155 IWC Very Remarkable and Oversized, Portugieser, Wristwatch in Steel, With Uncommon Three-tone Champagne Dial, Reference 325

Estimate: €40,000 –⁠ 80,000

Model: Portugieser
Reference: 325
Case Material: Stainless Steel
Bracelet Material: Leather Strap
Year: 1944
Movement: Manual
Caliber: 98
Case N°: 1 107 287
Movement N°: 955 085
Dimensions: 42 mm
Signed: Dial, movement and case

IWC has always been careful to the demands and needs from its customers and when in the late ’30s directly from Portugal came a request from a client asking for a wristwatch with the same case size and accuracy of a pocket watch, the company immediately embrace the quest. The result was an attractive, precise and particularly large timepiece. The lot here offered is one of these results, but represents a more sophisticated one since its stainless steel case has been equipped with a gorgeous three-tone champagne dial. Elegantly well preserved during all these years in both case and dial quality, the finishing of the latter is something to really remake, giving the outer-minute track, the painted Arabic numbers, the dot and rectangular 5 minutes indexes and the engine turned subsidiary dial for constant seconds at 6 o’clock. Absolutely ahead of its time, the Portugieser is today an incredibly iconic watch that is integral to the DNA of IWC. This specific watch has been sold in the Phillips auction in May 2018.