Kong
[Moderator]
7855
Part 7 : Portofino
This piece of vintage Portofino is a stunner!
Though it was at 46mm diameter, the lugs-design ensure the watch embrace your wrist nicely.
This could be the First large diameter watch, done in 1984... too ahead of its time.
Perhaps it was weird to wear something over 40mm then.
Simply Beautiful and elegant!
Anyone wonder how to set the moon phase?
Truly a wearable Lepine pocket-watch. Beautful movement -5251.
Coming on are 2 new pictures of the Jubilee version.
So has anyone wondered the reason the 2 sub-dials are relocated?
Somehow the vintage Portofino's movement was of Lepine construction, with the small second in-line with the winding shaft. And it was considered a flaw (not sure of the reason/s), so it was decided to convert to Savonette construction, where the winding shaft and small seconds display stand at an angle of 90° to one another.
It was explained in the press release :
"The Portofino Hand-Wound, a dream of a watch with its narrow Roman numerals, small seconds display and, as a counterpart to it, a lunar phase display, does however take this opportunity to correct a “quick fix” used in the 1980s.
For Reference 5251, as it then was, had a charming flaw in that the movement used normally drove an open Lépine pocket watch. And that means that the winding shaft and small seconds display are located in a direct line, in contrast to the Savonette construction of the movement, where the winding shaft and small seconds display stand at an angle of 90° to one another.
However, the ultraflat 95-calibre for Reference 5251 did not exist in the Savonette construction. And so here, the two indications of lunar phase display and seconds display ended up in a horizontal position at “3.00” and “9.00” – which looked interesting, but from the watchmaker’s point of view was not quite right. In the Vintage Portofino, this “positioning flaw” is remedied by the choice of the 98800-calibre Savonette movement. And through this, the lunar phase and seconds displays finally end up at their traditional places, at “12.00” and “6.00”. "
I prefer the white dial as the black dial, the contrast is not good. However the preliminary pricing for the Pt was about 3 times that of SS!
After looking through all the 6 Jubilee pieces, I would place my Top 3 as follows:
1) Portofino
2) Portuguese &
3) Da Vinci
However the vintage pieces are difficult to forget, especially the Portofino.
Kong
This message has been edited by Kong on 2008-03-25 09:56:05
IWC Vintage Collection - Jubilee Edition 1868-2008 ( A continuation ...)
This 8 parts consist mostly of images and complementing SJX's earlier post: CLICK HERE . On the 3 March, IWC South-East Asia invited the press to preview this new Pre-SIHH Vintage Collection at 11:15am. Greeted by the IWC Jubilee logo. Location was at the...
Part 5 : Aquatimer
Like the straps and the pedal-second hand. A picture of the Jubilee Da Vinci and Aquatimer. This message has been edited by Kong on 2008-03-25 07:47:23...
Hello Kong....
Are you the owner of the ref 812?....Never seen that stamp of dial before (just curious).
Hello Catherine...
All the vintage pieces photographed belong to IWC. I wish it was mine Kong
Part 8 : The Jubilee Collection
Some pictures of the new collection to close : The casing for all black dials are in Stainless Steel, while the white dials are in Platinum, limited to 500 pcs for each family. The Pilot's Watch and The Portuguese (Both Hand-wound) The Da Vinci and The Aq...
Thanks Kong for the real-life pictures!!
I wonder if other brands will follow and reintroduce vintage looking pieces. Cheers, Anthony
Longines Legend Divers Watch
Anthony, Longines also did a 1960's remake of their diver's watch and its looks quite similar to IWC's. Think it was launched last year. Cheers! Lionel
Back to the future again
Kong, Thanks for the real-life in-person photos and impressions. Good to have feely-touchy reports. I'm in 2 minds about back-to-the-future editions. On one hand, I like that we get a flavour of the originals that never can be found by ordinary folk i.e. ...
Thanks, Kong for these additionnal pics
The only thing I regret on the Pilot and on the Aquatimer is that IWC didn't find a solution to make their luminova less green , and more Vintage...A creamy color should have been nicer, IMHO...And woild have lead me to go on them... But there are again t...
