First watch: is the IWC Portofino a mistake?

It’s a beautiful watch! If it strikes your fancy, buy it! If your asking for opinions on it or other options def say so and everyone here will offer suggestions. However, you must ultimately pick what YOU like. 

Thanks Donster! I 'spose I indirectly am; I do like the style a lot, but given it is a jump for me price-wise, I'm just trying to understand if there are similarly styled watches out there that represent better value? 

That's a gorgeous watch!  I don't feel qualified to offer an opinion on looks, as that's entirely subjective, but I will throw out my views on "in-house" movements.

• I would take an ETA or Sellita or Seiko or Miyota movement over an "in-house" 8 days a week
• "Workhorse movements" have shown their reliability and quality in real-world, empirical, day-to-day use and abuse, for decades on end now
• Parts are plentiful, any competent watch-maker is equipped to work on them, it's all relatively cheap to maintain, etc., etc.
• The only reason that manufacturers are touting "in-house" movements is because the Swatch Group bought up all the movement manufacturers coming out of the quartz crisis, and then wanted to put all their competitors out of business by no longer supplying them with ETA movements, etc.  Unfortunately, the Swiss government stepped in to prevent free commerce.  As a result, all these manufacturers had to move in-house, and their marketing tells you that in-house is better
• But, if in-house is better, why do in-house movements cost so much more?  As a business guy, my hypothesis is this:  "I gotta charge you a ton upfront, to cover all the downstream warranty costs I gotta eat, when the movement fails you!"

The caliber used could certainly impact desirability, but I think that they are less popular than other models from IWC based mostly on the fact that dress watches tend to be in lower demand than sports/tool watches. 

If you are concerned about losing resale value, have you considered finding a gently used pre-owned piece with remaining warranty?  I recently picked up my first IWC, a pre-owned Pilots Watch  Chronograph 41 in perfect condition, with box and papers dated from March of this year, providing me with well over 7 years of remaining warranty coverage. I was able to pick it up for what worked out to a 38% discount from MSRP + taxes.

I don't know your motifs to buy a watch. If you can afford it and its future maintenance and it won't bother you much, if you love it - get it. But go and try before you buy, of course. I guess Portofino is less popular then pilot watches by IWC is because their pilots are iconic, they pretty much dictate how modern pilot watch should look like. Portofino is a great watch and looks fine, but that is a dress watch. When I hear dress watch I think of JLC, Nomos, Cartier, Longines (maybe). With IWC you think Pilot, Portugeser and yeah, they also have Portofino line. It doesn't make them less good. 

As for the value retention - there is a thing about watches that some are more desirable and retain the price better, others are less desirable and lose the price when selling. If you are buying a watch and thinking how to sell it - don't buy that. Ideally that watch should be inherited by your children and if for some reason you have to sell it (emergency, stopped loving that) then you will anyway take a loss. Inhouse movement is great but it is also reflected in the initial price of a watch. 

If you only watch before was DW then I would recommend starting slower, maybe get a great watch under 500 and then look what you are missing in that, what you love or hate about that and then aim higher. But that's just my point of view 

That is a nice IWC! Thankfully, when it comes to classic styling there are a lot of options. I think both Nomos and Frederique Constant offer good value in this segment. If you want a well finished movement behind a display back, Nomos is hard to beat for under 5k. Montblanc has some good looking options as well, and Louis Erard has some beautiful dials in this range! You definitely have no shortage of options 

Anytime! There are a lot of options that meet your dress requirements that are beautiful, well made with good reputation that are significantly less expensive. The Seiko Cocktail is a good example. There is also a max bill Junghans that would fit your bill well too!!

That price tag for a bog-standard SW-300 is - IMO - absolutely obscene. 10/10 times I'd pick a Longines 1832 or Master Collection over the Portofino. Saw a customer's Portofino chrono in the metal next to a Longines Master, back when I worked in watch retail. Was the IWC beautiful? Yes. Was it good enough to justify its price tag? Not even close - in fact, damn far from that.

Finances, like stylistic choices, are highly personal. Furthermore, I don’t have any watches even nearing that price range, so take my opinion with a large grain of salt.

 That said, there’s a lot of nice watches between Daniel Wellington and IWC, do you think it might  be worth exploring  them to figure out  what you like? I’ve had a few lower-tier watches now; each time I buy one, I’m sure I’ll love everything about it, then I realize things I hadn’t thought about— lugs are too long, would prefer with/without date complication,  crown is too small, etc. I don’t know when I’ll ever make a purchase as much as this IWC, but in the meantime, I’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t on my wrist.

