Engineering geared for practical application characterises the 2024 Portugieser collection. In a monumental advance for the field of mechanical calendars, the watches in the new range showcase IWC’s unique expertise. With the Portugieser Eternal Calendar, the Swiss luxury watch manufacturer now pushes the boundaries of engineering once again.
It automatically recognises the different lengths of the months and adds a leap day every four years at the end of February. While a perpetual calendar is programmed for a four year cycle, the Portugieser Eternal Calendar goes one step further: thanks to a new 400-year gear, it also considers the Gregorian calendar’s leap year exceptions by skipping three leap years over 400 years.
IWC’s engineers have also taken on the challenge of developing a moon phase display with unprecedented precision. Theoretically, the Double MoonTM indication will only need to be adjusted by one day after 45 million years.
The first Portugieser, created in the late 1930s, was inspired by a nautical deck watch used for navigation on ships. That DNA has remained celebrated and evident through the decades, resulting in a timeless design idiom that continues to be incredibly fresh and modern today.
For the new collection, IWC has reworked selected models and perfected them to the smallest detail. Four new colours called Horizon Blue, Dune, Obsidian and Silver Moon add a fresh touch and shine a surprising new light on the Portugieser’s emblematic design. These colours are reflected in a variety of models such as the Eternal Calendar, Perpetual Calendar, Automatic 42, and Chronograph.
To showcase these colours to maximum effect, IWC has created new dials with a captivating visual depth. They are crafted in a complex process comprising 60 individual steps, including the application of 15 layers of transparent lacquer, which is fine-ground and then polished to a high gloss finish.
When it comes to the different pieces, the design code Obsidian, with black dials and gold-plated hands and gold appliques, stands for the night sky and the golden city lights. Silver Moon, finally, reflects the whitish shimmer of sunlight reflected from the moon’s surface. Horizon Blue is a light blue shade with an exceptional lightness and clarity. It is inspired by the early afternoon sky when the sun bathes the world in a bright, clear light. The unique atmosphere of early evening with the golden glow of the setting sun inspired the new dial colour Dune.
The Swiss luxury watch manufacturer has also developed The Perpetual Studio, where their most experienced and skilled master watchmakers work on assembling and fine-tuning the most complex mechanisms, such as tourbillons and calendars. During the remainder of 2024, the Perpetual Studio will be shown as a traveling exhibition in various locations around the globe. Visitors can learn more about the evolution from the Perpetual Calendar to the Eternal Calendar. What is more, they can observe a master watchmaker at work wearing the Cyberloupe®, the world’s first digitalised watchmaker magnifying glass.
Other offerings in the collection include The Portugieser Hand-Wound Tourbillon Day & Night which features a flying minute tourbillon at 6 o’clock and a day and night indication with a small globe, which rotates around its axis once every 24 hours. The Portugieser Automatic 40 has also been reworked with a slimmer case and double box-glass sapphire crystals. With its clean and open dial, it represents the essence of the timeless Portugieser design and stands in direct lineage to the original.jd
