One day, a manufacturer like IWC will make a watch that is truly double-sided, one that you can wear with either the dial side or the movement side upwards. This is a piece that looks superb from both sides, and it would just take an extra pair of hands on the movement side and swivelling lugs (De Bethune style) et voilà.
75th anniversary re-edition
This watch is a re-edition of one of the first versions of the original Portugieser presented in 1940. The new piece has retained many characteristics of the original, such as the old style of the IWC logo, the narrow bezel, feuille hands, chemin de fer chapter ring, gold inner chapter ring, hour markers and numerals, and the small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock. New on this 2015 watch is the circular date window at 6 o’clock. The strap is by Santoni, with a beautiful orange reverse side, and curved spring bar that matches the strap to the curved line of the case to perfection. The case is 43 mm in diameter and 12 mm thick.
Lovely movement side
The eight-day power reserve indicator is visible through the sapphire caseback, along with other parts of the in-house calibre 59215 movement running at 28,800 vph (4 Hertz). This of course has some contemporary features, such as a system that stops the watch after 192 hours (exactly 8 days) so that the watch does not operate right at the tail end of the spring tension when precision could decrease. The crown is used to wind the watch, adjust the time, with the stop-seconds function, and date.
Two limited editions, price and availability
Reference 510206 is in red gold with silver-plated dial and gold details and brown alligator strap, and it is a limited edition of 175 watches, each £15,250.
Reference 510205 is in stainless steel with black dial with light green details and a black alligator strap, and it is a limited edition of 750 pieces, each £8,250.
The watches are currently available from boutiques.Find boutiques at http://www.iwc.com/
