• Apprentice
    27 Jan 2019, 7:12 p.m.

    Difference between IW501002 and IW500916 ? They both at called a IWC Big Pilot
    Le Petit Prince?

    Maybe im missing something, sorry if its obvious!

    thanks in advance

  • Master
    27 Jan 2019, 7:44 p.m.

    Hello Andyollie, welcome to the forum. On the outside, these two watches
    appear to be identical. The difference, however, is on the inside. Both have 7
    day automatic movements, but the 5009 has the earlier single barrel (one long
    mainspring) movement while the 5010 has the newer, redesigned twin barrel (two
    shorter mainsprings) movement with a little more ceramic used in the
    components. The movement redesign is intended to produce a more consistent
    rate over the seven days as the mainsprings wind down as well as to reduce
    wear with the additional use of ceramic. I personally have had fantastic
    results with the earlier movements so I am not motivated to "upgrade" my big
    pilots and I do service them at regular intervals so wear is not much of a
    concern to me either. However, it is reassuring to know that IWC is comitted
    to bringing the best possible product to market and will continue to make
    improvments as technology changes.

  • Apprentice
    28 Jan 2019, 9:49 p.m.

    Thank you very much for the detailed reply