The IWC Portuguese guide: price, models, opinions

The IWC Portuguese collection’s history is a large part of the 1868 Schaffhausen-founded brand. Throughout its 155 years journey, celebrated in 2023, the Portuguese watch is a pillar despite 125 years passed between the first model and its commercial offering.

The origins of the IWC Portuguese

First, the current collection has been named IWC Portugieser since 2020, but the moniker IWC Portuguese still is the most commonly searched keyword across the English-speaking Internet; as such, you’ll find both terms in this guide despite Portugieser being the official collection’s name. Also, the Italian market pioneered most IWC Portuguese models; despite our domestic market not being a reference for the brand’s bottom line any longer, Italy is a reference for new trends and sources of inspiration.

The IWC Portuguese first appeared in 1939; back then, the brand crafted the reference 325 upon request of two Portuguese navigators looking for a precise wristwatch to use while sailing the oceans. From a technical perspective, it is a savonette pocket watch turned into a wristwatch.

The wristwatch’s trend was beginning, and the IWC Portuguese 325 was oversized. The commercial edition of the IWC Portuguese finally appeared in 1993 to celebrate the brand’s 125th anniversary; the project kicked off with a limited series including steel, gold and platinum options.

The model pictured above is the IWC Portuguese Hand-Winding reference 5441 in steel, measuring 42 mm across and 10,3 mm thick with a plexiglass crystal and a lovely pocket-derived hand-wound mechanical movement. This specific one was sold by Antiquorum, which owns the pictured photos. This reference marks the beginning of the Portuguese’s recent editions, followed by several complications, with the classic two-register self-winding chronograph playing as the collection’s hero.

The IWC Portuguese price list

The IWC Portuguese offering includes time-only watches up to the most-admired mechanical complications, with the Sidérale Scafusia being the flagship. Please read below the collection to price range lists as of January 2023:

• Portuguese Automatic 40 mm: the entry line retails from 7,700 Euros (in steel on a leather strap) to 18,100 Euros (in red gold on a leather strap).
• Portuguese Automatic 42,3 mm: here is the collection housing the venerable 52010 calibre with seven days of power reserve (see it atop the article). It retails from 13,500 euros (steel on leather) to 26,000 euros (red gold Boutique Edition).
• Portuguese Automatic Chronograph 41 mm: that’s the best-selling IWC Portuguese model. Featuring an in-house calibre from 2020, the Portuguese Automatic Chronograph retails from 9,200 Euros (steel on leather) to 19,800 Euros (red gold on leather).
• Portuguese Yacht Club Chronograph 44,6 mm; it is the most contemporary take on the original Chrono; it originally appeared on a rubber strap and in 2020 added a steel bracelet, too. It retails from 13,300 Euros (steel on Orlebar Brown strap) to the steel and gold model priced at 21,000 Euros. Since 2020, it has included the majestic high-end Yacht Club Moon & Tide, priced at 38,000 Euros.
• Portuguese Annual Calendar 44,2 mm: IWC currently offers only one single reference. The reference IW503501 costs 22,100 Euros.
• Portuguese Perpetual Calendar 42 mm: the younger QP collection retails from 26,300 Euros (steel on leather) to 37,100 Euros (gold on leather).
• Portuguese Perpetual Calendar 44,2 mm: the flagship 7-day power reserve perpetual calendar retails from 46,800 euros (gold on leather) to 59,800 Euros (platinum on leather).

The IWC Portugieser Automatic 40

Ninety-one years after the first-ever Portugieser, IWC finally unveils a timepiece that draws inspiration from the IW325 while making this collection the only one to adopt solely in-house calibres (the same goes with the 2020 IWC Portugieser Chronograph 3716).

Smaller than the original, stopping at 40mm case across, the Portugieser Automatic 40 (reference 3583) comes equipped with the 82200 manufacture calibre, which initially appeared in 2018 when IWC revealed the Da Vinci 150th Anniversary.

The IWC calibre 82200 is a 4Hz automatic movement equipped with the patented, high-efficient Pellaton winding mechanism with wear-free ceramic parts capable of guaranteeing a maximum reserve of 60 hours.

