Portugieser Annual Calendar watch by IWC

For the 75th anniversary of its emblematic model, the Portuguese (or Portugaise in French /Portugieser in German), IWC chose not to totally renew the collection but instead to improve some of the (visual and technical) aspects and to add some interesting complications. The star of the show this year was the IWC Portuguese Annual Calendar ref. 5035, that keeps the original feeling of the Portuguese but improves it more than you can really see.

One of the main and recurrent reproaches made to IWC is its lack of continuity within the collections. Collectors do not really have to time to get used to a design and then IWC totally renews its icons with a brand new look. It was the case with the Aquatimer last year. Not that this new collection is not a good one, but it didn’t keep the original feeling of the very first Aquatimers. It was also the case for the Ingenieur collection in 2013.

It seems that IWC listened to its collectors (and us at the same time). For the 2015 edition of the SIHH, IWC chose to just update and improve aspects of its main collection, the Portuguese. We’re glad that the brand of Schaffhausen decided to keep its best seller just the way we love it.

This time, they have also added something interesting to the package: an annual calendar, intelligently integrated in the Portuguese 7 days. Thus, we found back the same dial layout, with a small second located at 9 and a power reserve indicator at 3. The face is also 99% similar, with these typical applied Arabic numerals, the rail track around the dial and the leaf hands. It also keeps what makes the charm of the Portuguese: it’s a very large dial opening, with almost no bezel. What does change is the area around 12, with 3 new apertures.

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Price:

Steel version –  16,900
Gold version –  24,900
Available in UK from April 2015

The Breakdown