 Cheers!

I’m going to second this, but not the Longines part because whilst I like them I also echo the sentiment of earlier comments about starting slow. Look around, try things on, check out as many brands as you can. From a DW you are going studs high into an IWC… you need to really consider what you are doing and what you want. It is a nice watch, but it’s a huge step up, and you may regret the decision if post-honeymoon period you don’t click and it will put you off. I also think you could muster a nice 3-5 watch collection for the price of one IWC. There were a few threads with 3 watch challenges for set budgets, I’d recommend having a gander.

A colleague of mine just inherited a Portofino, seriously, and he hadn’t a clue what it was and bashed it around a bit as a daily beater. The rest of us were livid, a £6k watch (it’s a cracking version) he nearly ruined. He‘s now eyeing one of my 90s quartz Tags as a more respectable beater.

Not his first watch but my father's now only watch.

I'd say they're not very popular because there are more popular dress watches you can get at that price segment.

Is it a mistake? No, if you like it, go for it! At least, my father has not looked back since (he let go of his Rolex DJ and got this instead).

The Portofino is the watch that made me a fan of IWC. I think it‘s perfect for someone like you who wears suits on the daily. 

I'll third this.  Its a big step upwards and given that it's your first post a DW, I'd perhaps play around with a price tier or two down.  Not because you cant afford it but because it's helpful to learn stylistic and size preferences before the luxury purchase.  

The Portofino is a fine watch, perhaps a touch pricier than I'd pay for it but I imagine you can whittle that price down with a good Authorized Dealer or the used market.  

You may find, for example, you dont like automatic watches or that 40mm is too big.  You may find that you hate Roman numerals.  Its just easier to learn all that before you plunge into the luxury segment.

I'm parroting a couple of Crunchers here. That is really coming out strong. Good for you but make sure you researched the heck out of it and if you like it and have the money for it, go get 'em, tiger! 

mate if you love the look and feel of the IWC then buy it and don't look back. Too many of us get clouded judgement when we start nit picking the fine points of the given piece in question. I myself have fallen foul of this. Especially don't concern yourself ifs it's a watch that others love or critic. Other's opinion is nice to have, but it should not make the decision for you

What should matter is that you love the watch 👍

Buy it already! I know I would given a good deal from an AD or pre-owned market. 😉

These posts have been super helpful and given me a lot to consider! Loving this welcoming forum! I'm certainly hearing you and think it's worth trying a few more watches on before pulling the trigger, I'm particularly curious to try on the Longines Elegant Collection and the Frederique Constant CLASSICS HEART BEAT Automatic (or even a FC-330RM6B6), and see how they feel. Then try the IWC on once again, and compare. Mindful this will largely come down to what I "fall" for, so practically trying more on should develop that sense. Thank you all so much and please continue to post any suggestions if they come to mind!

my friend has one and i tried it on. A touch large for a dress watch to me since the dial feels a bit empty. Take a look on watchbuys if you are in usa lot of german watch options and some dornbluth or jaeger might be around the 4k price of this iwc. Though those watches are more special order so its hard to try them in person. I agree that follow what u feel best in person. I used to dismiss dive watches from tudor. But once i tried one in person i cant get them off my mind, so solidly made with just the right amount of bling. I dont care if its a popular choice in the enthusiast crowd but for my own choice its the best one. I jump to tudor from a longines dress watch and i find myself use the tudor much more often due to the solid feel. I dont wear suit and do quiet a lot of outdoor things and the tudor fits my lifestyle. Pick one where you can wear most of the situations and as many days as possible :)

IWC makes great watches. Go for this model if you like it, but a few thoughts for you:

Note that IWC uses an ebauche movement and assembles it in-house. It's not an off the shelf sellita that you would find in amicrobrand.I I have this IWC movement in my Ingenieur and it runs great. 

One other thing to consider is that IWC will likely re-issue the larger Portofino models soon. They just upgraded the women's models earlier and this year. The men's will surely follow. I only expect minor cosmetic changes but IWC will probably up the water resistance and swap out the movement. I'm hoping they will also go down to 39mm but I'm not holding my breath on that one. In any event, when the new models come out,  expect a bigger than normal discount on any existing Portofinos still on the market.