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Portofino Remontage Manuel

IW544801

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Portofino Remontage Manuel
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Brand  : IWC
Collection  : IWC Vintage Collection - Jubilee Edition
Model  : Portofino Remontage Manuel
Reference  : IW544801
Complement : Steel - Aligator Bracelet
Year : 2008
Is not commercialised any more

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  • Brand  : IWC
    Collection  : IWC Vintage Collection - Jubilee Edition
    Model  : Portofino Remontage Manuel
    Reference  : IW544801
    Complement : Steel - Aligator Bracelet
    Year : 2008
    Is not commercialised any more
    List Price : 9 000 €
    Diameter : 46 mm
    Thickness : 11 mm
    Styles : Classical
    Vintage
    Types : Hand-winding
    Calibre : 98800
    Complication : Small Seconds
    Astronomical Moon Phases
    Case material : Steel
    Case peculiarity : Sapphire caseback
    Shape : Round
    Water-resistance : 30 meters
    Dial color : Black
    Display : Hands
    Indexes : Roman numerals
    Glass : Antireflective coating
    Sapphire
    Strap material : Alligator leather
    Strap color : Black
    + More characteristics : Homage to the original Portofino Reference 5251. with pocket watch movement and extremely precise moon phase display

    Movement
    18 jewels
    Frequency:
    18 000 vibrations per hour (2.5 Hz)
    Power reserve : 46 hours

DESCRIPTION

  • Six legends celebrate 140 years of IWC Schaffhausen

    IWC Vintage Collection – Jubilee Edition 1868–2008

    The Schaffhausen manufacturer is celebrating its anniversary with six legendary wristwatches from its past: the Portuguese, Ingenieur, Pilot’s Watch, Da Vinci, Aquatimer, Portofino – these watchmaking legends are being reissued as attractive models in the vintage style. For the celebration – and naturally also the great joy of all lovers and collectors of the brand. 

    It all started more than 140 years ago in Boston where the talented and enterprising watchmaker Florentine Ariosto Jones was looking for an opportunity to set up on his own and do things much differently and better than his colleagues in the flourishing American watch industry. As the director of F. Howard Watch & Cie at that time, he had of course heard of the little country of Switzerland and its outstanding watchmakers. He was fired up by the information that workers in the Swiss watch industry produced their watches for amazingly low wages and in the main with old machines. Wages in Switzerland were then still really low, something that may seem surprising today. And so a compelling business idea came to F. A. Jones: Why not manufacture quality watches in Switzerland under more favourable conditions, but with new and better machines, for the North American market? His idea was conceived, planned and carried out: in New York Jones set up a sales organization with two business partners where pocket watch movements manufactured in Switzerland were to be put in cases and then sold throughout North America. The company was given a grandsounding name: International Watch Company. Jones set off by boat to Europe with his watchmaker friend Louis Kidder. Along with a whole host of ideas, the two men also took with them machines for the mass production of parts and finished design drawings for the first Swissmanufactured watches. 

    Initial surprise: in the watchmaking centres of western Switzerland where Jones had intended setting up his business the innovator was given the cold shoulder. The locals, who mainly produced watch parts in their homes, feared the modern machines and the concept of mass production even if it did have the indisputable advantage of consistent quality. 

    This is where the story could have ended. But in western Switzerland Jones met Heinrich Moser, a versatile industrialist from Schaffhausen. He made the American an offer that was tempting even if not completely altruistic: he could start immediately in Schaffhausen, a small town in northern Switzerland the American had certainly never heard of until then – in industrial buildings Moser owned. What persuaded him was that a source of energy was already available there for the machines – electricity was not even a consideration then. A hydrostation built by Moser brought the power required for the machines directly into the factory using shafts and long transmission cables. So in 1868 Jones arrived in Schaffhausen – and Schaffhausen, a long way from western Switzerland, got a watch factory. Jones was, therefore, able to realize his bold ideas. Even his principle of manufacturing highquality watches with consistent tolerances worked – and this was the beginning of the reputation now enjoyed by Schaffhausen watches throughout the world. What had been a promising start in watchmaking with the first “Jones calibres”, named after the company’s founder, ended in difficulties commercially for Jones when America did not lower the 25 per cent war duty imposed in 1864 – contrary to what was announced. The advantage of lower Swiss wages vanished. Jones returned to Boston and the “American watch factory” passed into Swiss hands. However, the founder did leave behind his particular aspiration for sophisticated, ever-better technical solutions. Despite the initial difficulties the manufacturer became one of the most renowned producers of sturdy and durable pocket watches. 

