New Article: History of IWC's Portugieser Watches Reference 325

Thanks a lot, very interesting facts and topic.

Regards

HEBE

Great writeup! Thanks for sharing. How special it would be to today own a 325 with cal 98 (or better still cal 74) that was initially sold in Portugal!

Gentlemen,
Thank you for an interesting and informative article. The reference 325 and its caliber 9828 derivative (the 5441) will always be my favorite watch produced by IWC. It is hard to improve on perfection.

Regards, George

I agree, the 9828 was the most evolved in this movement series. Wouldn't it be great if we saw a special series with this movement again?

Great information- thanks, gents. How appropriate for IWC to produce a 75th Anniversary homage to the r.325- a fine effort.

Nelson

Dear Sumit,

This may sound selfish but I would like to think that IWC has already "been there" and "done that" and they will alow the fortunate owners of these watches to continue to have something special. The IWC pocketwatch movement based wristwatches like the 325, 5441, and 5251 are the pinnacle of what a watch should be---simple in design, flawlessly executed, and a nod to the company's past. You can be assures that when special occasions occur in my life, an IWC Portugieser will be on my wrist.

Wow George, the first picture does depict one of those 325s from Rodrigues Portugal - it sure is a museum piece!

A favorite topic. Excellent effort. Many thanks for the update.

A dream watch and I had wrist time with two last October. I would happily settle for a second series original and a Jubilee in gold. Dream models, I did ask when at the factory How many dial variants and the answer is no one is exactly sure of the variants. For those who have never been hands on, winding the crown is pure mechanics where the watch imparts fabulous senses to the fingers and ears.

Great article gentlemen, my compliments!

BB

Great job, gents. The article was a pleasure to read.

Beautiful watches, especially the one in the last photo. I'd love to see them back and with that lovely script.

This was an excellent article. Thank you both for providing us with a well -researched opportunity to learn about these special watches.

David and Michael - Thanks a lot!

Great to read this arcticle summarizing and yet adding some additional flavours to what was presented at the collectors' day at SIHH in January.

Thx again, highly appreciated!
/Anders

This is fascinating stuff. I was aware that David Seyffer was working on a history of the 325 because I had "commissioned" Marian to try and research "Kuchar and Wittmann" in Bratislava, from where my 325 came. Marian, with the help and encouragement of Mark Levisohn and myself, has found out a wealth of information about the firm that was licensed to wholesale IWCs immediately before and during WWII.
Very, very briefly (I hope Marian will eventually post all he has learned and continues to learn) Ignatz (Eng. sp.) Wittmann had an established business in Bratislava for many years, selling watches, among them IWC. Due to the political scene in 1939-41 he was in need of a non-Jewish partner (my interpretation) and added Frantisek Kuchar to the business to comply with new business regulations. This partnership, much more complex than I am conveying here, did not long survive the end of the war, but did manage to sell quite a few 325s.
The one I have is a caliber 98, made in 1936. The case was produced most likely in 1944. It was sold to K&W on September 26, 1944. Thanks to M. Seyffer and what he has unearthed regarding the deliveries of the earliest 325s, I have now gone to calling mine a "Bratislava".
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It was recently gussied up in Schaffhausen.

Another great article. Very interesting. I always look forward to these articles, more would be great.

Michael and David, an excellent article on the watch family that has formed the core of my IWC collection. Well done.