With an eye towards tackling the troubling issue of illiteracy in Cambodia, Swiss luxury watchmaker IWC is holding a very special auction from 8-14 December 2008 on their own website.

IWC is offering two unique items for sale in this one-time opportunity: the only platinum version of the Pilot’s Watch UTC Edition Antoine de Saint Exupery and an English-translation copy of Saint Exupery’s Wind, Sand and Stars, signed by the long-missing author himself.

Considering that Saint Exupery has been missing since World War II, this is a bona fide antique. The watch is IWC’s own special contribution to the arena of GMT and world time watches. Please see our coverage of GMT watches and highlights from SIHH for more information.

The proceeds of this one-off auction will benefit the Sipar association, which is a group dedicated to eradicating illiteracy in Cambodia by publishing children’s books and establishing school libraries. Since 1993, the organization has set up nearly a hundred libraries in Cambodia.

Interestingly, among the books they have produced for children is a Khmer language translation of the Little Prince by Saint Exupery. Bids for the unique UTC and book begin at US$39,000 and IWC will accept increases of between US$100 to US$400 per bid.