![]() The case dimensions of the first Portugieser measured 43 millimetres. It’s one of the most often told anecdotes of the entire history of watches which led to IWC’s name. Portugieser broken down into numbers – Top 5 Facts 2: Two Portuguese businessmen The name of the International Watch Company expresses exactly what IWC stands for: a manufacturer that doesn’t want to be in the focal point and rather lets its watches speak for themselves. ![]() One that doesn’t scream at the top of its lungs for attention but rather it sets out to be a fashionable accessoire for a tasteful outfit. At the same time, it’s also the prototype for today’s interpretation of an elegant dress watch. Perhaps even the most iconic of all dress watches altogether. Originally produced for two Portuguese businessmen in a limited amount of pieces, today it’s a watch legend. However, the Portugieser always offered up sizes around the 40 millimetre mark. While it doesn’t represent the tastes of today, back in the 1940s watches weren’t anywhere near this size. It raises the suspicion that an old watch movement has been assembled into a brand new case to intentionally raise the price of a vintage watch. When you first see the offerings of the vintage gentlemen’s watch with a case measurement of over 40 millimetres, there’s usually a good reason to be mistrustful of its authenticity. This change is definitely an improvement and enhances the aesthetics and, more importantly, the legibility of the dial.IWC Portugieser – A large-size dress watch This is the most noticeable change from the predecessor which had silver indexes and hour and minute hands on a silver dial. The rose-gold watch, of course, has gold hands and indexes. The stainless-steel with silver dial has blue indexes with heat-blued steel hands, while the blue dial has polished steel hands with silver indexes. The color of the indexes and hands differ and are designed to contrast with the dial color. In the images here, for example, the elapsed time would be 10 hours, 9 minutes, and 23 seconds. The dial is completed by a railway track chapter ring, date window, applied Arabic numeral indexes, and elegant minute and hour leaf-shaped hands. The familiar way of displaying the hours and minutes makes reading the elapsed chronograph time easier and more intuitive. On the dial side, we have a two-register layout with running seconds at 6 o’clock and, unique to this movement, a combined totalizer for chronograph hours and minutes at 12 o’clock. ![]() The skeletonized and decorated rotor also helps reveal as much of the chronograph mechanism as possible for the owner’s viewing pleasure. The calibre 89361 is manufactured in-house, offers a 68-hour power reserve, and can be seen in all its Geneva-striped glory through the display caseback. The caliber 89361 is part of the 89000 family of IWC movements, some of which are found in halo offerings such as the Ingenieur Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month. The highlight of the watch is the in-house chronograph movement with chronograph hours and minutes displayed at 12 o’clock and including a flyback function. While all three options work well, my personal favorite is the stainless steel with silver dial and the heat-blued hands. Both dial colors are available in the stainless steel option but the rose-gold is only offered with a silver dial. In addition, the watch is also available in two dial colors: silver and blue. Offered in either stainless steel or rose gold, the case is elegant with a touch of sportiness thanks to the broad, double-stepped case and round chronograph pushers. However, at 42mm, the new IWC Portugieser Chronograph Classic is about the median by today’s standards. The Portugieser line (formerly called Portuguese) was considered to be large-sized watches when launched in the 1930s. The new reference 3903 replaces the reference 3904, with several subtle design changes and updates which help improve the overall aesthetic of the watch. IWC has released an updated successor for the Portugieser Chronograph Classic, a watch well-known for its unique chronograph totalizer display, in-house movement, and sporty yet elegant design. ![]()
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