1 post tagged 89360 calibre

After months of tracking the recently completed Volvo Ocean Race, we still have boating on the brain. So what better way to indulge our passion for the open seas than to take a look at the IWC Portuguese Yacht Club Chronograph, a watch with a storied nautical history.

The original Yacht Club Automatic launched at the Basel Watch Show in 1967. It represented a turning point in the IWC heritage and was a true innovation in our design history. Featuring a spring suspension and mounted on rubber buffers, the watch had incredible resistance to shocks. This made it highly suitable for ocean use. While this was just one example of the Yacht Club’s innovation and precision, it helps indicate why it was a hugely popular timepiece.

One of the 1970’s Yacht Club watches (image: Hodinkee)

In 2010 we released an updated version of the Yacht Club Chronograph, as part of the Portuguese family, making it the first sport inspired watch in that collection. We issued the newly minted member of the Portuguese collection in stainless steel and 18-carat red gold, and exclusively for the (above mentioned) Volvo Ocean Race, we created it in titanium. Talk about a watch made for rough waters! 

The Volvo Ocean Race edition (source: Hodinkee)

However this was no ordinary relaunch of a classic watch – the Portuguese Yacht Club Chronograph included the IWC 89360 calibre, a device which took our internal team four years to design and develop. Combine that with a 68 hour power reserve and water resistance up to 6 bar, and this is an aesthetic and technical marvel. It pays respect to its much revered predecessors and takes the Yacht Club’s reputation to a whole new level.

Today’s version (in stainless steel) of the Portuguese Yacht Club Chronograph