IWC Portugieser Minute Repeater Reviewed by Tim Mosso

Credits:  Article and images by Ian Skellern @ Quill & Pad.  See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/09/02/iwc-portugieser-minute-repeater-reviewed-by-tim-mosso/

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Reference 5240’s aesthetic strength draws from its strong resemblance to the modern classic 5441 of 1993. Few compromises are made to accommodate the repeating module, and the watch looks formidable.

IWC Portugieser Minute Repeater

Externally, the watch measures 43mm – only one more than the anniversary reference. Lugs, case, bezel and dial change precious little – only the migration of the seconds hand to nine o’clock and repeater slide betray the change in running gear.

Classical Portugieser cues such as integrated lugs, a narrow caseband, small seconds, leaf hands, dimple minutes, and Arabic numerals keep the bloodline pure.

Applied Arabic numerals on the IWC Portugieser Minute Repeater

As for the “International Watch Co.” dial stamp, it feels impossibly retro when viewed through the lens of 2024 IWC design. Although printed in the 1990s, it feels more distant – 1890s, perhaps. This nostalgic logo is both missed and mourned.

Although thicker than the 5441, reference 5240 does a good job of disguising it. Due to the modular nature of the minute repeater, the dial and its hands sit elevated above the rack, snail, strike barrel, gongs, strikers, and governor.

IWC Portugieser Minute Repeater

However, IWC mostly cloaks this bloat under a domed dial that’s capped with a huge, vaulted Plexiglas crystal; the case itself stays slim. This is only obvious when viewed in profile. IWC watchmakers added a taller cannon pinion and hour wheels to permit the minute and hour hands, respectively, to clear the dial.

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Credits:  Article and images by Ian Skellern @ Quill & Pad.  See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/09/02/iwc-portugieser-minute-repeater-reviewed-by-tim-mosso/