    And it was there right from the start at the turning point in watchmaking history when the wristwatch came into favour around 1900. The battle about how to wear a watch was decided for good by the 1930s and 1940s. The onset of this period of technical innovation brought some of the most exciting IWC watches, still much sought-after by collectors today. Some of them even wrote watch history. 

    Six watches – six founding legends of today’s IWC watch families 

    Six of these milestones have been brought back as vintage models from the company’s proud history into the modern day for the manufacturer’s 140th anniversary – even if it is not a “round” one. Not as copies, something that IWC has never done, but as new interpretations of good old friends. Some with ultra-modern, up-to-date automatic IWC movements, which are also used in the current collection. In other cases, where historical accuracy demands, they have been equipped with hand-wound pocket watch movements based on the 98-calibre, the most famous IWC calibre and the one that has been produced for the longest, but they have also been expanded, incorporating some of the elements of the earliest Jones movements. And, to the extent that their predecessors had not already appeared in the IWC extra-large format, the case of some of the models in the current Vintage Collection has increased in size on its journey through time, which on first sight makes them distinguishable from the originals. But in this way they have also taken on completely new watch personalities. They illustrate how, for example, a 1955 Ingenieur would have looked if its case had had a 42.5 mm diameter rather than 37.5 mm. 

    The six watches, which are available in unlimited numbers in stainless steel with a black dial and in limited numbers in platinum with a silverplated dial, are more than just a “Best of” the wristwatch era at IWC. Each one of them essentially embodies the founding legends of the manufacturer’s current watch families. The first 140 vintage watches in platinum have, though, in a way already been reserved: as a special offer they are available as a unique numbered set in an ornate leather case.

    Portofino Hand-Wound

    The Portofino of 1984: The most elegant but also the most unassuming family of watches from IWC, the Portofino – the classic example of understatement – has decidedly stylish origins. Collectors know this: it is the Reference 5251 watch, which was still produced until the end of the1990s, always in small quantities. It was impossible to conceal its direct descent from an elegant Lépine pocket watch produced for decades by IWC. For it was, as regards the case, nothing other than a pocket watch converted for use on the wrist, equipped with narrow strap brackets and a smaller crown, and with a very flat original pocket watch movement (95-calibre). The Portofino family, established in1984, was modelled exactly on its shape, thereby following on in the old tradition of elegant, reliable utility watches from IWC, frequently with a gold case.

    It represented the“satisfaction in wearinga small piece of gold on one’s arm every day”, as it was put on the occasion of its launch. The Portofino Hand-Wound, a dream of a watch with its narrow Roman numerals, small seconds display and, as a counterpart to it, a lunar phase display, does however take this opportunity to correct a “quick fix” used in the1980s. For Reference 5251, as it then was, had a charming flaw in that the movement used normally drove an open Lépine pocket watch. And that means that the winding shaft and small seconds display are located in a direct line, in contrast to the Savonette construction of the movement, where the winding shaft and small seconds display stand at an angle of 90°to one another. However, the ultra-flat 95-calibre for Reference 5251did not exist in the Savonette construction. And so here, the two indications of lunar phase display and seconds display ended up in a horizontal position at “3.00” and “9.00” – which looked interesting, but from the watchmaker’s point of view was not quite right. In the Vintage Portofino, this “positioning flaw” is remedied by the choice of the 98800-calibre Savonette movement. And through this, the lunar phase and seconds displays finally end up at their traditional places, at “12.00” and “6.00”. The movement based on the 98 “Jones” calibre, with nickel-plated three-quarter plate of nickel silver, screw balance wheel, Breguet spring and elongated index, has undergone another fundamental optimization: the display precision of the lunar phase has been increased considerably compared with Reference 5251,and now deviates from the actual lunar sequence by only one day in122 years. The lunar phase can moreover easily be corrected via the crown. The case size of 46mm corresponds to that of the original. Antireflective, crossed out sapphire glass and sapphire glass back invite you to enjoy this magnificent new example of a typical IWC wrist pocket watch from all sides.
  • Six legends celebrate 140 years of IWC Schaffhausen

