The inside scoop on IWC at Watches & Wonders 2024 from CEO Chris Grainger-Herr
Jamie WeissThese days, IWC is known for its pilot’s watches, involvement with motorsports and its championing of ceramic watch cases – it’s a high-tech, sporty and maximalist brand. Or is it? IWC has a dual character; it’s also a brand known for restrained, classical design and beautiful yet functional complications. This year, at Watches & Wonders, it’s that more classical side to the Schaffhausen firm’s character that’s been allowed to shine, with IWC unveiling a new range of Portugiesers – including one with a calendar that theoretically only needs to be adjusted once every 45 million years. We’re not kidding.
Andrew had the chance to meet with IWC CEO Christoph Grainger-Herr in Zürich ahead of Watches & Wonders to chat about Kurt Klaus and Günter Blümlein’s enduring influence on the brand as well as about IWC’s engineering DNA and how these new Portugiesers epitomise the brand’s dual character. Let’s dive in then, shall we?
IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar
- Essentially a perpetual calendar on steroids, this statement piece’s calibre 52460 incorporates a new 400-year gear, meaning this watch will be accurate until 3999 at the earliest.
- On top of that, thanks to the help of a new reduction gear, the Double Moon display is now accurate to 45 million years.
- It also boasts a 7-day power reserve and is cased in platinum… This is one seriously special IWC.
Read a full review of the IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar here.
| Brand | IWC |
| Model | Portugieser Eternal Calendar |
| Reference | IW505701 |
| Case Dimensions | 44.4mm (D) x 15mm (T) |
| Case Material | Platinum |
| Water Resistance | 50 metres |
| Crystal(s) | Box-domed sapphire front, sapphire back |
| Dial | Glass with white lacquer |
| Bracelet | Black alligator leather, platinum folding clasp |
| Movement | Calibre 52640, IWC-manufactured, automatic with Pellaton winding |
| Power Reserve | 168 hours (7 days) |
| Function | Hours, minutes, small seconds, power reserve, secular perpetual calendar |
| Availability | Now |
| Price | On request |
IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 44
- The new Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 44 features a more refined case – with a slimmer midcase and new construction for the front and back – making this 44mm giant wear a little smaller than its on-paper dimensions suggest.
- Their sub-dials are particularly striking, with the outside scales sitting on 15 layers of transparent lacquer.
- Powered by the familiar IWC calibre 52616, you can choose between 18k white gold, or 18k 5N Armor Gold, which is IWC’s proprietary hardened gold alloy.
Read a full review of the IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 44 here.
| Brand | IWC |
| Model | Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 44 |
| Reference | IW503701 (Armor Gold case, silver-plated dial) IW503702 (Armor Gold case, obsidian dial) IW503703 (white gold case, horizon blue dial) IW503704 (white gold case, dune dial) |
| Case Dimensions | 44.4mm (D) x 14.9mm (T) |
| Case Material | 18k white gold 18k 5N Armor Gold |
| Water Resistance | 50 metres, screw-down crown |
| Crystal(s) | Box-domed sapphire front, sapphire back |
| Dial | Silver, obsidian, horizon blue, dune |
| Bracelet | Santoni alligator leather, case-matching folding clasp |
| Movement | Calibre 52616, IWC-manufactured, automatic with Pellaton winding |
| Power Reserve | 168 hours (7 days) |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, small seconds, power reserve, perpetual calendar |
| Availability | Now |
| Price | A$70,000 (18k Armor Gold) A$72,000 (18k white gold) |
IWC Portugieser Hand-Wound Tourbillon Day & Night
- This lovely tourbillon shows the globe in a novel way, featuring a unique spherical day/night indicator at 9 o’clock.
- The newly updated calibre 81925 is just as pretty from the back as the front, with côtes de Genève swirling around the plates, emanating from the globe.
- Mounted on a black alligator leather strap from Santoni, the renowned Italian shoemaker, it’s crafted exclusively from IWC’s Armor Gold.
Read a full review of the IWC Portugieser Hand-Wound Tourbillon Day & Night here.
| Brand | IWC |
| Model | Portugieser Hand-Wound Tourbillon Day & Night |
| Reference | IW545901 |
| Case Dimensions | 42.4mm (D) x 10.8mm (T) |
| Case Material | 18k Armor Gold |
| Water Resistance | 60 metres |
| Crystal(s) | Sapphire front and back |
| Dial | Lacquered obsidian black |
| Bracelet | Santoni alligator leather, curved spring bars, 18k Armor Gold folding clasp |
| Movement | Calibre 81925, IWC-manufactured, hand-wound |
| Power Reserve | 84 hours |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, hacking tourbillon, day/night indicator |
| Availability | Now |
| Price | A$125,000 |
IWC Portugieser Chronograph
- Three luxurious new dial colours and metal combinations join the Portugieser Chronograph collection.
