After a very busy few weeks I arrived home today from a visit to the Republic of Texas. The house was empty and quiet, and when I dropped down on the couch and fully exhaled for the first time since my Liege-Bastogne-Liege bike ride - where do you think my mind went?
Exactly, I have a new IWC that I have not really had time to put on my wrist yet, or to share with you guys here. So I inhaled deeply a couple of times and then jumped up from the couch and ran into the bedroom - and there on the dresser was a beautiful box waiting to be opened. Ok, I meant re-opened, as I have opened it a few times already to enjoy the sight, to try it on briefly, and to take a few shots to share with my Forum friends.
But this is of course not the beginning of this story. This story has its origin the same week as I fell in love with my first IWC, the rose gold and silver face PPC which you have all seen before. After seeing that PPC at the Amsterdam airport I dove right into a thorough research period into IWC in general and the Portuguese line in particular. This search of course led me directly to this Forum, but it also showed me that the fantastic Portuguese line not only contains gorgeous dress up watches in precious metals.
I guess it is not very surprising that my next IWC was to be a Portuguese :-)
But which one? Well, as you all know I love my sportwatches, and to have a Portuguese watch I can use for almost any activity is a must in my book! (By that I mean any activity which doesn't pose too much risk of damage to such a fine watch of course - even if I like to use my watches I wouldn't strap any of my IWCs on when mountain or road biking of course.)
Many of you have already guessed what it is I'm sure but KS Low's fantastic report (My favourite post of 2012) from a certain event last year made me put this watch near the top of my wanted list.
So now you know that it is a Portuguese Yacht Club - but which one? I guess the box itself is a big hint:
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As a cyclist, just as in sailing, light and strong is what you want in your equipment - so what could be better for me than a Portuguese watch in titanium and carbon fiber? Nothing! So a Portuguese Yacht Club Volvo Ocean Race it is - ta da:
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I must admit that I had promised KS Low to start saving up for another watch, the grail which is a clear number one on my list, but then two events made me reasess my priorities:
First - prior to SIHH this year Giovanni suddenly showed that very cool AMG Big Ingenieur Chronograph with a carbon fibre face and red details. Oh so cool, and sportier than my Big Ingenieur Chrono.
Second - as most of you I was eagerly visiting the IWC website during and right after SIHH to see and read all about the new Ingenieur collection. And then it suddenly hit me - the even cooler (sorry Giovanni :-)) Portuguese YC Volvo Ocean Race in titanium, with the same carbon fibre dial, and red and blue details - was gone from the collection!!!
What should I do? Well, as any good collector, I decided to secure one befoe they were all gone. With some great help from KS Low and Mark L. a couple were located and with a little more help from Mark a deal was done. A down payment was made, and then begun the wait until a trip thru Holland was on my horizon. Finally in late April the time came. I picked it up and had a great GTG with Mark and Clemens (Clemens report here)
Ok, enough talk, now for some pictures - enjoy the beauty of titanium and carbon fibre - with a little red and a little blue thrown in for those of us who like that as well :-)
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And a few wrist shots of course:
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Now I finally have the time to really enjoy it! I do love that 3D carbon fibre effect, and the red and blue details are just icing on the cake. Nothing can beat a Portuguese, in my humble opinion :-)
Thanks for reading my friends, and a special thank you to my good friend Mark for helping me secure the watch and for taking care of me during my visit!
