IWC Classes Up the Joint with a New Portofino Chronograph in a 39mm Case

In recent months, we’ve spent a considerable amount of time discussing some fairly sporty watches from IWC. The Schaffhausen based brand leaned heavily into updating their already robust Pilot’s Watch collection earlier this year, and we’ve enjoyed taking them for test drives when the opportunities to do so presented themselves. But if you were new to watches, our recent IWC coverage might have you thinking the brand was a one trick pony. They do a lot more than sporty pilot’s watches. As we’ve discussed on the podcast as recently as this week, they have a variety of other sports lines that we’d love to see them update. But what if you’re looking for something with an additional heir of class and sophistication? Maybe you have a formal event to attend, and you want to be prepared just in case the need to time something arises? Throwing out pure sports watches entirely, there is yet another side to IWC, by way of the Portofino collection, and it just received a refresh that we think many who are interested in the brand but might be keen on if they’re looking for something a bit more refined than the rugged pilot’s watches that have filled these pages in recent months. 

The Portofino collection has existed since 1984, and if you look carefully at these watches, a lot of that 80s DNA is still present. The shaped lugs, gold accents, and unusual chronograph pushers all feel a little outside of our current time, but in a way that’s coherent and clearly evokes something very particular. The Portofino collection is all about elegance, but instead of communicating that through a sleek minimalism, as is often done today, the Portofino is just slightly more ornate. Portofino chronographs have existed for decades, and these watches have always lent a more casual and sporty vibe to watches within the collection, and the new chronos seen here are no different. 

The big news, I think, with the three new watches that have just been introduced, is the case size. As in the Pilot’s Watch collection, this year’s new chronos are downsized, here going from 42mm to 39mm (we’ll note here, however, that the 42mm Portofino Chronograph isn’t going anywhere, and still exists in the collection). Measuring 12.8mm thick, these watches will have a healthy presence but take up considerably less space on most wrists than a watch that balloons to over 40mm, which feels like the right play for a watch that was conceived as an elegant alternative to the brand’s more toolish offerings. 

Three variants will be available at launch, all with stainless steel cases. Dials will be offered in black, green, and with a silver plating, with gold accents on the silver and black dialed versions. The movement here is the Calibre 79350, which we’ll point out is not part of the new generation of in-house chronograph movements used in the new Pilot’s Watch Chronograph that Blake reviewed some months back. This is a derivative of the venerable Valjoux 7750 (modified to remove the day, date, and small seconds) and like all off-the-shelf movements used by IWC it’s been thoroughly worked over and regulated by their own watchmakers. The use of this caliber also keeps the price down – the new Portofino Chronographs are priced at $5,600. 

The Portofino Chronograph occupies an interesting space both within the IWC catalog, and in the world of chronographs in general. So many of the new chronographs we see are explicitly sports watches, but the Portofino reminds us that chronographs can be used in other applications, and don’t need to be overbuilt tools. There’s a classic and dressy flair to a watch like this that dates all the way back to early chronographs from the likes of Patek Philippe and others (the Furlan Marri reviewed here also has a similar vibe, even though the look itself is of course quite different), aided in no small part by the 12:00/6:00 layout, Roman numerals, and the previously mentioned ornate quality to the whole package. And as a watch from IWC, it’s a solid reminder that they can do quite a bit more than the pilot’s watches that have been their recent focus. IWC