IWC
The Vintage Portofino Hand-Wound watch pays tribute to the brand's famous Ref. 5251 watch, produced in limited numbers in the late 1990s. The Ref. 5251 Portofino watch was equipped with an old IWC pocket watch movement, the Caliber 9521. The original IWC Ref. 5251 represented an impressively large, yet deliciously flat watch. The timepiece revealed an amazing horizontal moonphase and small second display, with the beauty enhanced due to its idiosyncratic design.
The new Vintage Portofino Hand-Wound watch features the gorgeous vertical layout. The IWC watch houses a manually-wound pocket watch-type caliber with the elongated IWC 'Jones Index'.
read more
The latest step of
IWC Schaffhausen's expanding horizons in exclusive brand boutiques was the June 1st opening of a store unit in
Hong Kong's Kowloon chic shopping district.
This event took place shortly after the Swiss watchmaker had announced a project of this kind in
Singapore's ION Orchard shopping venue, planned to be open in July, 2009.
According to IWC, its leading boutique in Hong Kong will provide customers with a vast experience in brand lore, history as well as distinctive features.
IWC's watch collections are displayed in thematic rooms, designed in accordance with the unique idea each product’s creation is based on. For instance, the Portuguese and Da Vinci timepiece collections are exhibited in a "Classic Lifestyle Wing" with a luxurious Navigator's lounge tailored to create the yacht’s environment.
The aviation-suggested
IWC Pilot's Watch Classic and
Pilot's Watch Spitfire collections are showcased in a
Sports Lifestyle Wing, which reminds of an officer's mess area.
For the atmosphere to be even more convincing, IWC displays aviator jackets made of buffalo leather. Besides, the visitors can try a
Spitfire aircraft flight simulator.
In
IWC CEO George Kern’s opinion, their leading boutique in Hong Kong is a real gem, one of the twenty-five IWC boutiques located all over the world, willing to welcome customers.
Etienne da Gramont, Managing Director of IWC North East Asia adds, they are proud that Hong Kong has been chosen as a home for opening one of the leading boutiques of IWC.
You can find IWC's new boutique on Ground Floor at 1881 Heritage, 2A Canton Road, Kowloon in the prestigious shopping mall that used to be the site for Marine Police Headquarters.
Discover the best selection of
IWC watches:
read more
Singaporean actor-director
Ng Chin Han was sported wearing an
IWC classic Portuguese Chrono-Automatic watch at the premiere of
The Dark Knight held on July 14th, in New York City.
In the movie, the 38-year old Ng Chin Han played the role of Hong Kong mobster Lau. The premier was also attended by the
co-stars - Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Christian Bale, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart, and Morgan Freeman. Chin Han admitted he was really pleased to have worked with such a great cast.
Before his work with Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan and the breakthrough role in the movie, Ng Chin Han played a range of supporting roles in a variety of independent movies. Chin Han has also applied his talent of the director in plays and musical adaptations. The actor was first presented to Singapore audiences in 1994, when he starred in the English TV drama 'Masters of the Sea'.
read more
IWC Schaffhausen is to offer at auction an exceptional,
platinum version of the UTC Edition Antoine de Saint Exupery watch. The timepiece will be auctioned together with an original, signed copy of Saint Exupery's famous memoir
Wind, Sand and Stars.
IWC's on-line auction will take place between December 8th -14th. The
starting price is 39,000 US dollars. The money will be donated to the
French Sipar association, a non-governmental group fighting illiteracy in Cambodia.
The platinum
IWC Pilot's Watch UTC Edition Antoine de Saint Exupery reveals a tobacco brown dial. The watch is secured to the wrist on a rugged leather strap fitted with a platinum tang buckle.
The timepiece shows off two distinguishing details - Antoine de Exupery's "A" initial on the dial, and a commemorative case back with an engraved Latecoere 25 aircraft and the number 01/01.
The IWC watch accommodates the
self-winding 30710 caliber, providing a secondary time zone display, sweep seconds and the date.
According to
Georges Kern, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen, the timepiece has been created in respect for Antoine de Saint Exupery as a pilot and is not simply a piece of jewelry aimed at cosmopolitans. The unique watch will be auctioned off to offer more educational opportunities for children in Cambodia by improving their literacy."
read more
The heart of the timepiece is Calibre 50910, an exceptional IWC in-house automatic movement. The mechanism incorporates the innovative Pellaton winding system.
read more
The final part of the IWC Online Benefit Auction aroused feverish excitement among watch aficionados from all over the world. The minimum offer was high - those who wanted to enter the bidding and rival for two sought-after rarities had to beat 30,000 US dollars.
read more
The official website of the watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen invites its visitors to watch the short film of a multimedia performance by the
Sydney Theatre Company.
