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Gen VS Rep: IWC Portofino rosegold MKF V5

hadamokel

Active Member
11/12/17
330
225
43
Germany
As there has not been a comparison/review of the MKF IWC Portofino lately, I figured, I should give it a go. I will be comparing my genuine Portofino Automatic (Reference Number IW356504) Rosegold to the current MK Factory “V5” Portofino, with Miyota9015.

As with pretty much all reps on leather strap, the leather strap is not very good. I swapped it to a real lizard strap I had lying around, which coincidentally also fitted the IWC tang buckle. The Gen comes on a real crocodile strap, made by Santoni.
Please bear in mind, throughout my comparison; I will focus only on the obvious differences. There might be some small differences, which I didn’t pick up, because I most likely didn’t even notice them. But please feel free to post them below, if you notice something ;) In the pics, I've labeled the replica with "R" and the Gen with "G". Let’s start with the face of the watch:

The Dial, Hands and Crystal

To my untrained eyes (I’m not very good at nitpicking), the dials are 98% the same. All writing and spacing seems identical, also the applied indices are spot on. The reflection and how they play with the light is identical to gen. However, I noticed 2 minor things. The minute ticks, which are printed on, do appear to be vaguely thinner on the rep. Maybe my eyes are just deceiving me, but after staring at it for a while, you kinda see it.
The second thing, which is only obvious in close up shots (and NOT at wrist distance), is, that the date window on the gen is finished more refined. The “ledge” from the dial to the datewindow is deeper on the rep, which can be rather obvious though.
I give the dial 9 / 10

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The Hands have gotten a lot better. They used to be flat 2D, they mimicked the 3D effect of the gen hands rather well, the reflections of the rep hands are very good and close to gen. However, the shape is ever so slightly off. The tip of both the minute and hour hand on the rep should be thinner!
I give the Hands 8,5 / 10

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The Datewheel is good. First I thought it was too boldly printed, but a member pointed out that there are both thin and fat date fonts on the Gen. in my eyes the biggest tell visually. The size of the printing is good as well. The printing is all very consistent on the rep, everything is centered very well and there aren’t any funky mistakes. There was only one number that was a bit right justed, which isn't bad when all other 30 dates are fine.

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I give the Datewheel 9,5 / 10

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The crystal has some AR coating on it, I’m guessing on both sides. It has a blue hue in it, which is absolutely identical to gen. Gen is no better. Crystal has the same slight dome as the gen. But one can achieve some amazing shots using the blue hue in the AR. ☺
I give the xtal 10 / 10

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Now on the externals

The case is, from what I can see, spot on in terms of shape and size. Now a big HOWEVER:
Even though both watches should be “rosegold”, the rep is a lot more pink-ish than the gen. This is not really noticeable on the wrist and I only noticed it, when both watches lay next to each other. The gen actually appears yellow gold when sitting next to the rep, but that’s only because the rep is more pink-ish. This is very noticeable when comparing it to a genuine example, but not that noticeable on the wrist. Obviously the weight is off, by how much I cannot tell, because I sadly don’t have scales. As this is to be expected with a plated Replica, it would be harsh to deduct too many points for that.
I therefore give the case 7 / 10

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The caseback gets an individual rating, as I consider the beautiful engraving to be the watch’s specialty, or“party trick” if you will. Taking it off and handing it to people to admire the engraving is great to watch every time. The size, spacing and font of the stampings engravings are all correct. However, the depth of the engraving is not correct. Everything (writing, stamping etc.) is a little deeper on the gen. It’s extremely noticeable when you run your finger over it or a lot of light hits it. I’m not gonna deduct points for the difference in colour again, as that was covered with the case.
I give the caseback 8 / 10

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The movement in the gen is called the IWC caliber 35111, it basically is the Sellita SW300-1, which in turn is a direct copy of the ETA2892, offering 42 hours power reserve and 25 jewels. In the MKF we get the Miyota 9015, offering 42 hours power reserve and 24 jewels. I know there are a lot of people who have mixed feelings about the 9015, I am one of them. It’s a rather reliable movement and is easy to repair/swap (a new movement costs only like 70 Euros on ebay) if problems occur, but there is two things I really don’t like about it:
1. The loud rotor, as the movement only winds in one direction and the rotor can spin freely in the other, making it sound like shaking a tin can filled with nails. There’s an easy fix that can get the rotor almost dead silent, which even less talented people like myself can execute: Drop a tiny drop of oil (I used Moebius D5) into the rotor bearing. Be very careful not to put too much in. If you think you have put too much in, you will have done so.
2. The slow date change, which starts at 22:30 (roughly) and goes on till around midnight. It just looks really cheap when you can only see half the date for over an hour. I don’t know if some wheels can be changed to make it flip over at midnight, like the A2824 (which was previously used in the MKF Portofino) did.

