IWC

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This cal. 95290 MR...

This is, in my opinion, a splendid reference and one of the pinnacles of IWC from the mid-90s based on a robust pocket-watch calibre 95. It is in a sense a genuine Portugieser MR (after the Jubilee Portugiesers), following a lineage of older (classical) design elements. A displaced second-hands sub-dial to the 9 o'clock position is the only contemporary twist to an otherwise classical Portugieser dial. It is a confident move of legibility; some examples with sub-dials out there leave the remnant of the '9' or other digits resulting in an uncertain compromise that corrodes clarity. Common 'complaints' of this watch note the lack of visible hammers and gongs for a MR, and its relatively softer sounds. To be fair to the context of the development of this watch, 'display' of the MR mechanism was never the goal (there is however a skeletal version of this watch for those who wants to see the MR mechanism--rare but it exists); instead, this reference was a further--elegant--distillation of the earlier Grande Complication on one hand, and on the other, showcasing only the MR feature in a limited run under the Portugieser series. I like to think of this as the crowning jewel of the historical Portugieser. Anyone who has read Fritz's excellent research would come to realize that the MR was very much a tour de force for IWC at that point of its history, and the painful (!) research and development history of this specification was nothing short of an engineering marvel and the demonstration of organic solidarity in the company. Positioned properly within the history of IWC manufacture, the visual and aural 'shortcomings' of this MR therefore appear unjustified. Anecdotally, there are some aural variations observed depending on the metals used. The RG version that I have, presumably (because I have not compared in-person), offers the most distinctive, albeit still softer-sound, between hours, quarters and minutes. Perhaps of the copper in the case? I may never know. My final notes: what this MR does not have--though it packs a list of high merits--have been nonetheless more than made up by its display case-back highlighting the horological purity and beauty of the cal. 95290. The one you showed is the WG, which has less contrast. But for the YG or RG, the contrast between the case metal and the movement is really something to behold. And for a MR, this watch is robust and accurate, though wearability remains relatively non-ideal because of its larger size and especially if in a colored metal. As observed by many, this is also a nice entry-level MR offering a ton of value in terms of design, engineering, and history. It is truly a heirloom (!). [Anecdotally, the longer script was removed because IWC wanted to establish their contemporary logo identity--an unfortunate loss.]

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