For Dubai Watch Week in November 2017, IWC Schaffhausen has launched an exclusive new watch for collectors in the Middle East, in partnership with Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons. The Portugieser Tourbillon Hand-Wound (Ref. IW546307), with its dark green dial, comes in a limited edition of just 25 watches. This watch, specially created for lovers of fine watchmaking, will be available in IWC’s regional stores from 1 December 2017.
The Portugieser range was created in the 1930s to meet the specifications of Portuguese businessmen (hence the name), and became a pillar of IWC’s collections. The Portugieser Tourbillon Hand-Wound, launched in 2011, showcases the haute horlogerie talents of Kurt Klaus and his team, but remains understated despite its high-end mechanics.
This version, limited to 25 pieces, has a deep emerald dial and is animated by a flying tourbillon at 9 o’clock. The round 43-mm case is fitted with a black alligator leather strap. The manually-wound manufacture 98900 calibre, which can be viewed through the transparent sapphire crystal case back, supplies a power reserve of 54 hours and features IWC’s signature indexless balance.
Portugieser Tourbillon (Ref IW546307) © IWC Schaffhausen
At 9 o’clock, you have the sub-dial that suggests the day, and at 3 o’clock you’ve the sub-dials that show that the date and power reserve. At 6 o’clock, there’s a month indicator and moon phase display, and to the remaining at around 8 o’clock you have the entire year index. Finally, there is the flying tourbillon that makes a single rotation every minute at 12 o’clock. The motion inside is the self-winding Iwc Watches 1950 Replica grade 51950, which is based on the Caliber 51900 located in IWC’s other tourbillon watches such as the Portugieser Tourbillon Mystère Rétrograde however with the ingenious 82-part perpetual calendar module developed by Kurt Klaus. This movement also contains IWC’s Pellaton winding system also has a generous power book of 168 hours, or seven days. It’s observable through a sapphire display caseback and features a unique commemorative 18k gold rotor.The additional tourbillon watch that IWC has especially prepared for its 150th anniversary is your Portugieser Constant-Force Tourbillon Edition “150 decades.” This comes in a slightly larger 46mm broad Portugieser style case and is only accessible platinum. Like the earlier Portugieser Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon Edition “150 Years,” this watch also offers heat-treated blue hour and minute hands. This is an updated version of past Constant-Force Tourbillon watches — Portugieser along with other models — combined with all the “perpetual moon phase display. “The Portugieser Constant-Force Tourbillon Edition “150 Years” includes a considerably less busy dial. At 1 o’clock there’s a moon phase display that just has to be adjusted by means of a day after 577.5 years. Below the moon phase display at about 4:30 is a power reserve indicator. Ultimately, we’ve got the highlight of this opinion, the large tourbillon featuring a constant-force mechanism which delivers power in impulses to the escapement. In theory, this should improve the chronometric performance of the motion.
As Luc Rochereau, IWC’s regional brand manager for the Middle-East, India and Africa, explained, the most demanding connoisseurs and collectors of the Middle East have always supported the Iwc Watches On Ebay Replica brand, which was why it made sense to have a timepiece available exclusively in that region.
The Seddiqi family remains an enthusiastic supporter of IWC, and is delighted to be able to offer its timeless timepieces to the region’s watch lovers. “The Portugieser range has always showcased the best of haute horlogerie and of IWC,” explains Abdul Hamied Seddiqi, vice-president of Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons. “It is a privilege to be able to offer this rare hand-wound tourbillon to our select clientele.”