IWC Launches the Stunning Portugieser Hand Wound Tourbillon Day & Night

Rotating orbs, a black Obsidian dial and Armor gold finishes bring this new IWC Portugieser Hand Wound Tourbillon Day & Night watch to life. Order yours now at Jura Watches. 

If you’ve been following IWC Schaffhausen this year, you’ll already be aware that the Maison has put sole focus on its Portugieser watch collection. While its case has been updated ever so slightly, avid fans of the collection will be pleased to learn that not much else has changed.

“…loved for its elegant and slender design.”

The new IWC watch releases unveiled at the annual Watches & Wonders showcase this year in Geneva are not entirely new and for the majority of collectors that’s not a problem at all. Because the IWC Portugieser has always been loved for its elegant and slender design. The range offers several complications including the chronograph, the perpetual calendar, minute repeater, and the new Hand Wound Tourbillon Day & Night watch, which I’ll be covering in more detail today.

A Watch with Traditional Values

If you like traditional values in a watch, the Portugieser is the perfect companion for your wrist. Combining state-of-the-art technology with only the finest in watchmaking materials, the line is one of the most collectable in the brand’s portfolio. It gets its name from two businessmen who approached IWC and commissioned the brand to manufacture a watch with marine chronometer accuracy but in the form of a stylish wristwatch. IWC met the brief with ease and developed this 1930s chronometer-inspired design with an easily recognisable aesthetic that is still loved today.

The Portugieser history is a proud one. IWC produced these watches with manual-powered pocket watch movements that were big enough to tick away inside these distinctive watches. The brand celebrated its 125th-anniversary watch with a celebratory Portugieser watch. It was powered by the manual winding Calibre 9828 and reflected the simple design that was accurate of those first 1930s watches. Twenty-five years later, another IWC Portugieser Hand Wound watch was released. This time a “150 Years” celebratory model with an eight-day power reserve.

Interestingly, the power reserve display is located on the back of the case to maintain the harmony of the dial. Now it’s time for a new manually wound IWC Portugieser watch. Meet the IWC Portugieser Hand Wound Tourbillon Day & Night watch.

The New IWC Portugieser Hand Wound Tourbillon Day & Night Watch

I, for one, love the light and breezy colour shades of the new Portugieser watches from IWC. The collection has seen some really elegant shades arrive, like the Horizon Blue, Moonlight Silver and Dune colours, inspired by different times of the day. One of the most alluring and captivating colour combinations to have come of the recent IWC 2024 watch releases, however, is the gold case and Obsidian dial combination. This one isn’t such a bright and breezy colour. Moreover, it’s a sophisticated design that constitutes the perfect evening watch or luxury dress watch. It makes an appearance in the simple automatic 40 and 42 watches, the chronograph and the Perpetual Calendar versions.

The Armor gold case is a proprietary material that replaces the 5N gold that has been used throughout the brand’s catalogue before with a more durable finish. The new IWC Portugieser Hand Wound Day & Night watch is an entirely new design, unlike many of the other new releases. It features a 42.4mm diameter and a height of 10.8mm. This is a relatively thin case considering its width. What it does do is enable it to sit flat on the wrist. A nice brushed finish on the surface of the case combines beautifully with the polished top and bezel. A domed sapphire crystal glass top protects the surface of the Obsidian dial from scratches, denying, sun, heat and moisture damage. The glass front also helps seal in a 60-meter water-resistant capability. The surface of the dial is brushed to accentuate a sense of depth and detail.

Two Beautiful Complications

The exquisite IWC Portugieser watch combines two beautiful complications - a day & night indicator and a tourbillon. The former can be found at 9 o’clock on the dial, characterised by black rotating orbs that indicate whether it’s daytime or nighttime according to the hours of the day. This is a completely new implementation for IWC. The component rotates on its axis every 24 hours, revealing the darker side during the nighttime hours and a polished gold slide that represents the transition to daytime hours. Then, at 6 o’clock, a glimpse into the beautifully manufactured tourbillon is granted. The complication is surrounded by a gold ring, which corresponds to the gold-plated Arabic numeral hour markers and leaf-shaped hands.

The Engine

Inside the new IWC Portugieser Hand Wound Tourbillon Day & Night watch is the in-house manufactured Calibre 81925 – an evolution of the 81905 movement. It features a diamond-coated silicone escapement, which increases the longevity of the movement, along with improving its accuracy. The fact that you can view this through the back of the case via a sapphire crystal glass exhibition window is a very nice thing. A gold-plated base plate with apertures allocated for the gears barrel and mainspring pair nicely with the aperture of the day & night feature in this movement. On top of all this, you get an impressive 84-hour power reserve and a performance of 28,800 vibrations per hour. With a tourbillon comprising 56 hand-assembled components, the movement is an exceptionally beautiful masterpiece. Its silicone pallet lever and escape wheel treated with a Diamond Shell coating are among its many fascinating elements.

The new IWC Portugieser Tourbillon Hand Wound Day & Night watch is fitted on a stylish black alligator leather strap and a stunning Armor gold folding clasp engraved with the IWC logo. If you’d like more information on this new complication from the Portugieser watch collection, you can call and speak to a member of our sales team here at Jura Watches on 01335 453453 or email us a question at help@jurawatches.co.uk