IWC Portugieser, 1943

Dealer description — Analog/Shift

Founder's Select The Reference 325 Portugieser from IWC is the first of the line — one of the very watches that spawned a collection, pushing towards a hundred years of history. It absolutely belongs in a museum... -James Lamdin Ever wonder why IWC makes such oversized tool watches? Well, here we have (at least part of) the answer: The Ref. 325 Portugieser. Developed to satisfy the request of two Portuguese merchants who desired an oversized, highly accurate wristwatch, the 325 paired one of the International Watch Company's pocket watch movements (initially the Calibre 74) with an oversized 42mm Staybrite steel wristwatch case ("Mod. 228") produced by Biel-based Wyss & Cie. Corrosion- and scratch-resistant — though not waterproof — it merged the pocket- and wristwatch worlds in a defiantly large package some 50 years before such a thing was trendy. Well under 1,000 pieces were produced across several references between 1931 and 1981, making original Portugieser watches incredibly rare and highly desirable. This particular example from 1943 is a thing of true tool-watch beauty: Measuring 42mm in the famous Mod. 228 Staybrite steel case with a satin caseband, a satin bezel, a snap-on caseback, polished 'holey' lugs, an easy-winding 'turbine crown, and an acrylic crystal, it features a heavily patinated black luminous dial that has taken on the aspect of the night sky — complete with hundreds of tiny stars. Boasting an outer open minute track, luminous 'Arabic' indices, a radial subsidiary-seconds display above 6 o'clock, and a luminous 'sword' handset, it's finished with the cursive 'International Watch Company' wordmark used on 20th-century IWC timepieces. Powered by the hand-wound IWC Calibre 74 pocket watch movement with 16 jewels and a beat rate of 18,000 vph — which was treated to a full recent service by IWC — it comes finished with a black alligator strap and an IWC-signed steel pin buckle. Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from IWC, this superb example of vintage craftsmanship exists at the exciting convergence of several fascinating histories: That of the International Watch Company, the Second World War, and the transition from the pocket watch to the wristwatch. Who wouldn't want to own such an incredible horological object?