The see-through screwed-in case back allows you to admire the skeletonized bi-directional rotor, whose design is common to all Portugieser, along with “perlage” and Côtes de Genève decorations on the bridges. The “Probus Scafusia” medallion on the winding rotor is beautiful, and its size is more proportioned than other applications across the range.

Simple, clean, elegant and more comfortable to wear in comparison to its bigger siblings, the Portugieser Automatic 40mm comes in seven models, six in stainless steel with several dial options plus one in 5N 18k red gold (reference IW358306), all equipped with an alligator strap and folding buckle, with pin buckle available just on the gold variant.

The IWC Portugieser Chronograph 3716 Manufacture

We first saw an IWC Portugieser Chronograph powered by an in-house mechanical movement back in 2018, during the celebrations of the brand’s 150th Anniversary, which took place during SIHH. We knew that to be a preview of what IWC would have introduced in the following years, and here is the proof: IWC has replaced the old collection of IWC Portugieser with a new one powered by movements designed and manufactured in the brand’s manufacture.

SIHH has turned itself into Watches and Wonders and will be held, from now on, in late April and not end of January any longer. IWC has planned a roadshow across Europe to hint at what we’ll officially discover in approximately two months. A strict embargo covers the new timepieces.

What we can anticipate instead is that a specific collection has grown and welcomes further groundbreaking complications that prove once again how much IWC is investing in bringing its research and development capability to its full potential. So, stay tuned for more.

One of the longest awaited new products so far, not covered by any embargo, regards the “bread and butter” of the Portugieser collection, the iconic IWC Portugieser Chronograph 3716; a new range of timepieces replaces the outgoing Valjoux-based reference IWC 3714 and showcases many new product variations both in steel and gold featuring the manufacture calibre IWC 69355.

Aesthetically, the Portugeiser you’re familiar with doesn’t change, and rightly so, considering how beautiful and timeless is the current design. With a column wheel mechanism and 46 hours of maximum power reserve, 69355 calibre adopts a bidirectional pawl-winding system similar to the Pellaton mechanism.

The start of the chronograph is instantaneous and free of any unwanted jumps of the central chronograph hand around its initial position. Although IWC has renewed the entire collection, and the steel versions will undoubtedly be the top-selling ones, the new IWC Portugieser 3716 in gold offers an exquisite touch. The new mechanical movement is an excellent addition to the signature 41mm case, featuring no bezel, slim gold leaf-shaped hands, applied gold Arabic numerals, and the unmistakable two-register layout with no date.

The IWC Portugieser is by far the most elegant luxury classic chronograph money can buy, and the gold versions also come with a matching red gold pin buckle that reminds me of another golden age at Schaffhausen: the 90s. Which version would you choose? Silver or slate dial? Indeed, it is a hard choice; they both have a beautiful look and feel.

Also, IWC paid great care in aesthetically pairing the 69355 to the watch’s original style: it is hard to update such a classic piece while preserving its identity technically. It is, I guess, what designers at IWC faced when they decided to make a new movement fully visible via a see-through case-back.

Look at the bidirectional rotor’s three-arms design or the circular Cotês de Genève decoration on the main bridge; also, pay attention to the classic-looking four-screws locked gold ring. It is perceivable how much attention they paid to detail in technically raising the bar while not affecting the original look and feels that makes any Portugieser Chronograph so recognizable.

Nonetheless, I’m a bit surprised to see such a power reserve, given that most competitors are between 70 and 80 hours of maximum power reserve. Overall, however, the new IWC Portugieser 3716 is unquestionably the best IWC Portugieser Chronograph ever and, hopefully, paves the way for IWC to design a new Rattrappante mechanical movement in-house soon.

The IWC Portuguese Perpetual Calendar 42

No brand other than IWC is more entitled to be associated with a Perpetual Calendar complication. It is part of the brand’s foothold. The first perpetual calendar developed by legendary master watchmaker Kurt Klaus calendar-chronograph-2017-hands-on/">came out in 1985 with the Da Vinci. Back then, the brand introduced the “Da Vinci,” IWC’s first-ever perpetual calendar programmed for 500 years, showcasing a fully-digital year visualization and the option of setting all the related functions via the winding crown. A superbly engineered machine, in a nutshell.

