DEPLOYANT – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles
In 1884, IWC manufactured the first so-called Pallweber pocket watches. These innovative timepieces showed the hours and minutes in a digital format with large numerals on rotating discs. In its anniversary year, IWC honours this pioneering achievement with the IWC Tribute to Pallweber Edition “150 Years”.
The IWC Tribute To Pallweber Edition ‘150 Years’ in stainless steel and blue lacquer dial
The case and dial
The watch comes in three variants, one in stainless steel and blue dial, one in 18 K red gold and white dial, and the third in platinum and white dial with contrasting black discs. The model that we feature today is in stainless steel with a blue dial with a lacquered finish. It is a limited edition of 500 pieces.
The stainless steel case measures 45 mm in diameter and 12 mm in height.
At first glance, the most striking thing about the watch is the dial. The blue dial has a deep glossy finish that is very polished – almost mirror-like. Given the size of the dial in a relatively wide case, 45 mm, the dial is an immediate pop of blue that demands attention. While some may have a preference for a more subtle finish, the reflective blue certainly does appeal to many. As a reference to the design of the historical Pallweber watches and a tribute to F.A. Jones – the American watchmaker who founded IWC – the windows of the digital display are labelled as “Hours” and “Minutes”.
Wire lugs and an onion crown are aesthetic choices to accompany the pocket-watch inspired Pallweber.
The case measures 45 mm in diameter and 12 mm in height. It is fully polished, and bears the distinctive ‘roundness’ of a pocket watch. A simple curved bezel is used and attaches with a convex sapphire crystal glass. For clarity and sharpness, the crystal is treated with double sided anti-reflective coating. While the case sounds on the large side, as with the other Portofino collection, due to the large caliber possibly, it is mitigated by the use of wire lugs instead of the more common tapered lugs. Apart from the aesthetic effects of the wire lugs; which are more classic and alludes to watch cases at the dawn of the century, the lugs pose a practical choice. Visually and physically, the lug to lug width is reduced and makes for a better fit around the wrist. Furthermore, the thinness of the lugs reduces the clutter of the case and focuses the viewers’ attention on the dial.
At the back of the watch, a transparent caseback is used for easy viewing of the movement.
The IWC 94200 calibre, manual winding with a 60 hours power reserve.
The movement
The IWC Tribute to Pallweber Edition “150 Years” uses the in-house manufactured 94200 calibre. The manual winding movement runs at 28800 vph and has 60 hours power reserve.
The hand-wound movement features two barrels, which provide the energy for a number of different complications, including the constant-force tourbillon, the astronomical module in the Portugieser Sidérale Scafusia and the […]
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Article from: DEPLOYANT – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles, by Chester Lau
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