I recently had the opportunity to review the IWC Portugieser Jubilee 5441 and this magnificent watch made me want to write these few words. In fact, my thoughts are not about this piece itself. Very briefly, it is a Portugieser that was marketed as part of a limited series of 1,750 pieces (1,000 in steel, 500 in rose gold, 250 in platinum) to celebrate in 1993 the 125th anniversary of the founding of the manufacture in Schaffhausen. The reference 5441 is distinguished by its 42mm diameter, its plexiglass and the very pretty vintage writing of the brand on the dial. The position of the second hand leaves no doubt that it is powered by a caliber whose size corresponds to the diameter of the case and this is the case.
Indeed, the reference 5441 uses the caliber 9828 which is a decorative evolution of the 982, the latter deriving from the caliber 98. Its diameter of 37.80mm allows us to appreciate its classic pocket watch movement architecture with very beautiful bridge cutouts, a large balance wheel and superb indexing. The power reserve is 54 hours for a frequency of 2.5hz. What a pleasure to listen to the ticking of this caliber at low frequency! The finishes are also impeccable without falling into the useless spectacular. The continuity of the Geneva stripes, the finishing of the chamfering, the combination of the different decorative methods, everything exudes quality and above all the desire to do things carefully.
The meaning of my message is to raise a question. Why can’t I see such watches in the current production of brands from major groups? This Portugieser symbolizes an era, that of the revival of mechanical watchmaking (reference 5441 has also relaunched the career of the Portugieser), in which the objective of the brands was to offer coherent and irreproachable watches. The movement matches the case, it is carefully finished and above all we have the impression that the brand has not skimped on the means. The shape of the plexi glass, the finish of the dial, all the details have been thought out so that the whole is harmonious. I must admit that I have much more difficulty finding this approach these days and this whatever the brand. We are now in a period where what matters is efficiency and rationalization. I would even dare to add cost control and the problem is that customers feel it.
As I often say, the current problem is not only the price level. And I almost want to say that this is not really the main concern. It is rather the feeling that we are not getting enough for our money. Prices are rising but the quality, at least perceived, is going the other way. Movements are available in all sorts of ways, they are less and less specific to a model, the decorative levels are heterogeneous and the entry level of fine watchmaking seems far from the quality standards practiced 20 years ago. Finally, the quantities of precious materials used are decreasing. I remember a brand that explained to me that its oscillating weight was now plated instead of being gold to make it thinner. In short, the justifications still exist in this sense.
I sincerely believe that watchmaking needs to get back to basics in a commercially delicate period. The fundamentals are to think first of customers before thinking of margins. It is to consider that watch content must be a priority. Movements, finishes, execution, everything must be consistent with price levels. Exclusivity must finally be the result of a design and production approach and not a marketing strategy. Why else would a customer spend substantial sums? It is time, in my opinion, to put some substance back into it. It seems to me totally abnormal that I could think (and to tell the truth I am convinced of it) that a Portugieser 5441 could not be presented in its 1993 configuration in 2024. So let’s hope that at least the current crisis (because it must be mentioned) will allow brands to conduct a deep reflection. No, the bad figures cannot be explained solely by declines in certain markets for macroeconomic reasons. The poor figures can also be explained by this mismatch between price and content.
