IWC Schaffhausen I Portofino Collection

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IWC
Schaffhausen
The Portofino
Hand-Wound
Day & Date
The former fishing village of Portofino on the Gulf of Tigullio, near
Genoa in Italy has for decades been a desirable destination for
the international rich and famous. Drawing well-known actors,
artists and people in the fashion industry, from all over the world,
the village’s narrow little houses in red and terracotta clustered
tightly around the picturesque natural harbour provide the perfect
backdrop for stars and celebrities.
Offering celebrities and jet-setters a relaxed and laid-back southernEuropean lifestyle, this Mediterranean local is the inspiration behind
the classically elegant Portofino watch family, who launched in the
late 1970s, beginning with the elegant IWC Lépine open-face pocket
watch (Reference 5201).
This emblematic timepiece’s dial was turned through 90 degrees
and equipped with a moon phase display. The new “pocket-watch
style wristwatch” (Reference 5251), which was unveiled in 1984, went
by the name “Portofino”, and since then, the Portofino collection has
become one of IWC’s most successful watch families: an expression
of understatement and good taste.
Photos: © IWC Schaffhausen
Portofino Collection
newest release
The latest edition to the Portofino family, the Portofino HandWound Day & Date, combines functionality with elegant, clear-cut
design. The dial features an impressive number of easy to read
indicators, with a large date, day and power reserve display, as
well as a small seconds hand at six o’clock. The overall appeal is
both aesthetically pleasing and useful. At 12 o’clock there are two
precisely synchronised discs that show the date, the first taking
care of the tens (0-3), and the second revealing the numbers
single digits (0-9). Ensuring the perfect synchronization, between
the two discs is the IWC-manufactured 59220 calibre.
Connected directly to the date advance mechanism is an
additional display, which shows the actual day of the week. Two
elastic advance fingers superimposed, one on top of the other,
tap off energy from the barrel throughout the day. By midnight,
they have built up enough power, first, to advance the date, and
second, to move a seven-toothed star wheel that causes the hand
to jump to the next day of the week. Fully wound, the eight-day
movement keeps running precisely for 192 hours, with no need for
any intervention. The power reserve display on the dial indicates
when it is time for the owner to replenish its power reserve
by winding the crown. The modern watch movement design,
featuring large bridges with Geneva stripes and circular-grained
plates is visible through the sapphire-glass back.
The Portofino Hand-Wound Day & Date is available in stainless
steel (Ref. IW516201) and red gold (IW516203). The stainless
steel version features a silver-plated dial, rhodium-plated hands
and indices, and a black leather strap from Santoni (the worldfamous Italian shoemaker that produces high-quality leather
straps exclusively for IWC Schaffhausen). The red gold version
features a slate-coloured dial, gold-plated hands, and 18 karat
red gold indices, together with a brown leather strap also from
Santoni.
The Portofino collection has
become one of IWC’s most
successful watch families: an
expression of understatement and
good taste.
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The Portofino
Hand-Wound
Monopusher
The moon phase display is integral to the Portofino watch family’s
identity, like the Roman numerals, feuille hands and convex front
glass. In 1984, the original Portofino itself was equipped with a
moon phase display, and the model was produced unchanged in
very small series until the late 1990s. When IWC Schaffhausen
extended the Portofino watch family in 2014, they included a
number of models in 37-millimetre cases, appealing to watch
lovers who prefer a timepiece with slightly smaller dimensions.
In addition, they also reinstated the moon phase display
complication in the collection.
This year, following on from the 2014 diamond-set models, comes
a beautiful, purist-inspired timepiece devoid of diamonds on
the case, whose meticulously polished, mirror-finished surface
has a special luxury and elegance all of its own. The collection
also welcomes another two beautiful watches with diamond-set
bezels, the first featuring a blue dial and blue leather strap and
the second featuring a silver-plated dial and raspberry-coloured
leather strap.
The design of the moon phase display on the dial of the Portofino
Automatic Moon Phase 37 (Ref. IW459007), is classic: the moon
itself rises and sets behind a foreground of clouds. The softly
shimmering mother-of-pearl dial, with its 12 diamonds creates an
attractive sensation of depth and underscores the clear design
of the dial.
The elegant timepiece is water-resistant to 3 bar, and is powered
by the 35800 calibre mechanical automatic movement. The
moon phase shown in the display can be set to “2 o’clock” using
a correction button. The central seconds hand is stopped using
the crown, and the sapphire glass has an antireflective coating on
both sides. The watch is secured to the wearer’s wrist by a green
alligator leather strap by Santoni.
Photos: © IWC Schaffhausen
Portofino Automatic
Moon Phase 37
With the newest complication in the Portofino collection, IWC
Schaffhausen adds a second in-house chronograph to its everpopular stylish and distinctive line. While the most widespread type
of chronograph is the classic model, with push-buttons at “2 o’clock”
and “4 o’clock”, the Portofino Hand-Wound Monopusher (Ref.
IW515103/IW515104) sets itself apart with a further sophisticated
technical feature, an ingenious single push-button stopwatch that
measures time for up to 60 minutes. The chronograph is started,
stopped and reset by repeatedly pressing the single, multifunctional
push-button which is integrated in the crown, and at glance is
virtually invisible. Despite this additional function, the timepiece
remains a simple one and divulges its functionality only when
looked at more closely. The sapphire-glass back reveals the newly
developed movement in the Hand-Wound Monopusher. Bearing
stylish Geneva stripes, the 59360 calibre is an offshoot of the highperforming 59000-movement family with the outstanding feature
of a chronograph mechanism built into the movements, making it
a worthy addition to IWC’s in-house movements and the range. The
owner can look forward to a 192-hour movement, which when fully
wound, will run accurately for eight whole days before automatically
stopping. The amount of energy remaining is displayed on the power
reserve display on the dial between “8 o’clock” and “9 o’clock”. The
sub-dial at “12 o’clock” displays the number of minutes recorded by
the chronograph, while the seconds can be read off on the central
hand. Together with the small-seconds sub-dial at “6 o’clock” and
the date display at “3 o’clock” it results in a well-proportioned dial
design.
The sapphire-glass back exposes an IWC-manufactured movement
decorated with Geneva stripes together with the chronograph
mechanism. The mechanical single-pusher chronograph movement
is hand-wound with an 8-day power reserve when fully wound and
features an indexless balance with four gold weight screws on the
balance rim, a Breguet spring, a stopwatch function with minutes
and seconds, small hacking seconds, a date display and a power
reserve display.
The 45mm Portofino Hand-Wound Monopusher is available either
in white gold with a slate-coloured dial and grey Santoni alligator
leather strap (Ref. IW515103) or in an 18 karat red gold version with
an attractive silver-plated dial and brown Santoni alligator leather
strap (Ref. IW515104.)