M2 2021 Luxury Watch Preview: IWC Shaffhausen
M2 brings you its top watch picks in a series featuring the best of this year’s luxury timepiece releases.
IWC Shaffhausen Portugieser Chronograph With Stainless Steel Bracelet
Stainless steel – it’s tough and practical, corrosion-resistant and completely unaffected by moisture, sweat and seawater splashes. Which makes it the absolute perfect material for a watch strap for adventurous types such as yourselves! So IWC Schaffhausen have taken notice of this and included a stainless steel bracelet as standard on their iconic Portugieser Chronograph for the very first time. The bracelet is beautifully detailed and elaborately finished with polished and satin-finished surfaces and, courtesy of its butterfly folding clasp, it sits snugly on the wrist, providing easy wearing comfort.
The Chronograph itself also sports a clear and open dial with two recessed totalisers at 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock respectively, as well as a quarter seconds scale on the inner flange. Along with the new bracelet, the Portugieser Chronograph comes with a stainless steel case, a silverplated dial, as well as blue hands and appliques while inside is the IWC-manufactured 69355 calibre. An efficient, bi-directional pawl winding system builds up a power reserve of 46 hours. Turn it over and you can watch its classic column-wheel movement through the sapphire glass back.
The same new stainless steel bracelet is also available as an accessory for all other new models of the Portugieser Chronograph.
IWC Shaffhausen Big Pilot’s Watch Le Petit Prince
Le Petit Prince, one of the most popular and translated books in the world, is author Antoine de Saint- Exupéry’s wry observation on the foolishness of our modern life. A former pilot explorer himself, de Saint- Exupéry’s masterpiece is the perfect subject to add to IWC Schaffhausen’s Big Pilot Watch series of tributes to our modern day explorers of the air.
The 46mm case is water-resistant to 6 bar and encloses a soft-iron inner case that protects the movement against magnetic fields while the glass is secured against any drops in air pressure.
The dial features the same blue that is characteristic of all IWC special edition Le Petit Prince watches while the inset at “3 o’clock” indicates the time remaining until the movement comes to a stop. The Big Pilot’s Watch has a date display at “6 o’clock” plus the central seconds, essential in any watch used for flying.
Inside, the IWC-manufactured 52110-calibre movement features an efficient Pellaton automatic winding system with ceramic parts which, with the help of two barrels, builds up a power reserve of 7 days. Flip the watch over to see an engraving of the legendary Junkers JU-52 transporter/bomber. Comes with a black calfskin strap.
