I am lucky enough to live in Geneva, and walked down to the IWC Boutique on Rue du Rhone last week. I could not leave the store without my lusted-after Portuguese Automatic. S/S with rose gold Arabic numerals and hands. I am thrilled with it, and it complements my collection nicely.
One question - is the Milanese mesh bracelet (made for the Portofino) available for the Portuguese, or would it just fit?
Any help would be appreciated!
Congratulations on your choice of an iconic IWC, and welcome to the Forum James. A brown leather Santoni strap is a favourite on this Forum for the 5001.
Thanks David. Appreciate your comments. Doesn't really answer my question though...
Regards
James
I have never seen a 5001 Portuguese on a metal bracelet. If the lug widths are the same, there is no reason why you cannot put a Milan mesh bracelet on a 5001. My personal view is the 5001 is too big and too high for the combination to work. It would work better with the thinner hand wound Portuguese. You could go back to the boutique and ask them to test it on your new watch. Incidentally, congratulations on the 5001. It is an iconic watch and looks as good today as it did when launched almost 10 years ago.
The Portofino 8 day hound wound comes as standard with the very desirable Santoni strap of 22mm/18mm width available for deployant or pin buckle and each have three sizes XS S XL. The alternative for this watch is the Portofino Milanese bracelet of 22mm again in XS S XL (not the same lug size for the automatic or chrono). So in answer to your question yes the Portuguese automatic can be fitted with a Milanese IWC bracelet but sit down before asking the price.
By the way I have the identical watch and it looks so damn good with a Santoni light brown strap on it that the bracelet would never convey as then you would then have a shiny bracelet trying to compete with the beauty of the watch rather than compliment the watch. That's not only my opinion but also others who have gone down this route with Portuguese 7 day auto and perpetuals both steel and the various golds but not necessarily yours.
How about...stick with the 5001 on leather strap (original or Santoni), and also buy a Portofino with Milanese bracelet! Thus keeping the strap and bracelet within their respective Families.
Thank you all for your help. Thne watch came with a black leather IWC strap with a deployment in s/steel. Is this the Santoni strap that was referenced several times?
Greetings James,
I'll throw in my opinion. First, the black Chroc strap that came OEM is not part of the Santoni strap family. The Santoni is a uniquely shaded strap and due to the finishing process, no two are perfectly alike. They are offered in a light or dark brown, both depending on preference, really enhance the beauty of the 5001. Once you pair up the Santoni, you will find it difficult to return to the OEM strap. BTW, a light-black Santoni is available. It also has the Santoni shading with a hint of blue in the grain, quite beautiful but IMO it would work better on another 22mm model. My personal choice would be the dark brown Santoni with your RG markers variation.
Using the search option ( magnifying glass in upper right hand corner of black bar ) you will find a number of wristshots with the Santoni's. Try key words such as "Santoni Strap".
Worth a trip to the Boutique/AD to appreciate the quality and beauty of these special straps. Let us know what you think once you have a chance to check them out. My guess is we will soon be seeing some wristshots of your upgraded 5001 and maybe the big smile on your face admiring it.
Regards,
Andy
This forum is incredible, and the passion of the users evident! I walked down to IWC boutique, and changed out the black leather deployment for the DARK BROWN SANTONI!
Thank you all for your help and advice, and good taste! It looks like a different watch, and the leather is gorgeous!
I will post some pics soon.
regards
James
Sorry I'm too late to help, but for others who may be wondering, here is my 5001 on the original black strap and then on the light brown Santoni. I'll look forward to seeing yours on the dark brown.
The Black:
and the Brown:
James, you have made two great choices, the Portuguese Automatic, and then adding the Santoni strap! Give yourself a pat on the back after a clip around the ear for even thinking a Milanese bracelet is preferable to a Santoni! Next watch Red Gold Portuguese Perpetual fitted with another Santoni. And no, there is no gold Milanese option! LOL!
James, you already acquired a fantastic timepiece. Adding that Santoni strap to it, has taken it up 2 levels!
Wear it in good health, and welcome to this forum.
All that is left for me is to add the warning to your address, that you should be aware that you are now, whether you like it or not, infected with the infamous Übervirus.
To understand more about this infliction - please visit here often and feel free to use the search (that little magnifying glass at the top right of your screen) to search for it.
Welcome to the best IWC forum in the world and congratulations on your Portuguese Automatic! Enjoy and wear it in good health.
Kind regards,
Clemens
Hi James, big congrats on the 5001 & Santoni addition!!!
All that's left is to see photos of this amazing watch/strap combination so feel free to post as many as you like.
It's not the first time I say this but the 5001 is almost the perfect watch!!!!!!
I am often in Geneva or connecting through Geneva, so maybe we can meet up at the Boutique during one of my visits. Maybe David can come down and meet us too.
Will keep you posted.
Bit late for my comment, but I would have hazzarded that the metallic may have just about worked with the black faced Auto, but notmthe white. However, your pics have made me think about changing the black to brown on my Auto. I'd have to get a brown belt!
James - great choice of watch and the perfect strap to complement it. The forum has a growing number of 5001/Santoni pairings, including my black dial with dark brown strap.
Always happy to get together. Keep me posted.
And once again this forum and the great people here enabled the right choice;-)
James, big congrats! 5001 with Santoni is simply unbeatable! But now please, don't keep us waiting and post some pics of your beauty. People infected with that virus - as all of us clearly are - need those pics like air for breathing.
The question about the Milanese bracelet made me remember an experiment I did a long time ago. Here is the Portuguese Automatic with white dial an blue hands on a Breitling Navitimer bracelet. I just had it on long enough to take a few pictures, the end pieces didn't fit to the case properly even though it doesn't look too bad in the picture:
Sorry if I shocked anybody, that wasn't my intent. I have never worn the watch on a steel bracelet and the Croco fits the watch perfectly!
Kind regards,
Clemens
interesting to see. thanks for sharing.
Your watch and strap are the perfect combination, congratulations! I guess that the Milanese mesh bracelet would have looked great too. It is rather thick, so it would not look too frail, in my opinion. It is rather refined too, so I guess it would improve on the experiment of Clemens, great experiment, it looks quite nice already. When living in hot, humid conditions, and summer in Geneva can be quite hot, this is a good way to wear a Portuguese Automatic without exposing the strap too much. I really would like to see a picture of that combination.
Kind regards,
Paul