The time team sets sail

摘要

Models such as the Big Pilot, Spitfire and Timezoner have long marked out IWC as an aviation watch specialist, but the Schaffhausen company also has a history with the sea that dates back to World War I, when it was commissioned to supply deck chronographs to the Royal Navy. The firm's maritime links were further strengthened in 1939 following a request from a couple of watch importers from Lisbon and Oporto called Rodrigues and Teixeira. They believed there would be a demand for a large-sized wristwatch with the accuracy of a marine chronometer -the opposite of the prevailing trend for small, neat timepieces in the art deco style - to which IWC responded by installing a highly accurate pocket watch movement in a plain 41.5mm case with the option of simple black or silvered dials and calling the result the Portugieser.