Portugieser

In 2015, IWC Schaffhausen celebrated the 75th birthday of the Portugieser watch family. Its colourful history reflects the development of the Schaffhausen-based watchmaking company into an internationally renowned luxury brand. In the late 1930s, two Portuguese businessmen ordered wristwatches with the precision of marine chronometers from the International Watch Co. At the time, the only way of providing the requested accuracy was by using a voluminous pocket watch calibre. This was the reason why IWC’s watchmakers selected the 74-calibre hunter pocket watch movement, which fortunately has the crown on the right-hand side, and housed it in a wristwatch case.