where there were no role models to look up to, he has been striving to excel, dedicating his life to repaying his parents’ upbringing. Especially his father, who single-handedly nurtured this talented son for over 30 years, making him not only a respected driver in the world today but also showing the world in this money-driven sport that success is possible for working-class families, that racing is not just for white people, and that black individuals can also make history. In short, DREAM THE IMPOSSIBLE. With the recent spotlight on human rights issues and the racial movement in the United States, Black Lives Matter (BLM) has gained momentum. Hamilton, as the first and only black driver in F1 history, has taken the lead in supporting BLM in F1 events this year, using his influence in the sports and social spheres to combat racial discrimination.
In light of this, as the official watch brand of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, IWC has specially created a unique edition Big Pilot Spitfire with the slogan “Black Lives Matter” for Hamilton. This one-off watch is the same watch that Hamilton wore when he broke the record for the most wins at the Eifel Grand Prix this year and tied the record for the most wins in Formula One history last night, making it the only one of its kind.
For IWC, the Spitfire special edition series that first appeared in 2003 has always symbolized speed, performance, and control, which are also the three key elements that coincide with the partner Mercedes-AMG F1 team and Hamilton himself. Since becoming a team sponsor in the first quarter, IWC has consistently demonstrated a high level of performance in these three elements. Therefore, the watch factory deliberately selected this special edition watch and designed a one-off watch project for Hamilton to show support for his BLM movement.
Regarding this one-off watch, the original version was the Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar Spitfire that debuted last year, a perpetual calendar watch with hour, minute, second, perpetual calendar, and moon phase functions, with the original version featuring a bronze case. As for the style worn by Hiddleston last night, it is a completely blacked-out design, with the dial diameter slightly increased to 48mm, and it is also the first in IWC’s history to use the patented material Ceratanium to make the case and strap of this Big Pilot series watch, at first glance, you can probably only see the hour and minute hands, moon phase pattern, and the word “2020” specially engraved at the eight o’clock position.
Although the word “2020” is used to commemorate this year’s Black Lives Matter movement, thinking further, IWC’s choice to engrave this year on the watch may indicate that the watch factory, the team, and Hamilton himself already have an idea that they will definitely equal Schumacher’s “seven times” this year, and will become champions with the attitude of breaking the record for the most pole positions and race wins, so it is fitting to commemorate this truly memorable moment on the watch.
As for the price of the black-out version of the Big Pilot perpetual calendar Spitfire, since it is a one-off production, it will not be publicly available for sale. I believe it will not appear in the market in the future. After all, watches are born with the name of supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, which has a different meaning for Hamilton. Congratulations again to the seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton, Hamilton, and the Mercedes team!
