Watch News

IWC Introduces the Portofino Chronograph Calendar Watch

By author-avatar February 11, 2023

IWC Introduces the Portofino Chronograph Calendar Watch

The entire calendar, sometimes known as the full calendar, has recently become a popular topic. The IWC Portofino Complete Calendar watch, which debuts in 18k 5N gold and stainless steel along with the IWC Portofino Automatic Pointer Date, is the most recent to join the burgeoning group of high-end timepieces that show not only the time and date but also the day of the week, the month, and the phase of the moon.

A complete calendar is not an annual calendar or a perpetual calendar, which is vital to understand. The perpetual calendar extends this functionality by keeping track of both 28-day and 29-day Februarys, once again automatically advancing to the first of March at the appropriate time. The annual calendar is programmed to automatically adjust for 30-day months and advance to the first of the next month. The presence of all significant calendar displays, such as date, day, month, and moon phase, is what makes a calendar “complete,” in comparison.

These are incorporated in a very attractive way by the IWC Portofino Complete Calendar watch, which has simply two subdials and each of them has two displays. While the date and month are displayed in the lower subdial, the moon phase and day of the week may be read just below 12 o’clock, where some will undoubtedly be troubled by the cutoff in the “XII” hour marker. The Portofino is an understated and attractive design because it is the premier dress watch selection from IWC (known to respond poorly to the introduction of a bevy of new functionality). We could reasonably expect IWC to get this right given their track record of calculated designs, which include the beloved Portuguese Chronograph of the 2000s (now renamed Portugieser) and, of course, the long-standing Portofino series itself.

A startling potent mix is created by the leaf-shaped hands and the straight hour markers, as well as by the large dial and slender bezel. The IWC Schaffhausen and Automatic lettering at 9 and 3 o’clock complete the balance, and a hint of blue in the central seconds hand and moon disk phase adds adaptability and some much-needed color to the design. The IWC Portofino Complete Calendar watch comes in two different case materials: 18k 5N gold and stainless steel. Both versions are slightly thicker than average due to the modular design of the movement, measuring 41mm in width and 11.8mm in thickness.

The IWC Portofino Complete Calendar’s caliber 32150 is visible via the sapphire crystal caseback. It has a contemporary automatic movement with a pawl winding method that runs at 4Hz frequency during the course of a prolonged 72-hour power reserve. The calfskin straps wrapping around your wrist and the two corrector pushers set into the side of the case should serve as reminders that this is not, by any means, a sports watch. That’s all fine, though, as water resistance is certified at 50m (150ft).

The IWC Portofino Automatic Pointer Date, a 39mm-wide model with a 10.8mm overall thickness and a solid caseback as opposed to a clear one, adds to the collection of Portofino watches. The majority of other signs are likewise removed, leaving only a pointer date. While this version of the date looks nice, it is not the simplest to read unless you have good near vision and very steady hands. In our experience, graphics often magnify and exaggerate the smaller watch details, and these tiny displays are by no means an exception.

In the Richemont stable, the IWC Portofino Complete Calendar joins a group of full calendar and complete calendar watches that include Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Vacheron Constantin, Baume & Mercier, Montblanc, and now IWC. It offers definitely the most elegant presentation of any of them.

Scroll To Top
Close
Close
Home
0 Wishlist
Blog
0 Cart
Close

My Cart

Shopping cart is empty!

Continue Shopping

Sidebar