Dear all,
I've recently got my heirloom IWC back from restoration and would like some help identifying it. As far as I understand, it's a portugieser ref 325 (?) calibre 88, with serial number 1281XXX. DateMyIWC gives me 1950-55 as year of manufacture - is there a way to get a more precise date? Any chance of knowing how many of these were made?
thanks,
Dan
About the second pic, I tried to focus on the fish on the crown in case it makes a difference...
Hello Dan,
Welcome to the forum. If your watch has a cal. 88, it is with certainty not a ref. 325. The original Portugiesers had either a cal.74 or cal.98. The orgiginal ref. 325s were also 42mm in size--after a quick glance, this watch looks smaller than that to me.
There is a service that IWC provides that will allow you to get more precise information about your watch--where and when it was sold. Again, it is a service and it comes with a cost.
As for quantity, there might be some reference information on the forum that should tell you how many cal. 88s were made.
Regards, George
Hi Dan
Your watch is a Cal 88 which was in production from 1946 to 1964 and many were made. If the Dauphine hands are original, that would also point more to a Cal 88 than a Ref 325, which was based on Cal 98 movement.
It's a very nice watch
Thanks for the insights.
It is a cal 88. It's a 35 mm watch.
So what is the most appropriate name for this watch? Portuguese cal 88, or is it not a Portuguese at all? Are ref 325 and Portuguese synonyms? I'd be glad to be straightened out on the naming.
I have no reason to believe either way regarding the hands. As far as I know, they are original but I could be mistaken. I just got word from IWC that the watch was sold in 1953.
From other questions of the forum I also realise that about 38 000 cal 88s were made. So not so rare indeed.
Sorry to say, it's not Portuguese and it's not a reference 325. Models back then also seldom had names; usually the model reference number is inside the case back below the case serial number.
The hands may or may not be original. IWC doesn't keep a record of those in its archives. Personally, I believe that the hands are not in any known vintage catalog and not original.
Your watch doesn't have a name, such as the "Portuguese". And the Ref. 325 did not have a name in the 30s,40s etc. It was just the ref. 325. This watch is now, by some, called a Portuguese, or an Ur-Portuguese, because it was copied in the early 1990s to make the "Portugieser", which was a limited edition of watches. This subsequently has spawned a whole family of watches.
Getting back to yours-it's a beauty! Enjoy it. And welcome to the Forum.
I think, but I am not completely sure, that your watch is
a ref 309. Are you sure your watch is not closer to 33/34mm
then it is to 35mm?