Limited Edition Luxury Cheap Replica IWC Portigiese

It's one thing to be the sad perpetuator of unrequited love there are volumes of poetry, particularly good ones by Pablo Neruda and Edna St. Vincent Millay, that do just that but worse than this is to gain purchase to nirvana, to that ethereal transept of cosmically aligned love, only to in the poignant words of Mr. Bruno Mars feel like you've been locked out of heaven. And worse yet is when you realize that the love you've lost is a direct result of your own profound dumb-assitude. For many years, this is how I felt every time someone brought up the subject of the Portigiese Replica Jubilee ref.5441. I would feel the cruel sting of loss, made far worse by the understanding that it was I alone, the fool, the idiot, the moron, who had brought about this terrible shame. The ref.5441 would be the subject of impassioned chest rending whilst deep in Burgundian cups, as the full moon shone cruelly down, revealing my full culpability in its loss.

What exactly is the story of the legendary ref. 5441? In 1993, to celebrate the brand's anniversary, IWC released a limited run of thin three-handed watches that would become one of the most iconic and collectible timepieces of the 20th century. This watch, known as the Portuguese Jubilee, was an extraordinarily faithful homage to the very first original IWC Portuguese watches created in the '30s. Portugal in the '30s was actually one of the world's hottest horological hotbeds. So it was that two Portuguese businessmen made their way to Schaffhausen and requested a particularly intriguing watch that completely militated against the current trends in wristwatches.

In the '30s, men generally wore small wristwatches, in keeping with the prevailing aesthetic themes of the Art Deco and Art Nouveau periods. But what these two gentlemen, Rodrigues and Teixeira, wanted was something totally different. They wanted a wristwatch that featured the type of precision normally found in a marine chronometer. Previous to the electronic era, every boat featured a highly accurate clock known as a marine chronometer, used to calculate longitude. IWC agreed to take on the project, but realized that the only way to achieve this goal was by using one of their pocket-watch movements. They selected the beautiful cal. 74 a distinctive full-bridge movement where each key component of the train is mounted on a separate bridge, making it easier to service and adjust. The resulting watch was in the context of the time simply massive at 42mm in diameter. In contrast, a Cartier Tank from that period measures 33mm across its widest point.

But at the same time, the Portuguese's slim profile and stunning design were supremely elegant, making it something of a delicious contradiction. Even today, looking at a vintage ref. 325 watch characterized by its regal leaf hands and remarkably modern Arabic hour indices, counterpointed by small, circular minute markers, a vast expanse of dial and an ultra-sleek bezel simply takes your breath away. In the '40s, the cal. 74 was swapped out for an improved version the cal. 98. Production of the Portuguese started to dwindle in the '50s, very conceivably because the size of the watch was not in keeping with the prevailing trend for small, thin watches. But a few watches were produced for the German market well into the '70s, using the cal. 982, which added enhanced shock protection to the balance wheel. All in all, only 675 Portuguese watches were ever made, making these vintage timepieces extraordinarily rare.