IWC presents the Portugieser Eternal Calendar IW505701 with moon phase accuracy of 45 million years. Price € 175,000
Building on an extensive expertise with calendars, IWC expand its collection with the introduction of the Portugieser Eternal Calendar ref. IW505701.
Presented at the Watches and Wonders 2024 event (Geneva, April 9-15), this cutting-edge timepiece, the first secular perpetual calendar of the brand, not only recognize the different lengths of the months and add a leap day every four years, but also handles the Gregorian calendar’s complex leap-year exception rules.
A specially engineered 400-year gear ensures that the calendar automatically skips three leap years over four centuries – an event which will occur for the first time in the year 2100.
Another remarkable feature of this model is the moon phase display. Thanks to a newly developed reduction gear, the Double Moon phase display will only deviate from the moon’s orbit by one day after 45 million years.
The Portugieser Eternal Calendar features a 44.4 mm x 15 mm platinum case adorned with polished and brushed surfaces.
The glass dial undergoes a complex manufacturing process. Initially, the underside is frosted and lacquered in white, while the subdials are machined, polished separately, and then affixed to the dial.
In the next step, the printing is applied, and the appliques are mounted by hand.
The numerals and the characteristic Portugieser minute scale are printed on a white lacquered flange sitting between the glass dial and the front box-shaped sapphire crystal, treated with an antireflective coating on both sides.
The moon phase is displayed on the dial using the characteristic Double Moon indication, which shows the moon as seen from the Northern and Southern hemispheres.
The display consists of two super- imposed discs. A celestial disc with two small circular openings rotates above an immobile lower disc with two dots. This negative representation gives the impression that two small moons are waxing or waning. Here, the lower disc is made of titanium and decorated with a Guilloché pattern. The upper disc is made of glass.
Visible through the box-shaped sapphire glass case back and operating at a frequency of 4 Hz (28,800 vibrations per hour), the newly developed IWC-manufactured 52640 calibre features a highly efficient Pellaton winding system. Using movements of the rotor in both directions, it reliably builds up a power reserve of seven days (168 hours) in the two barrels.
Parts of the winding system that are subject to high stress are made of virtually wear-free zirconium oxide ceramic. The movement boasts Geneva stripes and circular graining finishes, enhancing its visual appeal.
Translating the irregular calendar into a wristwatch remains a significant engineering feat. The Gregorian calendar divides the year into 12 months, with leap years every four years, except centurial years not divisible by 400.
Traditional perpetual calendars need corrections every 400 years, while the Portugieser Eternal Calendar is mechanically programmed to take these complexities into account. It will calculate the leap year correctly until at least the year 3999, as it has not yet been officially decided whether the year 4000 will be a leap year or not.
The Portugieser Eternal Calendar is based on the same modular and synchronised design as the existing perpetual calendar. All its displays can be advanced using the crown. However, while the perpetual calendar is programmed for a four-year cycle, the Portugieser Eternal Calendar features an additional mechanism, the so-called 400-years gear that completes only one revolution every four centuries.
It contains three indentations, which cause the calendar to skip three leap years over that period. Designed with impressive efficiency and technical elegance, this module consists of only eight parts.
Water resistant to 5 bar (50 metres / 165 feet), the watch is paired with a black alligator leather strap from the Italian leather artisan Santoni fastened by a platinum folding clasp.
The retail price of the IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar, reference IW505701, is Euro 175,000. iwc.com
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Masterpiece! Best in show?
ReplyDeleteSuch cool engineering and an elegant design. Its a bit ironic though....considering, no one who buys this watch will ever see it do the year 2100 flip.... Still though, very cool
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