IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 42 mm Watch Replica For 2020 Hands-On

IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 42 mm Watch Replica For 2020 Hands-On

For a long time, the old IWC Portuguese watch replica has been one of my favorite perpetual calendar watches. I like the look, the functional layout and the feel of the watch on the wrist (big and awkward). However, the layout of its four subdial layout with a clever year indicator looks very complicated, and the size of the watch itself is very large, with a diameter of more than 44 mm and a thickness of nearly 15 mm.
This year at IWC Schaffhausen, the iconic Portugieser family has attracted much attention. IWC Portuguese Perpetual Calendar 42 mm watch replica IW344203 is one of them. The new perpetual calendar 42 is smaller and the calendar information layout is simpler. It is the small, light and cheap brother of the existing 44 mm perpetual calendar. The movement is still equipped with Kurt Klaus' ingenious perpetual calendar module, which is a smaller and stronger automatic movement, taken from the IWC 82000 movement series.

IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 42 IW344203 Replica

The History

Let’s cut to the chase and start nerding out. Whereas the first Portugieser Perpetual Calendar replica reference 5021 of 2003 measured 44mm and had a fair number of additional indications, such as four-digit year and power reserve displays, the new 42mm-wide variant does away with those by integrating the Kurt Klaus-style perpetual calendar complication into an 82000 series caliber for the very first time. For the record, a perpetual calendar is a big deal in a mechanical watch because it enables the watch to correctly differentiate between months of different lengths and advance indications to the 1st of the next month, accordingly. A perpetual calendar is the be-all and end-all of refined calendar mechanisms, as these even take the odd 29-day February of leap years into account.

IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 42 IW344202 Replica

The Silver-plated Dial

The streamlined dial layout stands out immediately. All the genetic traits of the IWC Portugieser replica have been respected: there is the hallmark railway track chapter ring on the periphery, the elegant applied Arabic numerals, the slim feuille hands and the clean, amenable layout of the elements against the silver-plated dial. With just three sub-dials instead of four, the layout of the perpetual calendar functions here is even more legible than its bigger brother, the displays for the date, month, and day of the week are distributed over three sub-dials at 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock and 9 o’clock. The perpetual moon phase display is integrated into the month display at 6 o’clock and is engineered to be so accurate that it deviates from the actual orbit of the moon by one full day only after 577.5 years.
Last, an indicator in the weekday display at 9 o’clock counts the years until the next leap year. For an added touch of refinement, the IWC Caliber 82650 advances the calendar module with a single impulse during the night, advancing all indications simultaneously — a touch seen exclusively in the more refined perpetual-calendar watches of the world. Incidentally, the hands and applied numerals are all gold-plated.
Another striking change is that the small seconds at 9 o’clock have been replaced with a central seconds hand and the four-digit year function is gone. The days of the week are located at 9 o’clock with a small aperture for the leap year; the date is at 3 and the month and moon phase are at 6 o’clock. Kurt  Klaus’ perpetual calendar is also one of the simplest perpetual calendars to operate, all the displays can be synchronized and adjusted via the crown.

IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 42 IW344205 Replica

42 mm Case

Those of you familiar with the existing 44mm Perpetual Calendar will notice quite a few differences. For starters, the size of the case has been reduced to 42.4mm and its height of 13.8mm is slightly slimmer than the 14.9mm case thickness of the 44mm model. Presented in polished and brushed 18k 5N rose gold and steel cases, the caseback has a sapphire crystal window to display the movement. Although its size as a dress watch might raise eyebrows among purists, you have to remember that the spirit of the Portugieser has always played on the large dimensions of its ancestor.

Calibre 82650 Movement

The IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 42 stainless steel watch replica does not run on the same engine as the 44.2mm with its twin barrels, mighty 7-day power reserve and solid gold rotor. Here the simpler yet robust and reliable in-house 82000 calibre family has been chosen as the base for the perpetual calendar module developed by Kurt Klaus. Fitted with the highly efficient Pellaton automatic winding system, the IWC calibre 82000 family has components made of zirconium oxide ceramic – pawls, cam and automatic wheel – that are virtually wear-free. The in-house calibre 82650, which you can see through the sapphire crystal, has a skeletonised rotor and touches of circular graining on the plates and Geneva stripes on the bridges. The movement oscillates at 28,800vph and has a power reserve of 60 hours.

IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 42 Replica

Price

The IWC Portugieser stainless steel  42 mm watch replica is fitted with a black alligator strap by Santoni while the rose gold model comes with a brown alligator strap. There is another model in the new line-up, also in rose gold but with a blue dial.
Three different versions' price: ref. IW344203: stainless steel case, silver-plated dial, black alligator leather strap by Santoni, $22,900; ref. IW344202: 18-karat 5N gold case, silver-plated dial, brown alligator leather strap by Santoni, $32,900; ref. IW344205: 18-karat 5N gold case, blue dial, blue alligator leather strap by Santoni, $32,900. As the latest model, we are designing, if you are interested in IWC watch replica, you can pay more attention to our store, we are the largest and most reliable replica of luxury watches store, copy watches such as Rolex, Patek Phillippe, Panerai, Cartier, Hublot, Tag Heuer and more.