Original Portuguese

I'm not sure if this is appropriate - or if this is the right forum - moderators, please delete with impunity if I am doing wrong here, with my apology - but I thought this might be of interest to someone on this forum.

Needless to say, but I will anyway, I have no connection. This is just a head's up.

An apparently first-generation Portuguese is coming up for auction at Bonhams on 16 December. I won't paste a link, but it is listed as an "IWC Stainless Steel Manual Wind Watch Head." Putting the numbers into "DateYourIWC" results in:

The movement is a Sav. calibre 74, dating from the year 1929.
The case was most probably produced resp. delivered around 1932.

These dates, of course, conflict with the dates in the article Michael Friedberg posted recently, which put the first delivery of a caliber 325 in 1939. The description of the piece claims a date of 1935, but then goes on to mention the first delivery of the Portuguese was in 1942.

Anyway, I'm a bit confused. It doesn't matter, since I won't be bidding on the watch anyway, but something seems a bit odd to me here and it's got me curious and maybe one of the truly knowledgeable people on this forum could explain this.

Steven

Thank you, Michael; I thought it might be something like that; but I missed the end of the other discussion. At least my nose is developing an ability to smell fish.

Steven

Hello Steven,

It is easy to get taken in by the measures these fraudsters go to make up these watches. Here is the case back of the Bonham's watch compared a later Portugieser cal 98 from 1954. Granted the dates and the caliber are different but you can see that watch up for auction looks crude relatively speaking. Even the numbers look s little different.

Regards, George

I keep wondering why a reputable firm like Bonham's would handle this piece. Has anyone reported it to them?

Hello Michael,

I find it intriguing that Bonhams's listed a portugieser in their November catalogue last year that was specifically called a ref 325 with an estimate of almost ten times of estimate of the watch in the December auction that is not listed as a ref 325. I am being subjective but maybe they already know?