IWC gets its 150th anniversary celebrations underway early with two new Portugieser tourbillons.

by James Buttery

IWC is going all out for its 150 anniversary celebrations in 2018, announcing no fewer than 27 limited edition novelties across the Portugieser, Portofino, Da Vinci and Pilot?s collection to be announced as well as the Tribute to Pallweber Edition we?ve already covered here.
Two of the more haute horlogerie offerings to wear the Jubilee Collection?s ?150 years? 18ct gold medallion sit within the Portugieser line; a perpetual calendar tourbillon and a constant force tourbillon.

The Portugieser Constant-Force Tourbillon Edition ?150 Years? is a 46mm platinum watch (we?ll let you know just how heavy that is when we go hands on at SIHH in January) limited to just 15 pieces. IWC have employed a variation of its 94800 calibre (the 94805) which installs a second escapement between the escape wheel and the fourth wheel which winds a balance spring ensuring constant force is supplied. This movement has already graced IWC?s Ingenieur Constant Force Tourbillon and the Portugieser Siderale Scafusia, although this twin barrelled version boasts 96 hours of power reserve, double that of previous iterations. The tourbillon itself is visible through the dial beneath a very bold, open-worked, cross-shaped bridge.

Complementing the platinum case is a white lacquered dial with blued hands, moon phase accurate to one day for 577.5 years.

The second Portugieser within the J...