IWC fans might have noticed that 2018 marks the 150-year anniversary of the well-known brand from Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Founded by American watchmaker Florentine Ariosto Jones back in 1868, IWC has gradually built a reputation for quality engineered watches.
Nothing less could have been expected from the Swiss company than a proper celebration, which is why IWC has just unveiled two high-tech tourbillon watches – the new IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon Edition “150 Years” and the IWC Portugieser Constant-Force Tourbillon Edition “150 Years.”
Featuring a perpetual calendar and a tourbillon on its dial, the Portugieser Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon Edition “150 Years” will mark its own place in the brand’s history. The stunning white dial comes with a lacquered finish and large black Arabic numerals in IWC’s already popular font.
The 45 mm Portugieser-style case was then paired with a black Santoni alligator strap and it can also offer water resistance for as deep as 30 meters.
At the heart of this watch lies the self-winding IWC caliber 51950, with a special commemorative 18k gold rotor, and backed up by a 168-hour power reserve. It’s on display through a sapphire display case back so everyone will get to enjoy its beautiful inner workings.
On the other hand, the Portugieser Constant-Force Tourbillon Edition “150 Years” is housed within a 46 mm platinum case complemented by a black alligator strap by Santoni. It’s quite similar to the Calendar Tourbillon Edition, although the large tourbillon features a constant-force mechanism that delivers power in even impulses to the escapement.
There’s also a pretty busy dial, with a moon phase display at 1 o’clock, as well as a power reserve indicator at 4:30; and this time the hand-wound IWC caliber 94805, with 96 hours of power reserve, keeps everything ticking.
Only 50 pieces of the IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon Edition “150 Years” will be ever produced, listed for $110,000 each, while each of the 15 IWC Portugieser Constant-Force Tourbillon Edition “150 Years” watches are set to cost an astonishing $253,000.
