Simply Abu Dhabi XXXV

T he luxury Swiss watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen has a long and illustrious list of “friends of the brand” and official ambassadors. A-list stars from the world of sports and entertainment regularly attend all manner of events connected to the brand’s many global projects. Earlier in August, British actress Rosamund Pike and former Formula One driver David Coulthard, both IWC brand ambassadors, joined other stars such as British actors Taron Egerton, Finn Cole and around 400 VIP IWC guests at the Goodwood Estate in the UK to launch a new historic expedition: “Silver Spitfire – The Longest Flight.” In collaboration with Aviation Adventures Ltd, IWC Schaffhausen has teamed up with the Boultbee Flight Academy as the main partner and official timekeeper for a special mission – an unprecedented flight around the world in a meticulously restored and flawlessly polished Spitfire aircraft. Since 2017, a crack team of 14 specialists have dedicated their time and expertise to fully restore an original Spitfire MK IX aircraft, which dates back to 1943. Following several successful test flights in July, the “Silver Spitfire” finally took off from Goodwood Aerodrome after the farewell party, to embark on its circumnavigation of the globe. The two British pilots, Matt Jones and Steve Boultbee-Brooks, co- founders of the Boultbee Flight Academy – the world’s first Spitfire training school and approved Spitfire flight provider – will cover more than 43,000 kilometres and visit 30 countries. The route will initially take IWCPilot’sWatchTimezoner SpitfireEdition“TheLongestFlight” (Ref. IW395501) 1 1 0 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I