BY JOVAN KRSTEVSKI
IWC is best renowned for its ‘Pilot’ watches in every sense of the word. That’s not to say that they’re not capable of creating something other than Pilot watches. The brand has manufactured understated Portofino since the ’80s. Since then, to the present day, the Portofino has seen numerous variations; be it the sizing that may have changed, or a complication or two added, but the focus has always been on understated elegance. The Portofino series has regrettably not seen a complication by watch enthusiasts for a very long time. To remedy this and for kicks, now IWC is bringing its legendary perpetual calendar back to the Portofino collection. Specifically, the two new editions in the IWC Portofino family are in the form of the IWC Portofino Perpetual Calendar IW3444 Gold and Steel.
The model crafted from gold is in an 18k 5N gold case and the other one is forged from stainless steel. The Portofino Perpetual Calendar, which measures 40mm, is the smallest perpetual calendar offered by IWC. It is also the first time that a perpetual calendar is now available in the Portofino line in a stainless steel case. The case is protected by sapphire anti-reflective crystals from the front and the back, and is also water resistant to 50 meters.
All dial features are presented on a silver-plated dial, accompanied by gold-plated hands, and gold-plated appliques for the model in gold; whereas the model in stainless steel has the same silver-plated dial but with rhodium-plated hands and applied indexes. The other dial features include a day and leap year at, month and moon phase indicator at 6, date register at 3 o’clock and central seconds. The hands on three registers are made in blue color, matching the seconds hand color. The perpetual calendar has four digits that show the date, day of the week, month, moonphase, and year. It is accurate until the year 2499 before it needs to be corrected.
Both the models boast the IWC manufacture calibre 82650 (base 82000), a Pellaton automatic movement with a perpetual calendar module on top. The movement beats at 28,800vph and offers a 60 hours power reserve. Both the models are part of the permanent collection and come paired with a blue calfskin strap with buckle, matching the case material. Ref IW344601 in steel has a price tag of CHF 24,000, whereas Ref IW344602 in gold has MSRP of CHF 34,000.
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