Pre-SIHH 2015: IWC Portugieser Annual Calendar Ref. 5035. IWC Portuguese Annual Calendar. 2015 will be the year of the Portugieser for IWC. We introduce today a SIHH 2015 preview: the IWC Portugieser Annual Calendar. The new IWC Portugieser Annual Calendar will be initially available in three variations: in stainless steel with silver-plated dial (ref. IW503501), in stainless steel with midnight blue dial (ref. IW503502), and in red gold with silver-plated dial (ref. IW503504).
2015 will be the year of the Portuguese (or Portugieser) for IWC. The Schaffhausen brand celebrates the 75th anniversary of its most iconic watch (you can read its history here) and has prepared twelve novelties that will be presented during the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (Geneva, 19-23 January 2015). IWC has also planned to introduce three new calibre families in the years ahead, the first being the new 52000-calibre family, found in four models in the new collection, including the SIHH 2015 preview that we present today: the IWC Portuguese Annual Calendar (Ref. 5035).
This is the first annual calendar produced by IWC. The month, date and day are shown in three separate, semicircular windows at "12 o’clock". The "American" order in which the date is shown was not only necessary from a technical and design point of view, but is also a homage to F. A. Jones, IWC’s American founder.
The newly developed annual calendar closes the gap between the perpetual calendar and the simple date display. The new IWC-manufactured 52850 calibre has two barrels to supply the additional torque required to advance the three display discs and still has enough left for a 7-day power reserve.
The 44.2 mm case with curved strap horns frames the typical dial with classic railway-track-style chapter ring, slim feuille hands and Arabic numerals. The small seconds subdial is not positioned at 6 o’clock as in the original, but at 9 o’clock and it is visually counterbalanced by the power reserve display at 3 o'clock.
The see-through sapphire-glass back provides a view of the new IWC-manufactured 52850 calibre, beating at 28,800 vibrations per hour and featuring an improved Pellaton winding system with virtually wear-free components made of black and white ceramic.
The new IWC Portuguse Annual Calendar will be initially available in three variations: in stainless steel with silver-plated dial (ref. IW503501), in stainless steel with midnight blue dial (ref. IW503502), and in red gold with silver-plated dial (ref. IW503504). All versions of the watch are fitted with black Santoni alligator leather straps. iwc.com
- Read the history of the IWC Portuguese and other iconic watches
- Check out more SIHH 2015 novelties here
This is the first annual calendar produced by IWC. The month, date and day are shown in three separate, semicircular windows at "12 o’clock". The "American" order in which the date is shown was not only necessary from a technical and design point of view, but is also a homage to F. A. Jones, IWC’s American founder.
Unlike a perpetual calendar, the annual calendar date switching mechanism is able to take the differing lengths of the individual months into account but not those for the differing numbers of days in February owing to leap years. Once a year, at the end of February, it requires manual correction.
The correction can be performed using the crown so avoiding the use of a corrector, which would have compromised the Portuguese Annual Calendar’s clean design.
The newly developed annual calendar closes the gap between the perpetual calendar and the simple date display. The new IWC-manufactured 52850 calibre has two barrels to supply the additional torque required to advance the three display discs and still has enough left for a 7-day power reserve.
The 44.2 mm case with curved strap horns frames the typical dial with classic railway-track-style chapter ring, slim feuille hands and Arabic numerals. The small seconds subdial is not positioned at 6 o’clock as in the original, but at 9 o’clock and it is visually counterbalanced by the power reserve display at 3 o'clock.
The see-through sapphire-glass back provides a view of the new IWC-manufactured 52850 calibre, beating at 28,800 vibrations per hour and featuring an improved Pellaton winding system with virtually wear-free components made of black and white ceramic.
The new IWC Portuguse Annual Calendar will be initially available in three variations: in stainless steel with silver-plated dial (ref. IW503501), in stainless steel with midnight blue dial (ref. IW503502), and in red gold with silver-plated dial (ref. IW503504). All versions of the watch are fitted with black Santoni alligator leather straps. iwc.com
- Read the history of the IWC Portuguese and other iconic watches
- Check out more SIHH 2015 novelties here
The watch is nice but I really can't understand why they had to write ANNUAL CALENDAR on the dial.
ReplyDeleteBecause it is necessary to make it clear that the watch does not have a perpetual calendar. In Annual Calendar watches once a year a manual adjustment should be made, that is, at the end of February. In simple calendar watches the manual adjustment is made five times a year, when the number of days is less than 31.
ReplyDeleteThanks Fabio but there are many other annual calendar watches and most of them do not have a big text to remind what the watch is. The owner knows it.
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