Wrist Game Or Crying Shame: IWC Portuguese Vintage
Welcome back to Wrist Game or Crying Shame, where, this week, we take a look at the IWC Portuguese Vintage. To consider this one, you’ll require a large wrist and a pretty large wallet. Before we head down the path…
Last week, I discussed a fancy piece of horology with the Breguet Tradition 7027. What a stunner! Thankfully, most of you agreed as this watch danced its dapper duds to a 74% Wrist Game win. Heck, even our most prolific commenter, Chow, is thinking about donning his leisure suit every week to find a reason to wear such a watch. Please send us a pic! This week, we stay on the slightly dressier side of things, but we up the size spec with one of history’s all-time favorite big watches. It’s time for the IWC Portuguese Vintage.
The IWC Portuguese Vintage
For some reason, I traveled out to Chicago during 2008 in order to see family. I say, “for some reason,” because I simply cannot remember the occasion. If you’ve ever gone on a trip to somewhere awesome — ahem, Chicago — but got to see so little of it because you were there on business, well, this was that kind of trip. However, I do recall one thing from that journey: an afternoon on Michigan Avenue. We stumbled upon a watch shop. There in the window was the IWC Portuguese Vintage. In fact, the entire Vintage collection was lined up on a special display.
The IWC Portuguese Vintage and the entire Vintage collection debuted in 2008 with six different historical models. There was a Portofino, Pilot, Aquatimer, Davinci, Ingenieur, and the Portuguese. All came on steel as regular models with black dials and black straps. IWC added a limited platinum set and possibly even other models as time passed. What I can tell you is that these watches were, and still are, seriously attractive. As we’ll see later, they’ve languished price-wise for no good reason. I feel this way because these watches are very well done, modern, and some use some pretty sweet movements. Some, on the other hand, settle for a decorated ETA.
The caliber 98295
I chose the IWC Portuguese Vintage for a couple of reasons. Firstly, this watch uses the hand-wound caliber 98295. Aside from being a sucker for a manual wind watch, this movement has real history. In fact, it is a direct descendant of the original 98 series of movements from the 1930s that were used in pocket watches. For this more modern application, it has shock protection and more modern materials for the gear train. It’s adjusted to five positions and 46 hours of power reserve. The movement has a diameter of 37.8mm!
The second reason for choosing the IWC Portuguese Vintage is an easier one. This watch looks fantastic! It’s incredibly difficult to deny the glossy black sector dial with a seconds sub-dial at 6:00. Oh, and those applied Arabic numerals and the slender hands look the part. Everything else comes together on a black crocodile strap with a signed pin buckle. Finally, have a look at the case back and take in that lovely movement.
A large watch
Now, this watch does make quick work of sorting out its potential owners. The primary reason for that is its size. This line of watches has never been for folks like me with small wrists, and the IWC Portuguese Vintage is no exception. This watch comes in at 44mm in diameter, and that is a bit polarizing. If you can pull off a watch of this size, though, why wouldn’t you go for one of these?!?
Today’s candidate
I was pretty amazed when I discovered the prices for these IWC Portuguese Vintage models. Honestly, I had always considered these watches as truly expensive, so this was a nice surprise. Most sit around the €5K range and some of these even sport recent factory service. I stayed away from those because they often include a polish. The piece I located today on Chrono24 is complete with its box and papers and comes in at just €4,350. The seller, Stevanella Orologi in Verona, Italy owns the watch and the photos.
Aside from the potential size challenge, I’m having a hard time finding fault with the IWC Portuguese Vintage. Cast your vote and let us know what you think about this big gun.
