Portofino Chronograph MecaQuartz Yellow Gold / White / Alligator

In Context

At 35 mm it is classically proportioned: the size a dress watch was understood to be for most of the twentieth century, and small enough to sit under a cuff. The 7.8 mm case is genuinely slim and goes under a shirt cuff without argument. The case back is closed, so the movement stays out of sight, and the sapphire crystal will resist everything short of deliberate abuse. Rated to 30 m, it is protected against rain and splashes and nothing beyond that.

It is quartz, so it will hold time far more closely than any mechanical watch here, and asks for a battery every few years rather than a service.

IW3731-01 is one of 7 executions of the IW3731 base reference. Underneath they are the same watch; what separates this one is a white dial and a yellow gold case. Beyond the time it carries a chronograph.

Not a mechanical movement, despite the chronograph. The 631 belongs to the Jaeger-LeCoultre 630 family of mechaquartz calibres built for IWC, in which quartz regulates the rate while a conventional mechanical module drives the chronograph, so the counters snap back on reset as a mechanical chronograph does. The 631 adds a moon phase over the base 630. IWC fitted it through the late 1980s and early 1990s to Portofino, Da Vinci and Pilot's chronographs.

50 other watches in the library run the IWC 631.

IWC

Portofino Lady Chronograph MecaQuartz Stainless Steel / Yellow Gold / White / Alligator

IW3730-14 · 29 mm

IWC

Portofino Chronograph MecaQuartz Stainless Steel / White / Calf

IW3731-07 · 35 mm

IWC

Portofino Chronograph MecaQuartz Yellow Gold / White / Alligator

IW3731-02 · 35 mm

IWC

Portofino Lady Chronograph MecaQuartz Stainless Steel / Black / Calf

IW3730-05 · 29 mm