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At IWC, Watches & Wonders 2024 was all about the Portugieser (which I still stubbornly refer to as the “Portuguese” (as “port-u-geezer” doesn’t roll off my American-English tongue sounding that nice), and that included both new colors and an updated case design. IWC released four versions of the Portugeiser model with this lovely “Horizon Blue” dial color and matching strap. Each of those four watches is given a fancier 18k white gold case – as opposed to steel – and that includes the Horizon Blue IWC Portugieser Automatic 40, Portugieser Chronograph, Portugieser Automatic 42, and this IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 44 (Ref. IW503703). We previously examined the redesigned IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 44 watches; in this article, I’d like to offer my take on the collection with a focus on the Horizon Blue version.
What is new about the IWC Portugieser case? The bezels are thinner, and the crystals have a new box-style shape that allows the watches to wear a little bit smaller, at least in the case of this larger 44mm wide model. The new Portugieser watches are very comfortable and attractive, but there is only so much IWC’s engineers can do given the inherent size of the movements. Still one of the best all-around perpetual calendar movements on the market, the IWC automatic caliber 52616 movement is a powerhouse of performance and value in many ways. That said, it isn’t a small mechanism, and IWC must put them in a larger case. The IWC Perpetual Calendar 44 Horizon Blue watch thus has an 18k white gold case that is 44.4mm wide and 14.9mm thick (with 50 meters of water resistance). Many people like a watch this size (including myself), but it certainly isn’t the smallest or slimmest perpetual calendar movement on the market.
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Little about the overall dial layout has been changed for this generation of the IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar. The dial continues to display the time, power reserve indicator for the 7-day movement, moon phase, and a full perpetual calendar display including a current year counter. People like this 4Hz, 168-hour power reserve watch because of its full list of features, as well as its robust autonomy as an automatic watch (with IWC’s efficient Pellaton winding system) with a generous power reserve. The caliber 52616 movement is further visible through the sapphire crystal display back on the watch. The handsome automatic rotor is produced from 18k red gold.
One of my small persisting issues with the IWC Portugieser is the rounded nature of the applied Arabic numeral hour markers. This rounding might be a signature style of the Portuguese family, but it also isn’t always great to have such reflective parts on a watch dial, especially in tandem with thin, polished hands. In the case of this Horizon Blue dial, I actually think the contrast between the hands and the light blue dial is decent. On other models (such as the glossy black dial with polished red gold hands), legibility can alter drastically depending on the current light that is hitting the dial.
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Attached to the 18k white gold Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 44 Horizon Blue case is a very handsome light blue Santoni calfskin leather strap on a matching 18k white gold deployant clasp. The price of this watch reflects the fact that its case is in gold, and sadly IWC does not currently offer a new version of the Portugieser Perpetual Calendar in a steel case as far as I can tell. That said, some other versions of the newly updated Portugiesers in steel cases, but not with this Horizon Blue dial color or IWC’s in-house automatic perpetual calendar movement. Price for the IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 44 Horizon Blue reference IW503703 is $47,500 USD. Learn more at the IWC website.