IWC Portuguese Chronograph Classic Review
It's quite easy to fall in love with the IWC Portugieser Chronograph Classic. Find out why!
IWC Portuguese Chronograph Classic Review
IWC is known as one of the horological powerhouses in the industry. Their Swiss-made mechanical watches are a favorite to many. Let's take a close look at this series in our full and comprehensive review.
Just when you think that IWC has finally outdone themselves, they pull out another ace and pair their Portuguese Chronograph Classic with some top-of-the-line alligator leather straps from the legendary Italian leather-goods manufacturer, Santoni. The high-end alligator leather strap has the Santoni logo stamped on the orange calfskin reverse side of the monostich strap. The straps are attached to a faceted polished and brushed pin buckle on the rose gold / red gold models and a deployant buckle on the steel models.
Enough about what's happening on the outside of this watch. The real power of this watch emanates from within the IWC caliber 89361 in-house movement; a 38-jewel self-winding mechanical
This automatic bi-directional winding movement features IWC's famous Pellaton winding system which uses gravity and inertia to maximize the movement's self-winding potential by allowing the rotor to wind the watch when turning in both directions with even the slightest movement. The hyper-efficient caliber 89361 IWC movement uses a 4 pawl system instead of a 2 pawl system like some other 50,000 series calibers. The double-barrel design allows the power reserve to last up to an impressive 68 hours.
Special mechanical features include a crisp column-wheel for actuation and vertical clutch coupling which allows you to run your chronograph continuously for center seconds and not experience any added wear and tear on the chronograph drive train.
Special Functions:
- Flyback Chronograph
- This allows you to quickly reset the stopwatch feature.
- Hacking Seconds
- Let you easily sync the watch to another timer.
- Quick Set Date
- This feature lets you quickly set the date should the watch ever wind-down.
This IWC Portuguese Chronograph Classic is the embodiment of a timeless classic design fused with high-end Swiss watchmaking. The Portuguese Chronograph Classic has a unique curvature on the sapphire crystal which gives it the appearance of an old-fashioned acrylic crystal. Between the crystal curvatures, the pump-style pushers and the recessed sub-dials a vintage look takes over all four exquisite models in this series of contemporary chronographs; hence the word 'Classic' in the watch's nomenclature.
The series features two stainless steel models; one with a blue dial and another with a silver dial. There are also two models in 18kt rose gold with silver dials. At a 42mm size, the Portuguese Classic is an in-between sized watch of the standard IWC Portuguese watch and the IWC Yacht Club and measures 51mm from lug to lug. Although this is no sporty like the Yacht Club, it does have the semblance of a sporty watch minus any luminous material.
Overall this is an excellent timepiece for day-to-day wear provided that you don't wear it when swimming and would make for a great addition to any collection.
