Something special something new

...the Portuguese Grande Complication Red Gold 377402. an impromptu drop-by in between meetings at IWC Boutique @ Prince's Building, and taken care of by Olivier.

special arched edge. I was told, if I heard correctly, it would enhance the chimes of the repeater.

a very comfortable alligator strap with gold stitching.

Shing,
How does it feel to have that baby on your wrist?

There was one in an Australian authorised dealer last month.

I did price it, but all I need now are the lottery numbers.

Can anyone help?

Cheers from the cellar

KS - probably an over-generalization, but the red gold glow orb felt like "the world is in my hands". it is a very classic and delicate and can I say, deft, masterpiece ? not too heavy, and didn't feel like it was a 'heavy duty piece' but very elegant and refined. wished it didn't have the chronograph though, but it is a grande complication afterall, and to be different from the PPC.

Cellar - +1 ! @ that price we all need to I dare say.

Shing,
I totally agree with you on the point of the chronograph. It would be a perfect piece without that. I would love to try it on my wrist one day.

Shing - did they ever offer you a bed or your own seat in that boutique? You seem to live there :-)

Regards
Christoph

I think this angle shows a very appealing view of this watch. Great job SHING. The elongated/elevated bezel and domed crystal is beautiful here.

The shape of the chronology pushers are special too. They compliment the new, Portuguese shape - I like the chronograph function in this Grand Complication. My only reservations to this watch are the proportions of the dial with all the diaplays too close to the center, as the case is too large for the movement. However, I have not tried on the watch myself yet - so I am willing to reserve a little judgement...

I think this angle shows a very appealing view of this watch. Great job SHING. The elongated/elevated bezel and domed crystal is beautiful here.

The shape of the chronology pushers are special too. They compliment the new, Portuguese shape - I like the chronograph function in this Grand Complication. My only reservations to this watch are the proportions of the dial with all the diaplays too close to the center, as the case is too large for the movement. However, I have not tried on the watch myself yet - so I am willing to reserve a little judgement...

Special indeed. Here she is on my wrist. For a brief couple of minutes she was only mine. Now, she is beyond reach, like Dante's Beatrice.

For the price of one GC you could have a PPC a Repeater and a chrono, single or double and a bucket full of change. The GC may be a Holy Grail but so much invested in one watch! If I owned it my shirt sleeves would be extra long just incase someone of unsavoury disposition recognised and knew what it was. I would never wear it with a short sleeve shirt out in public!

That's it. It is the dial proportions. I knew there was a reason why I did not get it yet. Now I know. :)

when I saw it in the pics, especially for the Platinum version (which I did not try on) that was exactly what I thought. I had assumed it would be akin to the zenith annual calendar from a while ago - too many things close to the center of the dial. But with this one, it seemed to be fit, I was drawn to the "nucleus" so to speak of the masterpiece very readily, and it kept drawing me closer. The large numerals circumventing the 'globe' perhaps because of the consistency with the red gold casing and buttons, seemed to me to fit right in.

How interesting, perhaps this is why Flagship has this Not-For-Sales item on display below, and close to the GCs too.

SOMETHING SPECIAL SOMETHING NEW - exactly! ....and there is no doubt about it, it's a fantastic and special watch.

However, in a strange sort of way I need to ask myself if I had this kind of money - would I go out and pick this watch, and to be honest with myself I would probably not. Don't get me wrong - it's a magnificent piece, but I guess every person has their own grail watch and want list, and this is here where it stops for me on this one. There are still a good few IWC watches, both contemporary and vintage on my wish list and if the money was there, for me it would be a non starter debate.

I'd use the money to hunt down my wish list - travel to places to go pick up the collection pieces (Tonny, and his all day dash - KS Low, and his up and coming flight to KL to pickup his grail watch!) and fill those holes in my collection.

But therec is no denying - it sure oes look good on the wrist - this one does! Shing, probably yours is platinum / white gold version - Clepsydra, yourscis exactly that one on your wrist. Looks amazing.

Great thread Gents.

Best regards
Mark

did someone say platinum ? :-)

this baby was the actual reason why I dropped by. and this time I got to try it without plastics, and got to see the fabulous date change mechanism in action. truly amazing watch.

yes Mark you're right, with the GC pricetag one can collect several pieces. surprisingly the red gold and platinum GC prices are almost identical.

Thanks Shing! How's the dings & dongs like? Crystal clear? Cheers

rgds
ks

I would say decent enough / good. The Portuguese ref 5240 which is the one belonging to Nelson in this discussion, I tried on previously - actually you were with me at Flagship that time - was much clearer and more, in my opinion, sonorous.

Shing, how did the repeater sound? When I tried the Portuguese Grand Complication, the sound was drowned by the traffic noise outside of the store in Geneva. For some reason, I believe the finest IWC repeaters are the older generation of Minute Repeaters that do not use the FA Jones movement. These things are so subjective but that's what you pay for when you buy the minute repeater complication.

I have only ever heard a handful of iwc repeaters, and if memory serves me correctly, this GC would be the shrillest of the ones I've heard, the others being the 5240 repeater, and the 3770 grande complication.

the 5240 intones the smoothest chimes in my opinion - they hang longer in the air. but still, all this is based on recall and mental comparison of the various repeaters. I never had them all in the same setting and trying them - so I may change my opinion in the future.

Talking about Minute Repeaters

This is the Minute repeater I would love to have one day!