L'histoire plus précisément (en anglais)
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écrit par Clavi le 05 novembre 2004 01:41:17:
en réponse à: La réponse également sur TZ écrit par Clavi le 05 novembre 2004 00:32:32:
The original large "Portugieser" wristwatch was initially produced in the 1940s, on commission from two Portuguese watch dealers named Rodriguez and Teixeira, one from Lisbon and the other from Porto. They requested a large watch be made by IWC, which ran counter to the taste of the times which tended toward smaller and smaller wristwatches. The intended watch would have a diameter of 43mm, unlike many wristwatches of the period which were 31mm in diameter. IWC chose to use their flattest and most reliable pocket watch movement, which at the time was their Cal. 98, evolved from their earlier caliber 74, which had ceased production in 1930.
Orders for this watch came in irregularly, and were generally for fairly small numbers of pieces. In addition to Portugal, a Zurich based export company called "Color Metal," had found demand elsewhere in the world for this watch. As originally produced in the 1940s, this watch was available with a silver plated dial, embossed gold figures, and blued steel hands; another version had imprinted black figures and blued steel hands.
After a few years, this watch ceased production until unexpectedly an order came in during the late 1970s from Germany. A few old watch cases were found, new dials were produced, and the order was filled with watches differing minimally from the originals produced in the 1940s. An additional order came in and could not be filled, due to the absence of additional watch cases, and a lack of sufficient demand to justify re-manufacturing of the cases required. In addition, by then IWC was already manufacturing the reference # 5251 pocket wrist moon phase watch referred to above, and they did not feel there was sufficient demand for two such large watches in their range.
As luck would have it, however, 10 years later the 125 year jubilee anniversary of IWC was approaching, given the founding of the firm in 1868. A decision was made to celebrate this anniversary with a limited release of a new series of the large Portugieser wristwatch. Although these were almost exact replicas of the original circa 1940s Portugieser, IWC considers them more to be a brand new series of the original than a re-issue. Like the originals, they utilize the same matte silver-plated dial, gold plated Arabic raised numerals, and identical, lance-shaped hands with a slightly sunken sub dial.
Réponses:
- Super ! Merci Clavi ! (st) Pandani 05.11.2004 22:40 (0)