Steve53 2 Posted October 25, 2019 So I bought this IWC Portuguese Annual Calendar made by ZF. 44mm diameter and 15mm thick. This photo gives a better view of the hands. The hands are the same colour as the hour digits. (Oh yes, my photo skills needs improvement.) The trusted dealer wrote this make/model sometimes has a problem with bad centering of the month/date/day. Looks pretty good to me. Date is maybe a smidgen low. The date wheel starts to move at 10.30 pm and snaps into place two minutes after midnight. Whoever set the hands did a good job. The day falls into place 15 minutes after midnight. The power reserve on this replica is 3 days and 10 hours. Not as good as genuine (which I assume is 7 days?) but impressive nevertheless. Printing looks pretty crisp. Base movement apparently is a A23J and the rotor winds in both directions. 7.5 mm crown feels really good to wind. I like winding watches. Crazy, huh ? Hard to tell in this photo but the sapphire crystal is slightly convex. Occasionally when winding, the rotor will turn. The first watch-smith I contacted said even genuine watches do that. He did not want to touch it. The second watch-smith took the case back off. He could not figure out how to access the reversing wheels. Something about decorative cover plates he did not understand. So I will leave well enough alone and rely om wrist motion. As received the watch had a beat error of 0.3 and ran 10 seconds fast. Pretty good. After regulating it now varies plus/minus 3 seconds, depending on position. Real good. Somewhat unusual is the bent spring bars. The supplied strap (125mm-62mm) is about 5/8" (16mm) too short for my 8" (200mm) wrist. A longer one will be sourced. The strap goes from 22mm at the watch to 18mm at the buckle. Will the rose plating last? Time will tell. For $428 + 30 shipping, overall I am very happy with the watch. -------------- Postscript: Prior to joining this forum, the IWC brand of watches was unknown to me. Then this impressive review was posted by forum member/technical administrator Glaude: Very informative with lots of facts and brand history. However, I was not too keen on the 7750 movement and in no need of a stop watch. So therefor ended up buying this Portuguese annual calendar. Note to self: Stop reading watch reviews. It can be expensive. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fulvio_61 208 Posted October 25, 2019 Great watch and great photos, too! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FoxWilde 155 Posted October 25, 2019 Great review mate. I was always curious about the calendar reps.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Glaude 1,615 Posted October 26, 2019 Nice review and good pictures ! Thanks for taking the time ! I like that they managed to nail the calendar complication on this IWC, wish they could do the same on the Patek Annual calendar and not use a stupid mini cyclop at the center date window ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
