After celebrating 40 years of the Portofino model in 2014, the party is not over yet for IWC Schaffhausen, whose Portugieser timepiece turns 75 this year.
The Portugieser Annual Calendar in 18-carat red gold and with a silver-plated dial.
The occasion is marked by a new collection of the iconic watch, named after two Portuguese businessmen who ordered timekeepers with the precision of marine chronometers.
The requested accuracy could only be achieved by putting a voluminous pocket watch movement in round cases, resulting in large wristwatches that differed from the popular rectangular, art deco timepieces of the era.
The first of IWC's pocket-watch-style wristwatches were released in 1939, but it wasn't until 1993 when the Swiss company officially introduced Portugieser, continuing the series by offering different complications such as minute repeater, chronograph and perpetual calendar.
"With a wealth of sophisticated complications and movements, the Portugieser line has for many years come to symbolise our expertise as manufacturers of movements. None of our other watch families incorporate so many of the technical tours de force of haute horlogerie," said CEO Georges Kern.
"In 2015, IWC Schaffhausen will further demonstrate its innovative prowess and enormous passion for the art of watchmaking. The line will undergo an overall upgrade with the new in-house 52,000 calibre family, which is also visually more appealing."
Declaring 2015 as "The Year of the Portugieser", IWC presented the new collection at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH), held in January, in Geneva.
The 43mm Portugieser Hand-Wound Eight Days Edition 75th Anniversary is an homage to the original, which remains in a private collection. The historic piece features attributes that have defined the appearance of today's models: Arabic numerals, slim leaf-shaped hands, railway-track-style chapter ring and small seconds at 6 o'clock.
"Back then, the style of the Portugieser's dial and case was a major triumph for IWC's watchmakers — a design that is only now garnering the recognition it deserves," said creative director Christian Knoop. "With its clear-cut structure, no-frills reduction and elegance, it is still style-defining and difficult to surpass. That's why we took our inspiration for the Portugieser Hand-Wound Eight Days Edition 75th Anniversary from it. Compared with the original, we've hardly changed a thing."
The commemorative watch is available in 175 pieces in red gold with a silver-plated dial, and in 750 pieces in stainless steel with a black dial.
The Portugieser Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month is another anniversary model with a larger, 45mm case to showcase more complications: perpetual calendar, large digital date, leap year indicator and chronograph with flyback function.
The prestigious anniversary model is limited to 25 pieces in platinum and 75 pieces each in red gold with either a black or silver-plated dial.
SIHH 2015 also saw the premiere of the Portugieser Annual Calendar, designed in red gold with a silver-plated dial and in stainless steel with a silver-plated or midnight blue dial, the latter with a sun-pattern finish.
The Annual Calendar also resembles the original model but with the small seconds subdial positioned at 9 o'clock instead of 6 o'clock.
The indices from 11 to 1 o'clock has also been replaced with three display discs, indicating the month, date and day, in "American" order, which pays tribute to F.A. Jones, who combined his American pioneering spirit with Swiss watchmaking to found International Watch Co in 1868.
It took almost five years to develop the Annual Calendar, the in-house 52,850 calibre of which has two barrels to provide the higher torque required to drive the three display discs.
The movement is one of the newly-designed 52,000 calibres. The rotors have been made slimmer while bridges are more open and inset with a solid gold medallion. This allows a better view of the movement's details and aesthetics, which can be seen through the sapphire-glass back.
The arched-edge sapphire glass makes the 44.2mm case look slimmer, and underscores Portugieser's timeless elegance.
The transparent sapphire glass back of the Portugieser Annual Calendar provides an unimpeded view of the new IWC-manufactured 52,850 calibre.
The Portugieser Hand-Wound Eight Days Edition '75th Anniversary' in stainless steel, with a black dial.
The red gold version of the Portugieser Hand-Wound Eight Days Edition '75th Anniversary'.
The Portugieser Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month Edition '75th Anniversary' is limited to 75 watches.
The Portugieser Annual Calendar with a stainless steel case and midnight blue dial.