    IWC Vintage Collection – Jubilee Edition 1868–2008

    The Schaffhausen manufacturer is celebrating its anniversary with six legendary wristwatches from its past: the Portuguese, Ingenieur, Pilot’s Watch, Da Vinci, Aquatimer, Portofino – these watchmaking legends are being reissued as attractive models in the vintage style. For the celebration – and naturally also the great joy of all lovers and collectors of the brand. 

    It all started more than 140 years ago in Boston where the talented and enterprising watchmaker Florentine Ariosto Jones was looking for an opportunity to set up on his own and do things much differently and better than his colleagues in the flourishing American watch industry. As the director of F. Howard Watch & Cie at that time, he had of course heard of the little country of Switzerland and its outstanding watchmakers. He was fired up by the information that workers in the Swiss watch industry produced their watches for amazingly low wages and in the main with old machines. Wages in Switzerland were then still really low, something that may seem surprising today. And so a compelling business idea came to F. A. Jones: Why not manufacture quality watches in Switzerland under more favourable conditions, but with new and better machines, for the North American market? His idea was conceived, planned and carried out: in New York Jones set up a sales organization with two business partners where pocket watch movements manufactured in Switzerland were to be put in cases and then sold throughout North America. The company was given a grandsounding name: International Watch Company. Jones set off by boat to Europe with his watchmaker friend Louis Kidder. Along with a whole host of ideas, the two men also took with them machines for the mass production of parts and finished design drawings for the first Swissmanufactured watches. 

    Initial surprise: in the watchmaking centres of western Switzerland where Jones had intended setting up his business the innovator was given the cold shoulder. The locals, who mainly produced watch parts in their homes, feared the modern machines and the concept of mass production even if it did have the indisputable advantage of consistent quality. 

    This is where the story could have ended. But in western Switzerland Jones met Heinrich Moser, a versatile industrialist from Schaffhausen. He made the American an offer that was tempting even if not completely altruistic: he could start immediately in Schaffhausen, a small town in northern Switzerland the American had certainly never heard of until then – in industrial buildings Moser owned. What persuaded him was that a source of energy was already available there for the machines – electricity was not even a consideration then. A hydrostation built by Moser brought the power required for the machines directly into the factory using shafts and long transmission cables. So in 1868 Jones arrived in Schaffhausen – and Schaffhausen, a long way from western Switzerland, got a watch factory. Jones was, therefore, able to realize his bold ideas. Even his principle of manufacturing highquality watches with consistent tolerances worked – and this was the beginning of the reputation now enjoyed by Schaffhausen watches throughout the world. What had been a promising start in watchmaking with the first “Jones calibres”, named after the company’s founder, ended in difficulties commercially for Jones when America did not lower the 25 per cent war duty imposed in 1864 – contrary to what was announced. The advantage of lower Swiss wages vanished. Jones returned to Boston and the “American watch factory” passed into Swiss hands. However, the founder did leave behind his particular aspiration for sophisticated, ever-better technical solutions. Despite the initial difficulties the manufacturer became one of the most renowned producers of sturdy and durable pocket watches. 

    And it was there right from the start at the turning point in watchmaking history when the wristwatch came into favour around 1900. The battle about how to wear a watch was decided for good by the 1930s and 1940s. The onset of this period of technical innovation brought some of the most exciting IWC watches, still much sought-after by collectors today. Some of them even wrote watch history. 

    Six watches – six founding legends of today’s IWC watch families 

    Six of these milestones have been brought back as vintage models from the company’s proud history into the modern day for the manufacturer’s 140th anniversary – even if it is not a “round” one. Not as copies, something that IWC has never done, but as new interpretations of good old friends. Some with ultra-modern, up-to-date automatic IWC movements, which are also used in the current collection. In other cases, where historical accuracy demands, they have been equipped with hand-wound pocket watch movements based on the 98-calibre, the most famous IWC calibre and the one that has been produced for the longest, but they have also been expanded, incorporating some of the elements of the earliest Jones movements. And, to the extent that their predecessors had not already appeared in the IWC extra-large format, the case of some of the models in the current Vintage Collection has increased in size on its journey through time, which on first sight makes them distinguishable from the originals. But in this way they have also taken on completely new watch personalities. They illustrate how, for example, a 1955 Ingenieur would have looked if its case had had a 42.5 mm diameter rather than 37.5 mm. 