However, enthusiasts had to wait until 2003 before the Portuguese eventually housed such complications. The first-ever Portugieser Perpetual Calendar stood out for yet another IWC exclusive: the moon phase visualization, split between the two hemispheres (southern and northern), offering a gap between the designed and actual duration of the lunar cycles of just a day every 577,5 years.

IWC offers today the most extensive collection of perpetual calendars on the market: the Da Vinci, the Pilot, the Ingenieur and the Portugieser (last but not least, the Aquatimer). However, the Portugieser is the collection that best exemplifies its craftsmanship, and it’s the one to have housed the brand’s legacy in pushing its boundaries further, like the Scafusia and the Grande Complication.

At Watches & Wonders 2020, IWC Schaffhausen broadens the product portfolio by adding two new products. The first is the Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 42mm, which welcomes a new 82000-based calibre, which includes the perpetual calendar complication.

Crafted in either steel or gold, it is complemented by a boutique edition of the same watch showcasing a blue dial and strap. With reference 3442, IWC has integrated this iconic complication within the 82000 calibre family, thus offering a smaller take on the signature Perpetual Calendar watch (42,4mm vs 44,2 mm).

The dial is quintessentially Portugieser, but a closer look confirms we’re in front of a more straightforward design than the 52610-based calendar: we have three registers here instead of four, no year-visualization, and no power reserve too. However, the original 44,2mm variant offers seven days of autonomy when the watch is fully wound.

The three counters placed at three, six, and nine, respectively, display the date, the month and the day of the week, while the moon phase display is integrated into the month’s counter. Again, all the functions are synchronized and can be adjusted via the crown. The calendar change occurs at midnight, with just one click, with the programmed perpetual calendar recognizing different lengths of the months, accounting for that extra day at the end of February during the four years cycle. By keeping the watch always wound, you won’t make any adjustments until 2100.

Through the sapphire case back of the 18-carat rose gold case, you have plenty of view over the manufacture calibre 82650, equipped with a Pellaton automatic winding system, mated to a bidirectional winding mass, with zirconium oxide ceramic components, oscillating to ensure a maximum power reserve of 60 hours.

The new IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 42 comes in four variants, two in pink gold with alternatively a silver (IW344202) or blue (IW344205) dial and two in steel with a silver dial (IW344203) or a green dial (IW344207). The latter all pair with smooth and high-quality Santoni alligator leather straps.

IWC Portuguese Perpetual Calendar 7 days power reserve

The most refined Portugieser Perpetual Calendar derives from the reference 5021 launched in 2003 and comes equipped with the manufacture base-calibre 52600, capable of seven days of power reserve when fully wound. Look closely and, if you need to become more familiar with the brand, you’ll notice there are two models; one displays a perpetual indication of the moon phases in the northern and southern hemispheres, the other one offers a single moon phase indication instead.

Whatever your choice, this specific Portuguese collection is highly sought-after and is an established high-end piece of IWC, unstoppably updated inside and out. The double-moon model received a major aesthetic update in 2015 when a golden-starred sky decorated the two-moon register. The collection currently includes five references, all measuring 44,2 mm across; three are in red gold, one in white gold and one in platinum.

IWC Portuguese Tourbillon with a Perpetual Calendar or a Chronograph

If a Portuguese Perpetual Calendar is not enough and a Chrono isn’t either, but you’re looking for something the QP and a Sidérale Scafusia, you can opt for two models equipped with a Tourbillon paired with a perpetual calendar or a chronograph and retrograde date. They are the Portuguese Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon and the Portuguese Tourbillon Rétrograde Chronograph.

The first one adopts a 45 mm large case and a flying-tourbillon-equipped, seven-day power reserve perpetual calendar, whose balance wheel vibrates at 2,75 Hz.

IWC offers platinum and Armor Gold™ options, the latter being an IWC patent. The second reference is unique since it combines a flyback chronograph, a flying tourbillon (placed at six) and a retrograde date.

The central chronograph hand is associated with a Chrono and hour totalizer placed at twelve, while the retrograde date holds the dial’s left sector. The architecture reminds the now-discontinued Portuguese perpetual calendar Digital Date and Month. Again, the case is in platinum or Armor Gold™ but measures 43.5mm across. Each reference comes in a limited run of 50 pieces.

(Photo credit: Horbiter®)

Editorial team @Horbiter®