The IWC Portofino Chronograph has always been a charming chronograph. For their upcoming auction on November 18th, Auctionata offers one in a very desirable steel case with black dial and silver subdials. It gives the watch a very cool look, and surprisingly modern since the watch is from 1990 and long discontinued.
It comes from a time when IWC had a portion of its collection powered by very high-end quartz movements, the so called meca-quartz. This Portofino is also fitted with such a movement. This caliber 630 actually features some Cotes Geneve decoration and is based on a movement made by Jaeger-LeCoultre. It has two quartz controlled stepper motors, of which the one that powers the movement runs at 1Hz, but the one for the chronograph runs at 4Hz making for a very smooth running chronograph hand.
Although only 29mm in diameter, the watch most certainly looks larger and that is something many women would appreciate. The watch is also quite thin, which makes it comfortable to wear. That is for sure something that you want to do with this watch. Being a quartz, it can easily not worn for a while, but this Portofino mixes and matches so easily with pretty much everything that it would in fact make a perfect every day watch, and one that you don’t see too often. The Portofino at this auction is in a very good shape considering its age and comes even with box and papers.
Autcionata also offers an estimated cost calculator on its website. It might be a good idea to actually use it before you make an offer. As I already pointed out in the article « Buying affordable watches at auction » which you can read in the latest issue of Watchisthis?! Magazine, you always pay more than the hammer price. In fact, when you bid say 1500 euros for this IWC Portofino, and you live in New York, you will actually have to pay just over 2.000,- euros due to buyers premium and shipping cost. Also, check with your countries customs office before buying because additional import duties may apply as well.
More information on the IWC Portofino and the other watches Auctionata has for auction click here