IWC Portugieser Hand-Wound Replica Watch

IWC chose the 75th anniversary of the Portugieser line in 2015 to introduce a model that takes its style cues directly from the original.It is without question that IWC is one of the most prestigious Replica Watches companies in the world. The brand’s identity is a balance between the heritage and style of traditional watchmaking and the technological innovations continually changing the industry. The IWC Portugieser Hand-Wound 8 Days draws upon history and technology in equal measure.

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Throwback Thursday

The legacy of the IWC Replica Watches Portugieser model 325 runs through the “DNA” of the International Watch Co. That watch’s oversized case, housing an undisguised pocketwatch movement, served as the template for a number of models. Sitting atop the movement was a simple, elegant dial designed for easy legibility.75 years later the 5102 models revisit the notion of simple elegance, with 43-mm cases and dials boiled down to the absolute essentials for quick reading: Arabic numerals at 12, 3 and 9 o’clock and clear railroad graduations around the dial. Seconds sit at 6 o’clock as they did on the IWC Fake Watches original. Now a date window counts out the month in an aperture at the very bottom of the dial.

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Eight Days a Week

Manually wound movements are a bit of a paradox. They are absolutely not modern. In fact they sit in opposition to modernity; there isn’t anything necessarily convenient about them, and the ‘tricks’ that Fake Watches make them work have been used for the past 100 or so years, without much variation. The paradox is that while they don’t fit the bill as cutting-edge in the modern era, they fit any true watch collector’s lifestyle perfectly. More so than any other type of modern-day movement, they force the owner into a relationship with the IWC Replica Watches because of the need for regular winding.The manufacture caliber 59215 movement needs to be wound, but it is by no means a needy movement. The 192-hour power reserve means that you can easily keep the 5102 in rotation with several other watches without concern for setting because the reserve has run flat. Speaking of reserve, the sapphire display on the rear of the Cheap IWC Portugieser Replica Watches has an eight-day readout to keep track of winding duties. And, speaking of setting, unlike the pocketwatch movements of yore, the 59215 will hack to allow for precise setting.

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Unlimited Tradition, but Limited Editions

The Fake Watches Portugieser line celebrated its jubilee anniversary in 2015. While the line has now endured for 76 years, this celebration will not. The Hand Wound 8-days Portuguese models are quite limited in number: the stainless steel model is limited to 750 pieces worldwide and the rose gold version is restricted to 175 pieces. When they are gone, you will have to wait until the year 2040 for the line’s centennial editions. But don’t think of it as nearly a quarter of a century away; think of it as 1,142 winding cycles.

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Time Flies: Historic IWC Pilot’s Replica Watches

IWC Schaffhausen Replica launched a fleet of new Pilot’s watches at this year’s SIHH watch salon in Geneva, continuing the brand’s long and storied heritage as a supplier of timepieces for aviators. Here, courtesy of IWC’s archives, we present a lineup of vintage and modern IWC pilots’ watches that represent milestones for the brand — and for watchmaking history.

THE FIRST IWC WATCH EVER TAKEN INTO THE SKY (1896)

This pocketwatch, with a 14k yellow gold case and containing the IWC-manufactured Caliber 53 movement (no official reference number) was sold by IWC on December 1896 to IWC retailer A. Kohler from Leipzig, Germany. Another German, Albert Lotter, inherited the watch from his father in 1916. During the following years the watch and its owner, who lived in Saxony and Berlin, witnessed many 20th-century historical milestones. The watch still operates with good timekeeping precision.

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IWC started focusing on the production of technically advanced watches built specifically for aviation at a very early stage, becoming a true pioneer in this field. Progress made in aviation and navigation had created a growing need for watches that offered maximum reliability under the toughest conditions.The first IWC Big Pilot’s Replica Watch (Ref. IW431, with Caliber 52 T.S.C.) was supplied to the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) in 1940 in an edition of 1,000 pieces. The “big device,” constructed according to the criteria for an observer’s watch, is the largest wristwatch ever made by IWC, with a case diameter of 55 mm, a height of 16.5 mm, and a weight of 183 grams.

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IWC PILOT’S WRISTWATCH MARK 11 WITH NATO STRAP (1948)

In response to a product requirement from the British government, IWC developed a service watch for pilots of the Royal Air Force (RAF). The technical specifications stipulated by the RAF were very rigid, including a requirement that the movement had to be protected against magnetic fields. Production of the now-legendary IWC Mark 11 Replica, with Caliber 89, started in 1948. In November 1949, the watch was supplied to airborne personnel of the RAF and other Commonwealth nations and remained in service until 1981.

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IWC PILOT’S WATCH CHRONOGRAPH CERAMIC (1994)

Forty-eight years after the legendary Mark 11 was launched, IWC built on its Pilot’s Watch tradition with the launch of the IWC Pilot’s Replica Watch Chronograph (Ref. IW3740). In 1994, IWC launched another Pilot’s Watch Chronograph (Ref. 3705), intended for modern aviation and equipped with a case made from high-tech zirconium oxide ceramic — a material as hard as sapphire and virtually indestructible. Its movement is caliber 7922.

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IWC Big Pilot’s Heritage Replica Watch 55

IWC Big Pilot’s Heritage Replica Watch 55 would make an excellent desk clock

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The standard IWC Big Pilot’s watch is both an automatic and has a power reserve of about a week. Instead, IWC Replica Watches preferred to go an alternative route and get a bit more vintage chic with the mechanism inside of this reference 5104 timepiece.For the movement, IWC chose their in-house-made caliber 98300 which operates at 2.5Hz (18,000bph) and has a power reserve of just 46 hours, being manually wound. The idea here is likely that IWC wanted to convey the most pure sense of “old-time winding” since on most accounts the caliber 98300 (despite its contemporary construction) is based on rather old horological architecture. What it lacks in things like performance, complexity, and convenience, it makes up for in feeling like you are winding up an old timepiece.

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IWC once again got it right when it comes to a pilot-style watch dial in terms of finishing and colors. The blued hands are a nice touch and off-white luminant along with refined dial design make for a very classy look.The IWC Big Pilot’s Heritage Replica Watch 55 is a thick brown calfskin strap that is designed like a cross between a pilot and NATO strap.