IWC Portuguese Other Story

The German word for watch is “die Uhr”, and in German the word for watch is feminine. The French word is “la montre”, and in French the word for watch is feminine. In the languages of watchmakers, watch is a feminine noun.

No one knows why some words are masculine and others feminine or neuter. But for the iconic Portuguese watches produced by IWC, the answer might well be “because they are beautiful”. Drop-dead beautiful. Gorgeous.

Writing about the style of any watch can be a daunting task. There is nothing objective to state. It is easier to discuss the evolution of a model, its mechanical functions or its utility. One can produce objective data and quantitative analysis. Yet numbers only can go so far. They cannot capture the ultimate value of any watch, which is its intrinsic beauty.

Despite the trite cliché that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, there is some concept of beauty. Even if we cannot precisely articulate that concept, nor delineate its parameters, some watches really are more beautiful than others. The design of some watches has universal appeal. The Portuguese models from IWC are stellar examples that there is beauty as an absolute truth.

The new Portuguese automatics break from traditional design yet they retain an entirely traditional persona. They do so with grace and subtlety, yet with a certain strength and clarity. It might be these attributes, all in harmony, that result in the beauty of the new design.

These watches have brains and style. With the Calibre 5001 movement inside, there is an inner beauty. On the outside, these watches are dressed to kill, in perfectly refined taste of course and with just the right accessories. Yet the new Portuguese automatics transcend mere style-consciousness and reflect a heritage.

Almost everyone now knows the story of the original Portuguese watches. In the days before watch designers, at least as we know them today, two Portuguese businessmen in the 1930s wanted a wristwatch with the chronometer qualities of a pocket watch. The simple solution was to take some pocket watches and make them oversized wristwatches. Varying dial designs were used, but all had the characteristics of traditional pocket watch styles.

In one sense, the beauty of the original Portuguese watches, from around 60 years ago, was their clarity, their simplicity, and their tradition. But in another sense –especially for the watch enthusiast— their beauty was also hidden. That beauty was the beauty of the watch’s movement. The original Portuguese watches had pocket watchmovements: the oversized, classic movements of Swiss watchmaking. They were finished with care and detail, and they worked perfectly. That, too, was beautiful.

When IWC decided to revive its Portuguese watches with its Jubilee model in 1993, celebrating its 125th anniversary, it was a very intentional decision. At the time over-sized watches were not popular. The design was jokingly called “spiegel Ei”, for “fried egg”. Yet IWC’s design to produce such a model –audacious yet traditional, simple yet bold—was a master stroke. Soon afterwards, other companies were copying the idea of a pocket watch on the wrist, The secondary market became flooded with “conversions” or “marriages”, where some unauthorized party converted an old pocket watch to a saleable wristwatch, usually with an after-market case. Soon, the idea of the larger wristwatch grew among watch companies. Larger watches became the standard size, and big watches were in.

IWC then followed the limited edition Portuguese anniversary watch with variations on a theme. First came a rattrapante chronograph, which again was a clever play on breaking new ground within a traditional --and by now, a distinctive design.

Then came an automatic chronograph, plus a smaller version. And in 2000 a ground-breaking new movement, the Calibre 5000, debuted in the limited edition Portuguese 2000.

The Portuguese 2000’s design clearly was based on the Jubilee Portuguese, which in turn had its design roots in some of the rare 699 original Portuguese watches that mostly were from the 1940s. Breaking with contemporary practice of using sapphire crystal on the front, the watches still used acrylic plastic for a crystal. After all, that was what the originals had, and this was a traditional watch. Actually, the reason had more to do with the design of the original case, which had a very small bezel and correspondingly almost no lip which would allow a thicker crystal to be held in place. And the watch also had embossed numerals, rather than applied one. Again, this was a homage to tradition.


The result was more than just being what someone once called “retro-grouch”. It was not just tradition for the sake of tradition. It also produced a beautiful watch. The special case which held the acrylic crystal and the embossed numerals produced a softer look. There was an understatement, which bothtoned down the size of the watch and yet emphasized it, in much the same way one listens to a whisper.


Above all else, the original Portuguese design, in all its development, possessed beauty. There was harmony and clarity. Not a line or curve was too much. The resurrected design still was modern –almost cutting edge—yet exceeding simple. The best design might be the purist design, and the most long-lasting.

The simplest design also might be the most difficult to produce. Like the old line about writing, “if I had more time I would write something shorter”, it can be said “if I had more time I’d design something purer”. But given the essence of the design of the original Portuguese watch, the Jubilee model and the Portuguese 2000, could that design be improved upon?

The answer is a resounding “yes”. The new Portuguese Automatic, introduced in 2004, does it by breaking all the rules yet being equally as traditional. It is a newer and bolder watch, but one that reflects its heritage in the best way. The watch case contains IWC's brilliant Calibre 5001 movement, a variant of the ground-breaking Calibre 5000 movement introduced in 2000. The power of suggestion enticingly reveals that movement through a display back.

This time the differences are primarily ones of style, and the differences are subtle. The numerals are applied, producing more contrast and a slightly “harder” look. There is a “railroad track” ring around the edge of the dial. The case is redesigned, with a slightly thicker bezel to hold a sapphire crystal. And of course there now is a date –a common and useful feature on modern “automatic” watches, but not exactly one from the pocket watch tradition. There is now a deployant clasp rather than a tange buckle. Piece by piece, slightly, everything is different. Cumulatively, the overall difference --the gestalt-- is large

Still, the new model bears more than a passing family resemblance. This watch unequivocally is a Portuguese watch by International Watch Company. There is no mistaking its heritage. It takes the original models' design and keeps everything important yet it dares a different strike at the orignal. The new design works. This watch is a design synthesis of the old and the new. It symbolizes both this tradition and this century. The more beautiful and timeless things change, the more they remain the same.

And this watch, the newest Portuguese watch, is drop-dead beautiful. Stunning. Even if we can’t say exactly why.

From : http://www.iwcforum.com/Articles/2004/Drop-DeadBeautiful.html