Unveiled in 1998, the original Replica IWC Portugieser Chronograph ref. 3714 had a surprisingly long life, managing to be a bestseller for 22 years – and a lucrative franchise for IWC.
Now it has finally been replaced by the new Portugieser Chronograph ref. 3716 that looks almost identical, but is powered by a proprietary movement.
Now the ref. 3716 joins the regular collection, IWC Replica with steel or 18k rose gold case, as well as all of the dial variants that were offered for the outgoing ref. 3714.
That means the quintessential Portugieser Chronograph in steel matched a silver dial, gold numerals and gold hands is still available.
The new IWC Portugieser Chronograph Replica is slightly larger than the original, but the differences are so slight that they are not apparent at all. The new model is 41 mm in diameter and 13.1 mm high, compared to 40.9 mm by 12.6 mm for the original.
Fake IWC labels the cal. 69355 in-house, but the movement is part of the 69000 family, which incorporates some basic components of the Valjoux 7750, most notably the going train and barrel.
Most years, the Swiss brand trains its focus on revitalizing specific collections, and this year the Popular Replica Portugieserfamily is the one in the spotlight.
Both timepieces use tourbillon movements and offer a retrograde chronograph and perpetual calendar, respectively. The references are available in limited quantities in rose gold and platinum, each produced with either a familiar silver or blue dial.
The Portugieser Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon has a 45-mm Portugieser case, with curved lugs and a relatively large crown. The dial’s outer edge features a railroad minute track recalling the marine chronometers that originally inspired the series, while applied Arabic numerals decorate most hour positions. Each of the dial’s four sectors hosts a different feature.
The right-hand side features an analog date indicator as well as a display for the impressive 7-day power reserve. Opposite this we find a 9 o’clock analog day indicator, with Fake IWC Watch branding at its center and a display for the year slightly below it brushing the 8 o’clock mark.
This array of functions is powered by the IWC Caliber 51950, an automatic movement with a gold oscillating rotor, visible via a sapphire caseback. Both the blue-dial and silver-dial versions of the Replica Watches are secured to the wrist via a blue alligator leather strap by Santoni.
Inside the new Tourbillon Rétrograde Chronograph is the IWC caliber 89900, made in-house by the brand. Like the movement powering its perpetual calendar-equipped sibling, this IWC Replica watch’s automatic mechanism features a gold oscillating weight, though it offers a smaller power reserve of 68 hours.
IWC Replica launched a new Spitfire squadron in its collection of pilots’ watches at that debuted in 2019. A self-winding movement from the new 32000 family of manufacture calibers debuts inside the case of the Pilot’s Watch Automatic Spitfire.
With its pale dial, it was regarded as “the more elegant Mark,” but it was somewhat overshadowed by the 14th incarnation of the classic pilots’ watch, which was named Mark XV. Ten years later, the old Spitfire – now a large pilots’ watch with perpetual calendar and a dark dial – approached the classic Mark line, but inconspicuously disappeared under its wearer’s shirt cuff as an elegant three-handed watch with a pale dial.The Pilot’s Fake Watch Mark XVIII can still be found in IWC’s digital catalogs, but only as the edition “Le Petit Prince.”
The new Pilot’s Watch Automatic Spitfire is equipped with new manufacture Caliber 32110.Replica IWC presents two versions: our tested watch with stainless-steel case, black dial and green textile strap for $4,350; and a version with a bronze case, green dial and dark brown calfskin strap. These are not only the base models in the Spitfire collection, but they also embody the entry-level timepieces leading into the world of the IWC manufacture.
The matte stainless-steel case with its narrow, steep bezel and massive screw-in back has a moderate diameter of 39 mm and is therefore one mm smaller than the case of the Mark XVIII. The height is 10.86 mm, which gives it a sporty look and is also an appropriate thickness for a classic pilots’ watch. Manufacture Caliber 32110 contributes to the case’s height: the movement is 4.2 mm thick. Its diameter is 28.2 mm. Furthermore, Caliber 32110 is equipped with increased protection against magnetic fields thanks to a soft iron inner case and an additional inner back, a detail that was already included in the Mark 11.
The striking pilots’ Cheap Replica watch dial is also adapted from this watch – and almost even more so from the Mark XV. It “speaks” with the design vocabulary of a classic pilots’ watch: pure instrument design, strong black-and-white contrasts, a tidy minutes scale, easy-to-read hour numerals, large lanceolate hands and a triangle instead of a numeral 12.
