The times when IWC would pass each of its six households beneath the surgeon’s knife on a six-yearly cycle begin to seem rather remote. In such commercially enlightened times, the strategy is now predictable for different reasons, namely that the company will return to its leading lines a lot more frequently than it once did. Popularity plus novelty equals prosperity, or anything like that.
Thus it is that this year we return again into the popular Portugieser, IWC’s unofficial flagship and a layout whose character has remained largely unaltered since its introduction in the late 1930s.
That in mind, it won’t come as a surprise that this year’s Watches & Wonders sees numerous Portugieser additions — that there are 30 of them all told, all with in-house movements — which are largely an instance of nip and tuck. A new colourway here, a repositioning of a logo there, spot the difference.
There are, nevertheless, some genuinely noteworthy stories, beginning with the news that the family has a brand new entry piece, the ￡6,450 Portugieser Automatic 40.
The yield of a compact base version to the line will be welcome news to aspirant Portugieser owners, although it may also interest them to know that the brand new line of Portugieser Chronographs begins at ￡7,050, a relatively gentle incline given the purpose upgrade.
At the other end of the spectrum, the new set includes some stunning high complications, such as the Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 42, which has a new in-house motion, along with also the Portugieser Yacht Club Moon & Tide.
It’s ten years since the sportier Yacht Club joined the household (notice the crown protectors), but the Moon & Tide is the first to carry a new IWC motion watch that gives the indications for the phases of the moon at the southern and northern hemispheres, spring and neap tides and the next low and high tides.
Even allowing for its prejudice given to”lifestyle” in watch style these days, it’s still slightly confusing this function was wrapped in a rose gold case that’s water-resistant to only 30 metres. It’s hardly the stuff of an ocean-going tool watch and you can not help thinking it’d make more sense in IWC’s longer seaworthy Aquatimer. The alloy is thought to be five to ten times more wear-resistant than conventional red golds and makes a particularly handsome backdrop for the deftly designed Portugieser Tourbillon Rétrograde Chronograph. Joining that now-standard mix are bold burgundy and green dial variants and a blue dialled, rose-gold cased version that seems sumptuous on its blue alligator strap. The bicolour version taps into the current trend for the union of steel and rose gold. All versions are water-resistant to 60 metres.
