IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN LAUNCHES A LIMITED-EDITION PORTUGIESER WATCH IN CHINA
Shanghai, 20 February 2017 – IWC Schaffhausen is launching a limited-edition Portugieser model to celebrate the first anniversary of its Nanjing West Road Flagship Boutique in Shanghai. The Portugieser Perpetual Calendar Special Edition “Boutique Shanghai” is limited to 250 pieces and features a perpetual calendar which displays the day, date, month, moon phase and year until 2499 with virtually no corrections from outside.
One year ago, IWC Schaffhausen opened its Nanjing West Road Flagship Boutique in Shanghai. It is located in a historical building in the heart of the city’s most popular shopping street. With a retail space of 150 square metres, this boutique combines an art deco style with traditional Chinese design elements. “In order to celebrate the first anniversary of this extraordinary boutique, we are launching a Portugieser watch special edition. At the same time, we would like to thank Chinese watch lovers for their loyalty and support of our brand,” explains Mr Dennis Lee, Managing Director of IWC China.
The Portugieser Perpetual Calendar Special Edition “Boutique Shanghai” (Ref. IW503307) is limited to 250 pieces and will initially be available exclusively in IWC boutiques throughout China and later worldwide. The elegant watch with a diameter of 44.2 mm features a stainless-steel case, a silver-plated dial and gold-plated hands as well as appliquéd Arabic numerals. It is powered by the IWC-manufactured 52610 calibre. The Pellaton automatic winding system builds up a 7-day power reserve when fully wound. Its rotor is made of 18-carat red gold and features a special engraving of “Shanghai” in Chinese. The watch is held on the wrist by a brown alligator leather strap from Santoni. The perpetual calendar takes into account the different length of the months and even the leap years. This iconic mechanism was developed by IWC’s former head watchmaker Kurt Klaus in the 1980s. To this day, it is considered one of the master strokes of Haute Horlogerie achieved by IWC Schaffhausen. The retail price of this timepiece is RMB 199,500.
IWC Schaffhausen is the Engineer of Watchmaking. In 1868, the American watchmaker and engineer Florentine Ariosto Jones established the ‘International Watch Company’ in Schaffhausen in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. By combining the best of human craftsmanship and creativity with cutting-edge industrial technology and processes, he laid the foundation for IWC’s unique engineering approach to watchmaking.
IWC’s distinctive and pure design is brought to life through collections ranging from elegant dress watches to sports and luxury sports watches, notably the Portugieser, Portofino, Pilot’s Watches and Ingenieur. Over its more than 150-year history, IWC has earned a reputation for creating professional instrument watches and functional complications, especially chronographs and calendars, which are ingenious, robust and easy to use.
A pioneer in the use of titanium and ceramic, IWC specializes in performance materials such as Ceratanium®. IWC’s advanced engineering division XPL develops technologies that enhance the durability of mechanical watches and extend their applications to environments with extreme conditions such as jet aviation and human spaceflight.
IWC is a leader in luxury watchmaking, crafting timepieces built to last for generations and continuously improving every aspect of how it manufactures, distributes and services its watches responsibly. Empowering the next generation of engineers, the brand also partners with organizations that work globally to support children and young people. IWC. EngineeredTM.