As most of you already know, the IWC Portuguese is objectively one of the most beautiful dress watches ever. There’s really no debate to be had. As made evident by the 3714 series, the design is just so … immaculate – almost to the point of being dull! It’s absurd, in a way. I have the same feeling about the Calatrava from Patek. The fact that a design can be almost impossible to fault kind of makes it… boring. I know that it sounds odd, but ponder this for a minute: my grandfather (this was in regard to upscale menswear, by the way) taught me that real elegance is conveyed in those tiny, tiny mistakes. A pocket square that’s slightly too colorful. Or wearing a silk tie with a tweed jacket. It might not be an exact science, but I still suscribe to the general idea. There’s something terribly nouveau riche about an outfit that is worn perfectly by-the-book.
Anyhow, the imperfections that IWC are willingly introducing with their 2010 Portuguese chronographs are inexcusable. Magazine scans from Japanese Tokei Begin recently turned up in the blogosphere, revealing some pretty unnerving pictures.
The new “Yacht Club” chronos, cal. 89360. What is happening to my darling IWC? First they massacre the Aquatimer, and now this? It’s like they decided to make a sports watch, and halfway through the process just gave up, resulting in a watch stuck somewhere in the no man’s land between a dress watch and a diver. Admittedly, I have similar issues with “yacht themed” watches, but this is just dreadful.
