2007 IWC Portuguese Chronograph White IW371401
Ref: IW371401
Specification
Lugs : 20mm
Condition : Pre-Owned
Box & Papers : Papers
Case Material : Stainless Steel
Warranty : 12-Months Non-waterproof Warranty
Points of Mention
This watch is sold with its original IWC paperwork, the watch was purchased in October 2007. The watch comes fitted on a 20mm leather IWC strap with an IWC Signed Buckle. The watch is in worn condition but is overall very good, see the photos. The watch comes with our 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty.
For more photos see here - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nNMNddcsv0n3oFUChmpBiZcJQjnRoSZf?usp=drive_link
4K YouTube video, skip to 6:18 - https://youtu.be/Ncs99IJAnWs
The Watch
Here we have a 2007 IWC Portuguese Chronograph White IW371401 with a 40.5mm stainless steel case, the sides of the case are expertly brushed with a mirror finish to the tops of the lugs, and a lug-to-lug length of 47.5mm and a case thickness of 12mm give the watch an impressive wrist presence. On the right side, we have the chronograph pushers and a large crown in the centre. A thin bezel holds a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal AR coated on both sides above an ivory dial, an outer minute chapter ring with applied gilt Arabic numeral indices marks the hours, at 12 o'clock a recessed 30-minute register and at 6 o'clock a recessed 60-second register. Elegant gilt leaf hands with a fine tapered chronograph hand complete this classic bi-compax, text is precisely executed at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock respectively. On the reverse a screw-down case back, inside an automatic IWC Cal. 79350, 31 jewels, 28,800 beats per hour, assembled, finished, and tested at their IWC factory. The watch comes fitted on a 20mm leather strap with a signed buckle and the watch also comes with its original IWC paperwork.
Personal Note
The Portuguese Chronograph is instantly recognisable as an IWC to me, it's a model I have been fortunate enough to have purchased and sold many times over the years and I'm always impressed with it on the wrist both in presence but also classic design. If you are after something that is quintessential IWC, I wouldn't hesitate with this reference, especially at our asking price, it's an absolute steal!
The Brand
Florentine Aristo Jones founded IWC in 1868. In 1867 he applied for a European passport with the ambition to create watches using the American system of Watchmaking. This system was derived from the Federal Armories at Springfield and Harpers Ferry. Where high-precision interchangeable parts were needed for armaments. This was perfect to use in watchmaking and Florentine was a pioneer in introducing it to the Swiss. In 1868 Florentine and Charles Kidder ended up in Schaffhausen Switzerland. Originally called the company F. A Jones & Co which was later changed to IWC International Watch Company. Florentine returned to the USA in 1876 where he retired and sadly passed away in 1916. His spirit carries on today in the modern IWC watches. The IWC Portugieser was first introduced way back in 1939 when 2 businessmen Rodrigues and Texeira visited the factory in Schaffhausen. They had an unusual request: they required a marine chronometer in the form of a wristwatch. IWC got to work and created a 43mm, stainless steel watch with a hand-wound Cal.74 pocket watch movement. This was very large for the time with 33mm being the norm for a wristwatch. It had Arabic numerals, an almost non-existent bezel, and slim leaf-shaped hands, a seconds subdial at 6 o’clock. Only 304 pieces were ever created with the Cal.74 movement. Since then the IWC Portuguese has become one of IWC's most iconic and best-selling.