Time moves the world. The IWC Portugieser Grande Complication is an understated, beautifully designed way of summarizing time as the motor of all change: a time machine that shows a tilted globe on the dial. The depiction also references the historic background of the Portugieser, a nation of fearless seafarers who gave their name to the watch family.
A time machine that shows a tilted globe on the dial
The Arabic numeral appliqués and the railway-track-style chapter ring are signature elements of the Portugieser watch family. The dial features elegant, feuille-style hands that show the hours and minutes, together with a slim chronograph hand that shows stop times in seconds.
Small, but no less important: the blued hand at 3 o’clock shows the date correctly even in months with fewer than 31 days and in leap years – until the year 2100. The months and stop times in hours recorded by the chronograph are shown in a combined totalizer at 6 o’clock
In a tiny window, two discs and a century slide show the correct year in four digits without any help from the user until 2299 – even until 2499 after exchanging the century slide. The day of the week and the seconds are displayed in a subdial at 9 o’clock.
When it comes to the moon, the Grande Complication is no less accurate: the display deviates from the actual progress of the moon by just one day in over 500 years. The disc completes one rotation in two full lunar periods. The same display shows stop times up to 30 minutes.
Portugieser Grande Complication, Ref. 3774, in a platinum or 5N gold case, limited to 100 watches per year. Self-winding, perpetual calendar showing the date, day, month, and the four-digit year. Perpetual moon phase display. Stopwatch function with aggregate timing up to 12 hours. Minute repeater for the time in hours, quarters and minutes. It only takes a 45 mm diameter and a 16.5 mm height to house such a complicated world.
The midsize portofinos: a collector's impression
A watch should be beautiful because time, as we know it, is precious. Our lives are governed, every day, by the relentless movement of time. Find out more.
When a complication is grande
IWC’s Grande Complication watches, especially the Portugieser Grande Complication, represent the pinnacle of traditional watchmaking. Find out more.
Icons of good style
The most sporting member of the Portugieser family from IWC Schaffhausen, the Portugieser Automatic, has a powerful and masculine aura. Find out more.
