IWC Schaffhausen IW504601, Operating Instructions Manual

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P O R T U G I E S E R T O U R B I L L O N M Y S T È R E R É T R O G R A D E
T H E T E C H N I C A L R E F I N E M E N T S O F
T H E P O R T U G I E S E R T O U R B I L L O N M Y S T È R E R É T R O G R A D E
Your IWC watch shows you the time in hours and minutes, the retrograde date to­
gether with the power reserve. The mechanical movement with automatic winding has
a power reserve of approximately 7 days (168 hours) when fully wound. Your Portugieser
Tourbillon Mystère Rétrograde is protected by an arched­edge sapphire glass of hard­
ness grade 9 on Mohs’ scale. Your watch is shockproof and water­resistant 3 bar.
The engraved rotor made of 18­carat red gold winds the watch in both directions of
rotation via the Pellaton winding system. Your watch is equipped with a flying minute
tourbillon, a unique micromechanism, which minimizes the effect of gravity on the ac­
curacy. The tourbillon, an invention made in the aftermath of the French Revolution,
has always been regarded as the ultimate challenge in the quest for absolute mech­
anical watchmaking precision. More specifically, the purpose of the mechanism is to
counterbalance the one­sided pull of the earth’s gravity on the balance. This is be­
cause the residual gravitational error of the balance influences the accuracy, depend­
ing on the position of the watch. Fortunately, there is a way to overcome this problem
caused by one of the basic laws of physics: the balance, the pallets and the escape
wheel are mounted in a minute cage that rotates around itself once every minute. In
this way, the effect of the gravitational error is practically eliminated. To ensure that
this extraordinary watch continues to perform faultlessly in the future, it is essential to
observe a few important operating instructions.