The origins of the IWC Portugieser are somewhat shrouded in myth, but it is widely agreed by scholars that in 1939, Portuguese watch importers – a Mr. Rodrigues and a Mr. Teixeira – made a special request of IWC to create an oversized wristwatch with a highly accurate movement. IWC took up the challenge, utilizing first their pocket watch caliber 74, a manually wound savonette movement with subsidiary seconds and a 54-hour power reserve. The wristwatches of the era were typically quite small, with a 36mm diameter being considered oversized, so a 42mm diameter wristwatch was positively gigantic.

The first reference 325s, now dubbed the "Portugieser", were shipped to Lisbon in 1942 - three year after the original request - to Mr. Rodrigues, later of the firm Rodrigues & Gonçalves, Ltd.

According to IWC, only 304 examples of the reference 325 were produced with the caliber 74, with 690 examples in total produced between 1939 and 1981. The production date of 1943 places the present example among the earliest specimens to come out of the factory, having been delivered the year after IWC began consigning the timepieces.

The IWC Portugieser has been the bastion of the IWC line-up since its introduction. The style has been reinterpreted, the movement improved upon, and complications added and subtracted, but the overall physical profile – a slim and oversized men’s wristwatch with short, broad lugs – has remained the same. It is integral to the DNA of the IWC brand and retains a timeless aesthetic.

The rarity of the present lot should be enough to capture the heart of any collector, but these elements are further enhanced by this Portugieser’s remarkable case condition and beautifully aged dial with luminous Arabic indexes which grants this timepiece an enormous vintage vibe.