For the last few years, customers wishing for a complication-free take on the cheap replica Portugieser only had the Portugieser Automatic 40 range to choose from – but in this era where watch brands are rushing to introduce smaller takes on their popular models (looking at you Blancpain or indeed even perfect fake IWC), the new Portugieser Automatic 42 collection goes bigger: bringing the Portugieser back to its classically big roots, harking back to the cheap replica IWC Portugieser Automatic ref. IW50001 of the 2000s as well as the OG Portugiesers of the 1930s.
I say complication-free – actually, the best 1:1 replica IWC Portugieser Automatic 42 features a date window at 6 o’clock as well as a power reserve indicator at 3 o’clock, with the small seconds shifting to the 9 o’clock position. Savvy readers will notice that this is the same dial layout as many of aaa quality fake IWC’s Big Pilot watches, such as the recently-released Big Pilot’s Watch AMG G 63, and that’s because the new Portugieser Automatic 42 uses the same Calibre 52011 as IWC Big Pilot replica watches online. A 7-day power reserve at this price point (and crucially, at this case diameter – as the Big Pilot models that use this calibre are all significantly larger at 46mm) is an extremely compelling proposition.
The Swiss movement replica IWC Portugieser Automatic 42 collection encompasses three different case materials and five different dial colours across six models, with the steel case/dune dial and red gold/obsidian dial models being my personal favourites. All but the steel case/dark blue dial copy watch online come mounted on alligator straps, with this sole model featuring a stainless steel bracelet.