IWC Spitfire Double Chronograph Watch was named after the legendary British fighter and reconnaissance plane of all time. The striking timepiece owes more than its name to this outstanding aircraft. The silver-colored dial evokes associations with the elegant fuselage of its namesake, while the shape of its five hands reminisces of the legendary fighter’s propeller blades.
The watch features a chronograph split-seconds hand, also known by its French name – rattrapante. In other words, it is actually a double chronograph functionality. Unlike a common chronograph, the split-seconds chronograph has two hands that start simultaneously. To help distinguish them, one hand is red. The split-seconds hand can be stopped independently using a third push button which is situated at the 10 o’clock position, while the stopwatch hand continues to run. This allows recording two separate times, exact to the second, within any given minute. When you push again the button at the 10 o’clock, the rattrappante or split-seconds hand simultaneously catches up and is synchronized with the other hand. Thus, you can repeat the process as often as you desire. That can be quite useful if you plan to record two separate events that start at the same time.
