NWA: RAW x STOWA Darth Pilot Celebratory Edition
, by RAW Singapore, 3 min reading time
The Darth Pilot marks the third collaboration between Red Army Watches (RAW) and German watchmaker, STOWA; this time, to mark RAW's 15th anniversary as the renegade of the watch industry.
STOWA and RAW are no strangers when it comes to collaborating to produce special edition watches, having previously launched sell-out editions – the Lady Chin Swee in 2014 and Singapura Red Hill in 2016.
Cross Over to the Dark Side with the Darth Pilot
The third time that RAW is working together with the German pilot watchmaker on our Celebratory Edition also happens to be our darkest, literally – and specific to the watch itself.
Back to the Fliegeruhren (pilot watch) as the base template, we reimagined a rogue element of the famed Dirty Dozen Watches made for the British military in 1945. Purportedly, the total number of watches was over 150,000 units. However, for our purposes, we would like to think that there was a batch of watches made especially for a certain clandestine pilot group. The watches in this batch come in a case that is completely black with a centre sweeping second. The project codename? Darth Pilot.
Renegade of the Watch Industry
Sugiharto Kusumadi, founder of RAW, says, “This dark theme fits perfectly with RAW celebrating 15 years as the renegade of the watch industry in the region. Starting from a single store in Singapore in 2004, we now have outlets spanning across four countries with multiple retail concepts.”
Cased within the 40mm black PVD coated, stainless steel case of the Darth Pilot beats a top grade Swiss ETA2824-2 movement – the highest grade of this type of movement and comes with the best finishing and performance.
Continuing the tradition of our collaboration with STOWA, the Darth Pilot also comes with two different interchangeable casebacks. One, fitted on the watch at delivery, is an open caseback with sapphire crystal. The second caseback is included separately in the set and comes engraved with a custom design depicting the renegade squadron’s insignia.
That Winning Lume
The watch dial is ensured to be of perfect legibility with a clean type A pilot watch dial design sans date. It also comes with X1 grade SuperLumiNova® painted indices, numbers, and hands. The Swiss SuperLumiNova® Grade X1 shows a performance increase of up to 60% after two hours, compared to the standard grade, and the legibility, according to the ISO 3157 standard, is extended by at least a factor of 1.6 in the long term.
Add a Custom-made Bund Strap
We further incorporated our in-house capabilities in the Darth Pilot with our very own leather craftsman designing a custom bund strap to fit the watch. This alternative look is an optional addition on top of the factory-fitted black calf leather strap that comes with the watch.
The Darth Pilot is limited to 100 pieces and is sold out.
For an alternative view, read Watches by SJX‘s review of the Darth Pilot here.
About STOWA
STOWA is a watch manufacturer based in Engelsbrand, Germany and it has been making watches since 1927. Well-known as one of the few select companies that made Flieger Uhren (pilot watches) during WWII, the company has gained reputation amongst the watch collecting community with its well-built and well-designed watches.
Currently, STOWA is owned by Jörg Schauer, who also owns the Schauer watch brand and the DUROWE watch movement brand. As the driving force behind the revival of the brand, Mr Schauer is a perfectionist by nature, often getting involved personally in the final touch and finishing of his watches, making STOWA a highly personal agenda for him.
For more on STOWA, click here.
