In 1949 IWC began a new chapter in this aeronautical saga when, in response to a call for tenders issued in the late 1940s by the Royal Air Force, it developed the Mark XI. The model, manufactured in 1948 and delivered in 1949 to British pilots and the Commonwealth Armed Forces, was in use until 1981. Protected by a second, soft iron inner case to make it impervious to magnetic fields, Calibre 89 steadily beat the time. This movement was the work of Albert Pellaton, then Technical Director of IWC and author of a particularly effective bidirectional pawl winding system, now known as the Pellaton winding system.

The three pilot’s watches created between 1936 and 1949 began a long aeronautical tradition for IWC, since extended to include multiple models for men and women. In 1992 the Pilot’s Watch collection was expanded with a double chronograph. In 1998 the brand unveiled the Spitfire UTC model with the time and date set by the crown. This model led to the creation of a complete Spitfire range, launched in 2003. A year earlier, in 2002, the Big Pilot’s Watch was revisited in a scaled-back 46mm version with a self-winding movement endowed with a 7-day power reserve. The design of this watch was updated again in 2006 with five new models, including the famous "Saint-Exupéry" aviator's watch that marked the 75th anniversary of the famous writer-pilot’s novel Vol de Nuit. 2012 brought the launch of the Top Gun line, whose military style is enhanced by the choice of a black ceramic case. Not forgetting 2013, which saw the first special editions of "Le Petit Prince" to mark the 70th anniversary of Saint-Exupéry's eponymous novel.