For 2012 IWC is again issuing a watch in tribute of Antoine de Saint-Exupery, a French author and avid aviator.

This year is the sixth IWC Pilot’s watch to commemorate Saint-Exupery — the watch, Ref 387805, is cased in red gold and produced in a limited edition of 500 copies.

The flyback chronograph has a beautiful tobacco-colored dial with sunburst pattern on it. The back of the watch is decorated with a special engraving representing the last plane of Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the Lightning P-38. July 31, 1944.

Also, it appears that IWC is individually numbering each piece — hopefully this is a broader decision by the brand to move away from the “One of XXX” format that we have seen recently on recent limited edition models from the brand.

Via perpetuelle