Design Highlights
Over the past three decades, the Portofino watch family has established itself as one of IWC Schaffhausen’s most successful families and is equally popular with both men and women. This is due to both the steady demand for classic models and the puristic design of the Portofino models. The uncluttered dial with Roman numerals and simple hour markers is completed with slim feuille hands.
Design Highlights
The origins of the large, minimalistic case design for the Portofino can be traced back to the 1970s, when the Lépine pocket watch became the inspiration for the entire watch family. The “pocket-watch-style wristwatch” was presented in 1984 with the name “Portofino”. Since then, this watch family, with timepieces that retain their value and, above all, remain timeless, has been a permanent part of IWC’s collection.
Design Highlights
The deck of the ship offers a unique panorama as you enter the harbour at Portofino. Time seems to stand still in this picturesque fishing village on the Ligurian coast. This charming back engraving on selected models from the Portofino line captures the magic of this place for all eternity.
History
With its Portofino range of watches, IWC resumed its tradition of the classic, functional round gold cases. Reference 5251, with its outstanding horological features, marked this start. In 1984 it became the lead model of the Portofino family.
The Portofino also benefited from a number of the factory’s technical innovations. From 1988, the hybrid movement calibre 631 with a mechanical chronograph equipped the smallest Portofino Chronograph for ladies, reference 3730, as well as the somewhat larger Portofino chronograph, reference 3731, with a rotating date display.
A Portofino that stood out from the rest was the smallest and most delicate Portofino, the Reference 2010. A watch with two hands, driven by a flat hand-wound movement IWC Caliber H/849 was just 1.85 millimeters thick. The watch was sold from 1993 to 2005.
Engineers of IWC Schaffhausen designed a very elegant hand-wound wristwatch with a perpetual calendar for its customers. The so-called Romana, Ref. 2050, formed part of the IWC Portofino line from 1995 to 2001. It was one of the thinnest wristwatches in the world that contained a perpetual calendar.
IWC received feedback from its customers in the 1990s that the Portofino was lagging behind the new preferences in case dimensions. So in 2003, the size of the Portofino Automatic increased in 38 millimetres with the Reference 3533. Keeping with the classical design, the contemporary size made it attractive to a new group of customers.
With its narrow Roman numerals and the moon phase display, the Portofino Vintage fascinated with the same timeless elegance as the original in 1984. In contrast to the original, however, the Savonette movement caliber 98800 allowed the positioning of the lunar phase and seconds to be displayed at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock.
Thanks mainly to its technological sophistication, the Portofino Hand-Wound Eight Days (Reference 5101) established itself as the flagship of the Portofino family in the new 2011 collection. Inside, it featured the new IWC-manufactured movement 59210 calibre hand wound with an 8 days power reserve.
With the Portofino Automatic 37, IWC introduced a series of beautifully designed midsize watches in 2014. With a case measuring just 37 millimeters in diameter, these simple and elegant three-hand timepieces fit perfectly around slender wrists.
In 2017, IWC integrated a moon phase display in a Portofino with the IWC-manufactured 59800 calibre eight day, hand-wound movement for the first time. The timepiece paid tribute to the Reference 5251 from the year 1984, which also featured this popular complication.
