Gentlemen,
Thank You for your kind words - no Siderale for me that's for sure. Its a wondrous piece, and to me I am as yet horological-ly unworthy to posses such an incredible piece, not to mention that my everyday activity leading to financial income procurement must drastically change for the better to put me in the pocket for the Siderale, LOL.
For me a big part of the reward last Friday was meeting Mr Pantli again - and hearing him not only introduce the Siderale, but also to talk a bit about the Portuguese line, especially about the attempts to introduce a large watch that is the Portugieser into the market (42mm was considered exorbitantly huge back then), which finally succeeded with the Jubilee in 1993. Despite knowing the history, it was an altogether different experience hearing Mr Pantli speak about it in person.
So I (and many others too - I think you will agree with me), are deeply indebted to IWC, Mr Hannes Pantli and Mr Gunter Blumlien for the Portugieser line and collection. While I recognize that as consumers we "get what we pay for", I am at heart a romantic - and the Portugieser line and tradition based on the Portuguese watches that have evolved over the years connects very emotively to me - far more in importance than the value we get in return for a monetary sum.
For newcomers who wish to know more about Mr Hannes Pantli and Mr Gunter Blumlien, you only need to google their names. Here is an interview Michael did with Mr Pantli some time ago: www.timezone.com/library/tzints/tzints0021
and ... here is my Jubilee Portugeiser, which I am wearing today. for me it is classicism at its best:


