IWC 59210

Cal. 59210 (and similar) is an hand winding eight days movement produced by IWC starting in 2011.

Details

IWC has been transitioning to in-house movements since 2000, enhancing the reputation and technical features of their watches. In 2011, IWC introduced the Cal. 59000 family of hand-wound eight day movements with this Cal. 59210. This family features a single barrel and mainspring and ticks at a modern 4 Hz, making the long 192 hour power reserve extremely impressive.

Cal. 59210, introduced in 2011 in the IWC Portofino Hand-Wound Eight Days, is the first member of this family. Measuring a large 37.8 mm in diameter, Cal. 59210 recalled the modern classic Cal. 5000, with its extremely powerful mainspring, but the company went further this time. The spring actually holds a longer power reserve and stops after 192 hours rather than slow as torque is reduced. The balance is an indexless design, with four golden weight screws along the rim for adjustment and a Breguet spiral.

The movement features two large bridges, an almost Germanic design, with the upper bridge anchoring the massive mainspring barrel and the lower used for the power reserve indicator gear. The display includes the date, displayed through an aperture at 3:00, small seconds at 6:00, and a retrograde power reserve indicator at 8:00.

Movement Variants

In 2013, IWC introduced the Portugieser Hand-Wound Eight Days with Cal. 59215, which affixes the power reserve indicator hand to the back of the movement rather than featuring it on the watch face. This movement still features the date window at 3:00 and small seconds at 6:00. At the same time, IWC expanded the Portofino range with the Portofino Hand-Wound Big Date. It uses Cal. 59230 which adds a big date complication with a display at 12:00 rather than 3:00. It retains the front-mounted power reserve indicator at 8:00 and the small seconds dial.

In 2015, IWC introduced the Portofino Hand-Wound Pure Classic, a two-handed variant on the Portofino thime. This watch uses Cal. 59060 which lacks the small seconds hand and date of Cal. 59210 and also relocates the power reserve pointer to the back. There it can be viewed through a display case back. Another launch that year was the Portofino Hand-Wound Day & Date, which added a day by pointer dial at 3:00. This watch uses Cal. 59220, a variant of the 2013 "Big Date" Cal. 59230.

Also in 2015, IWC launched exotic variations on this movement base. A monopusher chronograph module was used in Cal. 59360 and a moon phase indicator was added for Cal. 59800. IWC launched a tourbillon version in 2017, Cal. 59900.

In 2018, IWC's Big Pilot's Watch Big Date Edition "150 Years" appeared. It used another variation on the Cal. 59210 base: Cal. 59235 is similar to the "Big Date" Cal. 59230 but relocates the power reserve indicator to the back, as on the 2013 Cal. 59215. Template:IWC 59000 Movement Family