Swiss luxury watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen scores some big screen time for its famous Pilot’s Watch Mark XVI in Roland Emmerich’s upcoming blockbuster 2012 – with a nice supporting turn from John Cusack.

Opening 13 November 2009, the movie riffs on the theory that the world will come to a screeching halt in 2012 and proposes a post-apocalyptic scenario. Against this spectacularly dismal backdrop, IWC’s Pilot’s Watch Mark XVI rises to save the day, ably assisted by Cusack’s Jackson Curtis character.

With its exceptional resilience, the Mark XVI is perfectly cast here. When you consider the inner soft iron case (protecting the movement from magnetic fields) and the antireflective sapphire crystal that is secured against displacement by pressure drops, this watch was born ready for action.