At SIHH 2015, which begins a few hours, IWC will unveil updates they have made to their entire Portugieser family of watches. This is an explanation of the changes affecting the three Portugieser Yacht Club Chronograph references.
The most prevalent change, is a reduction in case diameter from 45.4 to 43.5 mm (14.5 mm thick). “IWC Schaffhausen has listened to many potential buyers who have expressed the wish for a slightly smaller version of the sportiest model in the Portugieser (Portuguese) watch line, one more suitable for a slim wrist,” according to IWC.
The Portugieser Yacht Club Chronograph was originally launched in 2010, and while much of the new Portugieser line will receive movement enhancements, the Yacht Club Chrono will be powered by the same self-winding in-house (caliber 89361), which took 4 years to develop. It boasts a flyback function, 68-hour power reserve and a unique chronograph display that uses one dial to indicate both elapsed hours and minutes (at 12 o’clock).
The sports watch of the Portugieser line features a screw-in crown that helps to ensure 60 meters of water-resistant, making this a perfect wristwatch to wear while sailing. In fact, the crown guards and chronograph push-buttons are reminiscent of the bitts found of the decks of sailing ships.
The dial features a railway track style chapter ring with luminous indices for the hours as well as polished Arabic numerals. On the outer ring is a 60-second chronograph scale that works with the red chronograph second hand. Notably, the easy to read scale includes one-quarter second divisions, for extra precise stopwatch readings.
The hour and minute hands are leaf shaped (feuille hands) and feature a luminous treatment. The hands, like the hour indices and numerals, have a specular finish which is particularly striking against the brand new slate colored sunburst finish dial (Ref. IW390503). The outer rim, is black, and set slightly higher, further accentuating the new dial color.
The slate grey dial is available in stainless steel. The other two references (Ref. IW390501) and (Ref. IW390502) have silvered-plates dials and come in steel and red gold, respectively. (The silver-plated dial was previously available on the steel model but it is new to the red gold.
The original Portugieser came out in 1939, making this is the 75th anniversary. We will bring you more info on the Portugieser collection updates later this month.
All three references come with a black rubber strap and buckle that matches the case material.
For more, visit IWC.