    The six watches, which are available in unlimited numbers in stainless steel with a black dial and in limited numbers in platinum with a silverplated dial, are more than just a “Best of” the wristwatch era at IWC. Each one of them essentially embodies the founding legends of the manufacturer’s current watch families. The first 140 vintage watches in platinum have, though, in a way already been reserved: as a special offer they are available as a unique numbered set in an ornate leather case.

    Portofino Hand-Wound

    The Portofino of 1984: The most elegant but also the most unassuming family of watches from IWC, the Portofino – the classic example of understatement – has decidedly stylish origins. Collectors know this: it is the Reference 5251 watch, which was still produced until the end of the1990s, always in small quantities. It was impossible to conceal its direct descent from an elegant Lépine pocket watch produced for decades by IWC. For it was, as regards the case, nothing other than a pocket watch converted for use on the wrist, equipped with narrow strap brackets and a smaller crown, and with a very flat original pocket watch movement (95-calibre). The Portofino family, established in1984, was modelled exactly on its shape, thereby following on in the old tradition of elegant, reliable utility watches from IWC, frequently with a gold case.

    It represented the“satisfaction in wearinga small piece of gold on one’s arm every day”, as it was put on the occasion of its launch. The Portofino Hand-Wound, a dream of a watch with its narrow Roman numerals, small seconds display and, as a counterpart to it, a lunar phase display, does however take this opportunity to correct a “quick fix” used in the1980s. For Reference 5251, as it then was, had a charming flaw in that the movement used normally drove an open Lépine pocket watch. And that means that the winding shaft and small seconds display are located in a direct line, in contrast to the Savonette construction of the movement, where the winding shaft and small seconds display stand at an angle of 90°to one another. However, the ultra-flat 95-calibre for Reference 5251did not exist in the Savonette construction. And so here, the two indications of lunar phase display and seconds display ended up in a horizontal position at “3.00” and “9.00” – which looked interesting, but from the watchmaker’s point of view was not quite right. In the Vintage Portofino, this “positioning flaw” is remedied by the choice of the 98800-calibre Savonette movement. And through this, the lunar phase and seconds displays finally end up at their traditional places, at “12.00” and “6.00”. The movement based on the 98 “Jones” calibre, with nickel-plated three-quarter plate of nickel silver, screw balance wheel, Breguet spring and elongated index, has undergone another fundamental optimization: the display precision of the lunar phase has been increased considerably compared with Reference 5251,and now deviates from the actual lunar sequence by only one day in122 years. The lunar phase can moreover easily be corrected via the crown. The case size of 46mm corresponds to that of the original. Antireflective, crossed out sapphire glass and sapphire glass back invite you to enjoy this magnificent new example of a typical IWC wrist pocket watch from all sides.
  • Brand  : IWC
    Collection  : IWC Vintage Collection - Jubilee Edition
    Model  : Portofino Remontage Manuel
    Reference  : IW544801
    Complement : Steel - Aligator Bracelet
    Year : 2008
    Is not commercialised any more
    List Price : 9 000 €
    Diameter : 46 mm
    Thickness : 11 mm
    Styles : Classical
    Vintage
    Types : Hand-winding
    Calibre : 98800
    Complication : Small Seconds
    Astronomical Moon Phases
    Case material : Steel
    Case peculiarity : Sapphire caseback
    Shape : Round
    Water-resistance : 30 meters
    Dial color : Black
    Display : Hands
    Indexes : Roman numerals
    Glass : Antireflective coating
    Sapphire
    Strap material : Alligator leather
    Strap color : Black
    More characteristics : Homage to the original Portofino Reference 5251. with pocket watch movement and extremely precise moon phase display

    Movement
    18 jewels
    Frequency:
    18 000 vibrations per hour (2.5 Hz)
    Power reserve : 46 hours