- A particular highlight is the white gold/horizon blue model, which heralds the return of white gold to the collection.
- These Portugieser Chronographs are powered by the IWC-manufactured calibre 69355, a reliable column wheel chronograph movement.
Read a full review of the IWC Portugieser Chronograph here.
| Brand | IWC |
| Model | Portugieser Chronograph |
| Reference | IW371624 (stainless steel case, dune dial) IW371625 (red gold case, obsidian dial) IW371626 (white gold case, horizon blue dial) |
| Case Dimensions | 41mm (D) x 13.1mm (T) x 47.9mm (L2L) |
| Case Material | Stainless steel 18k 5n red gold 18k white gold |
| Water Resistance | 30 metres |
| Crystal(s) | Sapphire front and back |
| Dial | Dune, obsidian, horizon blue |
| Bracelet | Santoni alligator leather, case-matching folding clasp |
| Movement | Calibre 69355, IWC-manufactured, automatic |
| Power Reserve | 46 hours |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, small seconds, chronograph |
| Availability | Now |
| Price | A$30,000 |
IWC Portugieser Automatic 42
- The new Portugieser Automatic 42 collection brings the Portugieser back to its classically big roots, harking back to the Portugieser Automatic ref. IW50001 of the 2000s as well as the OG Portugiesers of the 1930s.
- It’s powered by the IWC calibre 52011, a seven-day power reserve automatic that powers many of the brand’s Big Pilot models – a big improvement.
- The new collection encompasses three different case materials and five different dial colours across six models.
Read a full review of the IWC Portugieser Automatic 42 here.
| Brand | IWC |
| Model | Portugieser Automatic 42 |
| References | IW501701 (stainless steel case, silver dial, gold hands) IW501702 (stainless steel case, silver dial, blue hands) IW501704 (stainless steel case, blue dial) IW501705 (stainless steel case, dune dial) IW501707 (red gold case, obsidian dial) IW501708 (white gold case, horizon blue dial) |
| Case Dimensions | 42.44mm (D) x 13mm (T) |
| Case Material | Stainless steel 18k 5n red gold 18k white gold |
| Water Resistance | 50 metres |
| Crystal(s) | Sapphire front and back |
| Dial | Silver, blue, dune, obsidian, horizon blue |
| Bracelet | Santoni alligator leather with case-matching folding clasps (precious metal models) Black alligator leather strap with stainless steel folding clasps (steel models) Stainless steel bracelet (IW501704 only) |
| Movement | Calibre 52011, IWC-manufactured, automatic |
| Power Reserve | 168 hours (7 days) |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, small seconds, power reserve indicator, date |
| Availability | Now |
| Price | A$20,000 (IW501701, IW501702, IW501705) A$21,500 (IW501704) A$38,000 (IW501707) A$40,000 (IW501708) |
IWC Portugieser Automatic 40
- The Portugieser Automatic 40 also gets a subtle update in 2024, with the small seconds indicator now simplified and featuring more pronounced azurage.
- A more substantive change is the caseback, which now features an intriguing double glassbox design.
- Like the Portugieser Chronograph, precious metals make a return to the range for these time-only models: red gold and white gold.
Read a full review of the IWC Portugieser Automatic 40 here.
| Brand | IWC |
| Model | Portugieser Automatic 40 |
| Reference | IW358401 (red gold case, obsidian dial) IW358402 (white gold case, horizon blue dial) |
| Case Dimensions | 40.4mm (D) x 12.4mm (T) |
| Case Material | 18k 5n red gold 18k white gold |
| Water Resistance | 50 metres |
| Crystal(s) | Sapphire front and back |
| Dial | Obsidian or horizon blue |
| Bracelet | Santoni alligator leather, red gold pin buckle (IW358401) Santoni light-blue calfskin, white gold pin buckle (IW358402) |
| Movement | Calibre 82200, IWC-manufactured, automatic |
| Power Reserve | 60 hours |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, small seconds |
| Availability | Now |
| Price | A$26,500 (IW358401) A$28,000 (IW358402) |