IWC’s Portofino Collection Gets a New Complete Calendar to Complement Last Year’s Perpetual

Toward the tail end of 2022, IWC quietly introduced a new Portofino perpetual calendar (in gold and stainless steel) and it immediately caught our attention. I mean, it’s kind of an objectively beautiful watch, with an elegantly executed complication that we’re all quite fond of, and the fact IWC is making them in steel is really just icing on the perpetual calendar cake. Still, at $24,000, the steel version isn’t exactly anyone’s definition of affordable, even if we’re using imaginary money. So we were even more surprised to learn that IWC has once again sprung a very attractive calendar watch on us in a non-precious metal, still in the Portofino collection but with a different calendar complication. The new Portofino Complete Calendar shares an aesthetic with its perpetual big brother, but is less than half the price. It requires more adjustment from the user, but it’s still a classic calendar with a ton of charm. 

First things first, the Portofino seems to be hitting a newfound stride with these calendar watches. This has always been a solid IWC collection, if a little under the radar compared to the brand’s sportier offerings. But the Portofino speaks to the broad range of styles that IWC excels in. These are traditional dress watches, which are now increasingly outfitted with traditional complications based around IWC’s solid and reliable watchmaking. In terms of aesthetics, you’d be hard pressed to identify a distinguishing feature in these watches that would be out of place in a vintage watch from the 1950s, and that’s kind of the point. They imagine a watchmaking world where this type of design was perfected decades ago, and seem to be asking why anyone would go about changing something that isn’t broken. 

That said, the Portofino Complete Calendar actually features the debut of an entirely new module mated to IWC’s 32150 caliber. The display uses two sub registers, with the one at 12:00 displaying the day of the week and moonphase, while you’ll find the date and month displayed at 6:00. According to IWC, the new module uses 69 individual parts, and each display is driven separately, which allows each to be individually adjusted, either through the crown or via pushers on the side of the case. The calendar will only need to be adjusted by the owner in months with less than 31 days (that’s five times per year, by my count). That’s a pretty convenient calendar execution if the watch is worn daily, and visually the layout works really well in my opinion. The dual scales in the 6:00 sub register are both easily readable at a glance, and like last year’s perpetual calendar everything is very well balanced, with an expert use of negative space. 

Both the gold and steel cases measure the same 41mm diameter, and come in at 11.8mm thick. That’s fairly slender for a calendar watch using a module, and while 41mm isn’t exactly a classic, mid century size to go with the classic, mid century case and dial design, it’s hardly over the top. While I imagine the gold version has some heft to it, the steel variant would probably be a comfortable daily wear candidate for office dwellers or watch enthusiasts who don’t need or desire a sports watch, and are after something a little more old fashioned and traditional. 

The new Portofino Complete Calendar is expected to be available in April. The gold version carries a retail price of $20,400, while the steel comes in at $10,800. Again, as with the perpetual, these are large sums of money. But particularly when comparing the steel watches, the complete calendar feels surprisingly approachable, especially if you’re drawn to a dressier style and this type of dial layout in a calendar watch. For more information, head over to IWC’s website right here.