Oct
25

A Re-Imagined Classic: The Vintage Collection Portofino Hand Wound

Classic and timeless designs, reinterpreted with today’s technical innovations. That was the vision behind the IWC Vintage Collection – one piece from each of our six watch families, inspired by the original facets that made it famous.

Portofino photographed in vintage black and white beauty

The Vintage Collection Portofino Hand Wound is a member of this special class, produced in limited quantities for those fascinated by the original. In fact the idea for the first Portofino Hand Wound was born at an IWC company holiday dinner in the late 1970’s, driven by the discussion that there was still and would always be a place for exquisitely crafted hand wound timepieces. As with many now renowned design ideas, this one was sketched on a scrap of paper.

The re-imagined Vintage Collection Portofino Hand Wound, in Platinum

As they discussed and sketched, similarities to a pocket watch emerged. And in the end what was drawn on that paper birthed what was known as Reference 5251, or the wrist pocket watch. Configuring a traditional pocket watch design to a wrist watch required some maneuvering – the placement of the seconds hand, and the addition of a moon phase display. The result though was innovative and breathtaking and led Portofino to become one of the most popular of the IWC watch families.

One mainstay here at IWC Schaffhausen is to respect our heritage while looking forward. So when we created the Vintage Collection Portofino Hand Wound we used advances in technology and design to make a few changes.

The updated placement of the moon phase display, with increased accuracy

To start, the placement of the second and moon phase displays were moved to the traditional 12 and 6 o’clock positions (from their original placement at 9 and 3). The movement, while based on the original Jones calibre, has also been modified (with the use of the 98000 calibre family) to improve the accuracy of the moon phase display. It now deviates just one day per 122 years from the progress of the moon: a subtle change with incredible results.

Vintage Collection Portofino Hand Wound, showing the movement and engraved family name

Offered in platinum (limited quantities), white gold, rose gold, and stainless steel, there are options for any connoisseur to join the Portofino family and pay homage to the days (and holiday dinners) that began it all.

Notes

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