| The
International Watch Company (IWC) is a Swiss company, founded by an
American. Florentine Jones made the decision in the 1860s to establish
a manufactory in Switzerland. In so doing, he was able to take
advantage of the Swiss watchmaking expertise and lower wages of the
workers. Jones was not well-funded, however, and he eventually had to
give up control of the company. Over the years, the company changed
ownership many times and experienced a veritable roller-coaster of
success and failures. Today, however, the IWC is a strong participant
on the world stage of luxury timepieces. |
Portuguese WatchesThe original Portuguese was first manufactured in the 1930's and the modern collection plays homage to that original timepiece. There are many unique pieces in the Portuguese collection including the minute repeated and the automatic. The minute repeater is a brilliant invention from the 17th century and
featured in the first pocket watches. The Portuguese
Minute Repeater is an outstanding synthesis of old and modern
watchmaking technology. Its movement is based on the original 95-
calibre pocket watch movement of 1927. The sonorous minute repeating
mechanism chimes out the hours, quarters and minutes on two finely
tuned gongs. The Portuguese automatic on the other hand brings a hint of the modern to the collection. It comes with all the finest features the company
has to offer today: an exclusive IWC Pellaton winding system, classical
small seconds hand and seven-day power reserve display. Together with
other new and more advanced features such as the convex, coated
sapphire glass, the two-piece case or the back with its screw thread
and sapphire glass, the Portuguese Automatic is the watch that would be
developed in Schaffhausen if those two Portuguese businessmen were to
drop in today with a request for an unusually large and precise
wristwatch
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Minute repeater
- Small seconds hand with stop function
- Breguet spring
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Sapphire glass back
- Sapphire, crossed out, antireflective glass
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Limited edition of 100 watches in platinum, 250 in 18 ct. white gold and 250 in 18 ct. rose gold
- Mechanical movement on the Portuguese
- The Portuguese is hand-wound
- Sapphire glass, antireflective on both sides on the Portugeuse
- Crocodile leather strap on the Portuguese
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