The film, starring Oscar winner
Cate Blanchett and famous Hollywood actor
Joseph Fiennes, is an interpretation-story telling about
IWC founder Florentine Ariosto Jones and his wife and his first steps towards watch manufacturing.
The multimedia stage play was premiered to 1,700 guests at a gala night held by IWC at the SIHH watch fair in Geneva. Now everyone interested may view the play as a 20-minute short film on www.iwc.com/thecrossing. It's also worth mentioning that the 'Making-of' section on the site provides interviews with Cate Blanchett, the film director and other actors.
The Sydney Theatre Company has created an exciting cultural project paying tribute to the 140th anniversary of
IWC. The multimedia theatre performance is a creative interpretation of the myth associated with Florentine Ariosto Jones.
In the film, Cate Blanchett is the pregnant wife left behind by the IWC founder, played by Joseph Fiennes. The adventurous watchmaker and engineer, in a bold attempt to realize his dream, comes to Europe trying to establish and develop the manufacture of watch movements and raise it to a new and cheaper level of production.
According to director
Nigel Jamieson, it took him three months to dramatize the myth of the IWC foundation that actually lasts just 20 minutes and is presented as a short film on the site.
read more
The IWC Ingenieur Automatic Edition 'Climate Action' has been created to support The Climate Group, an independent nonprofit organization established in 2004. IWC is donating part of the sales' proceeds for the projects of the internationally active organization, cooperating with governments and business leaders from different countries of the world to reach the rapid establishment of a low-carbon economy.
The watch is crafted in stainless steel and ceramic. The limited special edition features a silvered dial with yellow 5-minute indices and a back engraving. The color theme is echoed in the backstitching of the strap and the engraving 'IWC supports voluntary action on climate change'.
read more
For the third year in a row, IWC offers its support to the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. The Schaffhausen-based watchmaking company has created a special limited edition of the Da Vinci Chronograph. The case back of the watch reveals an engraving of a winning entry from an IWC drawing competition. The drawing, depicting a group of girls playing handball, was created by 15-year-old Heena Javed Shaikh from India.
Part of the proceeds from the sales of the 1,000 pieces of the Da Vinci Chronograph will be donated to support the Foundation's projects aimed to benefit more than 150,000 children worldwide.
read more
IWC is introducing six legendary members of its most famous watch families - the Portuguese, Ingenieur, Pilot's Watch, Da Vinci, Aquatimer, Portofino - into the present day as vintage models.
The new timekeeping interpretations are equipped with contemporary, IWC-manufactured automatic movements or with hand-wound pocket watch movements. The six vintage models represent the true cornerstones in the IWC history.
Each of the models marked the beginning of a new era at IWC and formed the base for successful horological achievements in the fields of aviation, diving, engineering and complications, having become highly valued legends in collectors' circles.
read more
IWC Schaffhausen has recently opened a
multi-story boutique in Beverly Hills, California, the 24th global boutique project of the prestigious Swiss brand. The luxurious new store is located on Brighton Way.
The new IWC store features the brand's proprietary
Signature Furniture Series, created while using stainless steel, aluminum and fine leather, inspired by the themes of renowned IWC watches.
The Beverly Hills location represents the brand's first multi-story boutique. It will serve as an architectural inspiration for other stores the brand plans to build in Shanghai and Beijing.
The storefront in the luxurious Los Angeles shopping local deeply impresses by its visual power. According to
Benoit de Clerck, President of IWC North America, IWC team wanted to make their mark in Beverly Hills, as one of the many ways they intend to announce the brand's arrival.
As soon as you enter IWC's Beverly Hills boutique, you will be surrounded by a
luxurious yet highly contemporary environment created as a perfect setting for the complete collection of IWC watches.
The customers of the boutique will have a fine opportunity to see and acquire a
full range of IWC products, from elegant IWC models such as the
Portofino Automatic, as well as the most sophisticated
Grand Complication watch. The boutique will also showcase the exclusive special edition watches.
The IWC new location in Beverly Hills is a true sign of the brand's success and devotion to the US market. The company has successfully maintained a continuous growth in the USA.
read more
