Celebrate the Year of the Water Rabbit with IWC Portugieser Automatic 40 Edition ‘Chinese New Year’

According to Chinese astrology, the Water Rabbit represents peace, diplomacy and luck. The Year of the Water Rabbit starts from January 22 next year and will last till February 9, 2024. To mark the Year of the Rabbit and all that it signifies, IWC has unveiled its new Portugieser Automatic 40 Edition ‘Chinese New Year’ (Ref. IW358315) in an all-new burgundy dial. The latest offering is limited to only 500 pieces. 

‍

IWC’s Portugieser with a chronograph complication is a popular timepiece — it is one of the timepiece maker’s flagship collections. It all began in 1939 when it created the first Portugieser, acting upon a request from two Portuguese businessmen. IWC created the Portugieser as a 41.5 mm stainless steel model with Calibre 74H4 with a power reserve of seven days. 

Following the Portugieser Hand-Wound Tourbillon launched last year, the new Portugieser Automatic 40 Edition, which is one of the most sophisticated time-only watches from the Schaffhausen-based brand, gets a 40mm stainless steel case, golden Arabic hour markers, golden leaf-shaped hour and minute hands and a golden 60-seconds subdial with a golden hand at 6 o’clock.

‍

The dial also sports a golden minute track on the outer periphery. In keeping with the aesthetics of minimalist design, the Portugieser Automatic 40 Edition ‘Chinese New Year’ has a sleek, fixed bezel, making it an ideal dress watch. 

‍

Powering the watch is the in-house Calibre 82200 with a power reserve of 60 hours. Turning the watch reveals the transparent sapphire caseback with the golden oscillating weight, shaped in the form of a rabbit, with engravings of ‘2023 YEAR OF THE RABBIT’ and also of the individual watch number out of 500. 

‍

‍

Calibre 82200 is an automatic small seconds manufacture movement, produced by IWC, in 2018. This Calibre has also powered other members of the Portugieser Automatic 40 family, from the likes of the Da Vinci Automatic Edition (stainless steel, rose gold model) to the previous generations of the Portugieser Automatic 40 in different dial colours, including the stainless steel bracelet model (Ref.IW3583-12).

The Portugieser Automatic 40 Edition ‘Chinese New Year’ is delivered with two calfskin straps — one in black and the other with a burgundy colour gradation. This limited edition gets a water resistance of 30 metres.

‍