subir imagenSurprisingly in an era of quartz watches, the IWC Porsche Design chronograph quickly became a large seller. Anecdotal reports claim that, back in the early 1980s, this watch annually sold more units than all other mechanical chronographs by all other Swiss companies combined. It was a smashing success and certainly played a key role in the rebirth of interest in mechanical chronographs.
IWC followed this triumph with other chronographs. It combined the chronograph with Kurt Klaus’ revolutionary perpetual calendar in 1985, and IWC’s revolutionary Da Vinci model was born. IWC used a chronograph mechanism in a flight watch in 1988, and a whole reawakening of interest in pilots’ watches occurred. IWC also took the proven Valjoux chronograph base, substituted most of the parts, and produced elaborate Grand Complication and Il Destriero Scafusia models. IWC then produced rattrapantes and also just “regular” chronographs. As the mechanical watch industry was reborn in the 1980s and early1990s, IWC was there as a leader, and especially with chronographs.
