{"id":26367,"date":"2019-04-11T21:43:05","date_gmt":"2019-04-11T21:43:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.horbiter.com\/iwc-portugieser-grande-complication\/"},"modified":"2024-05-24T09:16:00","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T07:16:00","slug":"iwc-portugieser-grande-complication-iw377602-watch-hands-on-horbiter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horbiter.com\/en\/iwc-portugieser-grande-complication-iw377602-watch-hands-on-horbiter\/","title":{"rendered":"The IWC Portugieser Grande Complication watch hands-on"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are few times in life in which it is possible to see a \u201cGrande Complication<\/strong>\u201d watch: for example if you are a collector like David<\/strong> Lee<\/strong>, you take part to a press conference at SIHH<\/strong>, or you\u2019re lucky enough to visit the factory that realized it. Among the sports brands, there\u2019s only one which has in catalog two watches with a Grande Complication<\/strong> and that brand is IWC<\/strong>. if you take the word\u2019s historical meaning very seriously, IWC<\/strong> is also the brand which proposes the most radical version of a \u201cGrande Complication<\/strong>\u201d watch.<\/p>\n

The Grande Complication, this stranger.<\/h2>\n

In the age where prestige rhymes with Tourbillon<\/strong> and Minute Repeater<\/strong>, I think that IWC<\/strong> chose an original way in interpreting a watch that includes a perpetual calendar<\/strong>, a chronograph<\/strong>, and a minute repeater<\/strong>. The illustrious ancestor of the IWC Portugieser Grande Complication<\/strong> is the Destriero Scafusia<\/strong>, realized in 1993<\/strong> for celebrating the brand\u2019s 125th<\/sup> Anniversary<\/strong> and born from Gunter Blumlein<\/strong>\u2019s passion, Kurt Klaus<\/strong>\u2019 mind and Richard Habring<\/strong> who later founded, with his wife, the brand Habring2<\/sup><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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The result was a perpetual calendar with a split<\/strong>\u2013seconds chronograph<\/strong>, a minute repeater<\/strong>, and a flying tourbillon<\/strong>: this product put\u00a0 IWC<\/strong> in direct competition with a giant of the industry like Patek Philippe<\/strong>. The modern version of the Destriero Scafusia<\/strong> is part of the Portugieser<\/strong> collection and joins the perpetual calendar<\/strong> with phases of the moon<\/strong>, a chronograph<\/strong>, and a minute repeater<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It is not fully brand new, but it\u2019s the Kurt Klaus\u2019 legacy, updated and improved.<\/h2>\n

If the Destriero Scafusa<\/strong> represented a flagship watch, but despite everything a lonely exercise (125 copies), intended to show off the ability of IWC<\/strong>\u2019s engineers, the \u00a0IWC Portugieser Grande Complication<\/strong>\u00a0is part of the Portugieser<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u2019s collection. The case, in red gold (it is also available in platinum), is 45mm <\/strong>wide and is similar to the one of a Portugieser Perpetual Calendar Digital Date<\/strong>\u2013Month<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"iwc-portugieser-grande-complication-IW377602-4\"They are divided by the price which has a one-to-four ratio and the complications\u2019 number. The case thickness is 16,5mm<\/strong> so it is 0,5mm<\/strong> bigger in the Grande Complication<\/strong>. For the rest, the Arabic numerals applied on the dial are those familiar to all the Portugieser<\/strong>, the collection that is the most suitable to include a Grande Complication<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The caliber IWC 79091.<\/h2>\n

Abbreviations are meaningless if they are not detailed and, if you consider the increasing number of mechanical movements produced in-house by IWC<\/strong>, this number looks aseptic. This movement completely realized in-house joins the brilliant technical interpretation of perpetual calendar developed by Kurt Klaus<\/strong>, a chronograph<\/strong> with hours, minutes and seconds and a minute repeater<\/strong> with hours, quarters and minutes. Putting temporary aside the minute repeater and the chronograph, the most exciting part is, in my opinion, the complication with perpetual calendar because it proves out, not for its size but rather for its technical prowess.<\/p>\n

\"iwc-portugieser-grande-complication-IW377602-1\"IWC<\/strong>\u2019s perpetual calendars are set only through the crown, and they include the phases of moon and the digital display with four digits of the year. Klaus<\/strong>\u2019 brilliant mind left to the new IWC<\/strong>\u2019s manufacture a priceless legacy and a complication which the brand is naturally associated with. For digits lovers, the caliber 79091<\/strong> is made of 657 parts<\/strong>, which ensure 21 total functions<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Final comments.<\/h2>\n

As a reporter, evaluating a watch like that is ridiculous. It\u2019s like assessing the Project<\/strong>\u2013One<\/strong> by AMG<\/strong>\u2013Mercedes<\/strong> without having driven and owned it. What can be done is to share the feeling that you have when you wear it for a short time, having on your other hand the watch\u2019s specs, precisely what I have done when I saw it in Schaffhausen<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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The only judge is the collector who owns this and similar watches. Aesthetically it represents one of the IWC<\/strong>\u2019s most successful complicated timepieces and also one of the most balanced. It is massive and rich of information but they are all organized, and the functions are easy to use.<\/p>\n

\"iwc-portugieser-grande-complication-IW377602\"It is \u201cdelicious\u201d if you are passionate of fine watchmaking and it also has a vague reminder to the \u201880s dial of the brand (e.g. the Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar). More than the individual complications, because IWC<\/strong> is perhaps not your first choice if you\u2019re looking for a minute repeater, it fascinates for the sum of its mechanical complications, in which the one with the perpetual calendar clearly stands out.<\/p>\n