IWC's Portuguese Chrono-Automatic watch has its origins in the proud history of Portuguese seafaring and stands as an exquisite testament to the nation's pursuit of navigation. During the 15th and 16th centuries, mariners from this most westerly of European countries bravely ventured forth into unchartered waters, discovering new continents and mapping trade routes that would set Portugal on its way to becoming one of the richest countries in the world.
Portuguese mariners were courageous, gifted and far superior in their navigational skills than their European contemporaries. The long shoreline of their country, with its fine harbors and rivers flowing westward to the ocean, proved to be the perfect training-ground for the race of adventurous seamen. Explorers such as Bartolomeu Dias, Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan and Pedro Teixeira led the way in exploration; keen to garner accolades for their achievements and secure for their country the riches of their newly discovered territories.
Bartolomeu Dias served as a prime example of Portugal's maritime prowess. This famed explorer set a new standard in seafaring when he rounded Africa's Cape of Good Hope in 1488, the first European known to do so since ancient times.
During his daring expedition, Dias explored over 2,000 km of previously unknown African coastline. Fellow countryman Vasco da Gama was another intrepid adventurer; one who successfully established a sea route from Europe to India. This permitted trade with the Far East without the use of the costly and unsafe Silk Road caravan routes of the Middle East and Central Asia.
Thanks to da Gama's forging of a new sea passage, direct and profitable trade with precious stones, spices, materials and carpets was made possible across the world and Portugal's rise to power was inexorable.
Continuing in the tradition of these illustrious forebears was Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer who led the first successful attempt at world circumnavigation before meeting his untimely death in battle against Filipino natives in 1521.
Over one hundred years later, Pedro Teixeira proved that Portuguese adventurism was still very much alive, when he undertook an expedition of the Amazon in 1637. In 1638, he became the first European to travel up the river, reaching Quito by way of the Napo River.
Leaping forward three hundred years and Portugal's prominence as a world power had long since diminished. But seafarers' blood still flowed in Portuguese veins and one day in the 1930s, two Portuguese watch dealers arrived at the IWC factory in Schaffhausen with a specific request. They wished to establish whether the company renowned for its horological skills could supply a wristwatch in a stainless steel case with all the qualities of a marine chronometer; the essential standard for the correct determination of longitude.
By coincidence, one of the dealers was named Teixeira and was a descendent of the famous mariner who had successfully explored the Amazon. Their enquiry was a significant one, as prior to this point; the only way of producing such an exacting timepiece would have been to have housed the chronometer mechanism in the larger casing of a pocket watch. But against the odds, IWC's superior craftsmen were able to produce a beautiful wristwatch to their specifications and thus laid the cornerstone for the family of Portuguese watches that has remained unique in the history of watchmaking.
IWC's Portuguese Chrono-Automatic watch combines aesthetic allure with the precision craftsmanship that has become synonymous with the company. Its 79240 movement beats at a rate of 28,800 times per hour, guaranteeing the accuracy that you would expect from a watch with a provenance in sea travel.
It features an automatic winding system, small seconds with stop function, convex sapphire glass to protect the dial and is water resistant to 30 metres. The Portuguese Chrono-Automatic is available with a number of different casings; 18 carat white, yellow and rose gold and stainless steel. The watch faces are finished in white or black, either as a complete tone across the dial or with the recessed inner dials offset with the opposing finish. The embossed Arabic numerals are gold, silver or blue, as are the tapering swallow style hands.
IWC Schaffhausen is the only watch manufacturer based in the east of Switzerland and has been producing high quality mechanical timepieces for almost 140 years. The name IWC brand has become a byword for craftsmanship and performance by discerning customers the world over.
Leading impulses for the mechanical watch are produced by IWC. With its 390 employees, the company manufactures these sought-after time pieces. Since the year 2000 IWC has belonged to the watch division of Richemont SA.
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© Press Release 2007
