News: Portuguese Automatic Edition Dragon Year

The sign of the dragon

In the Lunar Year of the Dragon, a classically beautiful timepiece from IWC Schaffhausen makes a glittering entry. The Portuguese Automatic Edition Dragon Year captures the dynamism and good fortune of this sign of the zodiac with a dragon engraving on the rotor.

The strongly symbolic design of this timelessly elegant watch is paired with an outstanding movement that includes Pellaton winding, a 7-day power reserve and date display. But individuals hoping to secure one of these watches will need to be determined and have luck on their side: the Portuguese Automatic Edition Dragon Year in red gold is limited to 888 pieces worldwide and available exclusively from selected IWC retailers.

Read more here:
www.iwc.com/en/news/schaffhausen-watchmaking-in-the-sign-of-the-dragon/

Best wishes from Schaffhausen

Is this dial the same color as for example the Gassan Edition from 2010?

Love it, and thanks for letting us know here.

Now I am in a real quandary - Toruneau or China ?

for a bit of comparison:

Dragon 2012:

Gassan:

Portugal:

Do you think this dial colour (ruthenium black look a like) will be available sometime on the 5001 with a steel case?

I think its just a little bit more classy than the 500109

Perhaps a nice quandary to have Shing! For me it would be the Dragon, due to my Chinese association.

actually I think the Tourneau SE is more faithful to the ruthenium black dial of the Portuguese Mystere Retrograde Date edition:

and the left one here:

pics courtesy of Kokoro/Tracy who lent me a hand (pun unintended :)) to check out this edition...

the Tourbillon, although clearly not identical dial-color wise:

For what it's worth, I reserved my comments till I see the real thing in metal in Singapore when it hits the boutique in September 2012. Most of the time the real thing looks nicer than the pic. Thanks to Shing for the comparison.

Thank you for the comparison Shing!
Wasn't aware of the existence of the Tourneau SE.

Dial looks great to me, as I said, the soft black is a bit more classy than the 'hard black' 500109 in my opinion.

impromptu visit to get a few straps, and while there ...

boutique stalwart Zack hosted me, with a cake-treat 'Pandan cake' from my native Singapore, where he had just flew to for work - such is their personal service for very good collector-friends of the HK Flagship Boutique...

sorry, poor pics. will swing by again with a proper camera next week...

The brown dial is very fascinating, and put together with the more conservative red gold, and the excellent contrast with the dark black counters, and black date background, and the black strap -- makes for an incredible winning combination in my opinion. 'brown' dial to me doesn't describe the dial with justice - it has a smooth, silk-like sunburst that is less sharp, and therefore warmer and cozier, than the white gold portuguese automatics, and perpetuals, in my opinion.

P.S. IWC staff from the Taipei, Taiwan boutique were present at HK Flagship boutique for a 3 day visit, and I realized today there is a special Taiwan edition ref 5001, released in 2010, 100 pieces, with a map of Taiwan on the rotor, white dial, in steel, with 'silver-rish' hands and markers. If anyone has a pic, that would be great to see.

Shing,
Is the contrast between the dial and hands really that narrow? It looks like you have to hold the watch at an angle to read the time?

Don't think so - just a bad combination of a poor camera, tough lighting, and a plastic-wrapped watch. and also late evening fatigue i think, lol. although the red gold numerals and the dial may make this a bit tougher to read than other models...very much like the ref 3714-82, www.iwc.com/en/collection/portuguese/IW3714/

Wow, that's a very nice edition of the wonderful 5001. Thanks for the info and great to see pictures of the real watch already. Thank you Shing!

Kind regards,

Clemens

That watch wants to make me spit fire!

Really handsome - classic all dressed up. A pity I don't wear rose gold :-(

Thanks for sharing Shing.

Shing,

are you referring to this one? white dial, black indices and a map of Taiwan on the rotor? It has been gone for a long time already. I checked about 1+ year ago with the boutiques in Taiwan, and was told all were sold out for a while.

I remember people were joking around, saying that it would not be allowed to be brought back to Mainland China... :-)

That's the one Kelvin !

Thanks for sharing. It is the closest thing to the platinum 5001-04.

Hi Shing,

The watches, as usual, are stunning but I have to say, the pandan cake really caught my eye. Being originally from Malaysia, I do miss this radioactive green treat.

Cheers.

Marc

Hi Marc,

Do feel free to join some of us here: www.facebook.com/groups/314751255258436/ which is the facebook group for South East Asia IWC collectors. we all love that radioactive green !

Beautiful watch. Great pictures too. Good luck to anyone here hoping to get their hands on one.

Thanks guys! Great to see all the variation in a post.

I love the way the medals are done on the rotor. This is a nice way of engraving the watch.

The Tourneau is esp very nice. Love those red hands.

so beautiful
tubu shan20120713

shing...

given the choice my vote goes for the dragon portuguese... you are after all a dragon =)

regards,
thang

p.s. man i miss that pandan cake (slightly more appealing than any durian delicacies (never could get past the 'aroma')).