Editor’s Note: Watches & Wonders (formerly SIHH) has moved online and Baselworld 2020 is canceled, but that hasn’t stopped watch brands large and small from debuting their new wares. Stay on top of this year’s best new watch releases here.
If you followed our coverage of last year’s SIHH (now called “Watches & Wonders Geneva”), you may recall that IWC’s offerings were largely focussed on their pilot’s watches. This year, however, it’s the Portugieser that’s getting all the attention.
The Portugieser, which, to quote ourselves, was “designed at the behest of two Portuguese merchants in the 1930s and originally housed in an oversized case with a pocket watch movement,” is a significant historical holdover from early-20th century watchmaking, and am important part of IWC’s catalog. Each of the new Portugieser watches features an in-house movement, and there’s even a completely new tide indicator complication available.
The Automatic and Perpetual Calendar
Recalling the original Portugieser models from the 1930s, the new Automatic 40 (ref. 3583) features a 40mm case, a small-seconds display at 6 o’clock on the dial and the IWC manufacture calibre 82200 with 60 hours of power reserve. Simple and elegant, it’s available in four versions in either 18-carat 5N gold ($16,900) or stainless steel ($7,250). For those who love a simple, time-only look but perhaps don’t want the pilot watch aesthetic, this return to clean, 1930s design should offer a welcome alternative.
