IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN / WATCH DESIGN
Portofino 3574.
Classic glamour, caught in the light.
One of my first complete projects after returning to IWC, the brief was clear: create a true “talking piece.”
My answer was not louder, not larger, but luminous. A dial that captures light the way the sea does on a late summer afternoon. Not a diamond’s flash, but a constant, gentle shimmer. The kind you experience when time slows down somewhere between sailboats and horizon lines.
A Talking Piece Without Noise
The Portofino has always been about restrained elegance. The challenge was to create something memorable without betraying that DNA. Instead of adding complications or theatrics, I focused on surface and atmosphere.
The result: a frosted dial designed to catch and return light in motion, subtle, fluid, alive. It shifts constantly, never static, never aggressive. It invites a second look rather than demanding the first.
Designing a Memory
The inspiration was specific and emotional. Late afternoon. End of summer. The sea reflecting the sun in thousands of small, moving fragments. Not brilliance, but shimmer.
Translating that sensation into a dial required careful calibration of texture, grain and reflection. The goal was not sparkle, but vibration. A surface that feels like it is breathing with the light.
Classic, but Not Quiet
Within the 2019 campaign mood, this piece became exactly what the brief demanded: a conversation starter.
Not because it was loud, but because it felt different. It carried a memory inside it. And that, in a collection defined by classic glamour, was the boldest move possible.
A PERSONAL MILESTONE
One of my first full creative responsibilities at IWC. A study in how texture and reflected light can change a watch’s character while preserving its familiar form.
This project was developed during my tenure as a watch designer at IWC Schaffhausen. All designs, trademarks and intellectual property are the exclusive property of IWC Schaffhausen and the Richemont Group. The material presented here consists only of publicly released products and is shown solely to document my professional contributions.