Drawing on the extensive calendar expertise it has acquired since introducing the perpetual calendar almost four decades ago, IWC now pushes the boundaries once again with its first secular perpetual calendar.
For the Portugieser Eternal Calendar, they came up with a new reduction gear train using three intermediate wheels. Mathematically, the display will only deviate from the moon’s orbit by one day after 45 million years. Another challenge consisted in integrating this new gear train into the confined space of the eternal calendar module.
IWC Schaffhausen’s first secular perpetual calendar automatically takes into account the Gregorian calendar’s leap year exception rules by skipping three leap years over 400 years. It also features a moon phase display with an accuracy of 45 million years.
The Portugieser Hand-Wound Tourbillon Day & Night features an 18-carat Armor Gold® case with a diameter of 42.4 millimeters, an Obsidian lacquered dial, gold-plated hands and gold appliques.
Fine Engineering from Schaffhausen.
In 1868, Boston watchmaker Florentine Ariosto Jones founded the “International Watch Company” in Schaffhausen. He drew on the help of eminently qualified Swiss watchmakers, modern technology from America and hydropower sourced from the nearby River Rhine to manufacture watch movements of the highest possible quality. Committing to this heritage for the past 150 years, IWC’s mechanical timepieces are still handcrafted with meticulous attention to detail.