I really do not know why they changed from the A2892 to the Miyota 9015. It’s probably to reduce costs. Eliminating the datewheel-flaw would have been extremely easy by just fitting a gen datewheel onto the Asian clone, if it turned out to be a true clone.
The movement gets a 7/10

I didn’t expect the strap to be great and it isn’t. I won’t be too harsh on it therefore. It’s just a typical calfskin leather strap with croc printing on it. Nothing special really. If you know the texture of a gen Santoni strap, you’ll spot the rep instantly. Swap it out to a high-quality leather, maybe even real crocodile or a Santoni, if you want.
The tang buckle is, by me at least, considered part of the strap. The shape is spot on, the engraving on the front is good, and dare I say spot on as well? However, on the inside/back of the buckle, the engraving is totally off. On the gen it is Au750 etc, whereas on the Rep it says inox steel, which is utterly wrong. Only reason how this could have happened is, that they just took the buckle from the stainless steel Portofinos and just plated them. Lazy maker.
Strap and Buckle therefore get a mere 6,5 / 10

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Totting up the scores, all out of 10:
Dial : 9
Hands : 8,5
Datewheel: 9,5
Crystal : 10
Externals : 7
Caseback : 8
Movement: 7
Strap & buckle : 6,5

Total: 64 / 80

Finally, to sum it up, how does it feel on the wrist?
It feels almost identical to gen on the wrist, it’s a little lighter which you can notice if you wear it lose. But it looks identical to gen at wrist distance. Having swapped out the strap to a decent one, it wears very comfortably and slides under the cuff with ease. It’s the perfect dress-watch for someone who wants something you don’t see every day. I have never seen another gen “out in the wild”.
The overall score is 65,5 / 80, which doesn’t sound like a lot. If we were to put the value for money into the equation, we would probably get a much better score. It’s a fantastic watch for the money and you won’t get called out, unless you take it off and hand it to someone who knows what he’s talking about.
 
Last edited:

NewFan0803

Active Member
15/1/16
402
22
18
Fantastic review sir ! Wear yours in good health
i cant agree more on the rarity of this model - i have the blue dial version and it s even rarer (as the gen is ltd to 500 pcs worldwide). It s still a very low key minimalist dress watch tho, and a perfect day to day wear
 

hadamokel

Active Member
11/12/17
330
225
43
Germany
Fantastic review sir ! Wear yours in good health
i cant agree more on the rarity of this model - i have the blue dial version and it s even rarer (as the gen is ltd to 500 pcs worldwide). It s still a very low key minimalist dress watch tho, and a perfect day to day wear

Thank you very much for your feedback.
​​​​​​I absolutely agree, especially with the Portofino, you won't get called out as it's such a rare watch.
Some people on this forum say something like 99% of the people you are gonna meet don't care about what watch you are wearing. Combine the rarity of the watch and the lack of interest and it is almost impossible to ever meet someone who will say it's a rep.

I think the all steel version of the watch, assuming it's identical apart from the colour of metal, is the safest bet.
You won't have any weight issues, caseback engraving drawback or differences in the colour of metal used.
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Jouke

Known Member
11/8/17
104
10
0
Thank you very much! Great read and lovely watches! Both the rep and the gen ;)
 

GregH

Known Member
25/6/18
124
15
0
thanks for the review, if you could choose which model you'd suggest?
i'm having the same difficulties finding the right one... the v4 is impossible to find...
 

hadamokel

Active Member
11/12/17
330
225
43
Germany
thanks for the review, if you could choose which model you'd suggest?
i'm having the same difficulties finding the right one... the v4 is impossible to find...

It all comes down to what you favour the most. If you want to play it safe, go with the stainless steel version as you won't have weight or caseback engravings differences. All steel and black, blue or white dial are the safest bets I believe.

But if you wanna go for the rosegold like me, do so. You won't be sorry.

About the V thing... Puretime lists it as a V5, Ryan has it as the v3. They are all with Miyota movement. I highly doubt that you would get any MKF Portofino with an a2893 anymore (new).

The TWF does use the a2893, but resembles a different version Portofino. I much prefer the MKF variant due to the engraved caseback and the Roman numerals at 6 and 12, which break up the otherwise very minimalistic dial and add a bit of playfulness while still keeping its classic look.
 
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mrjoe

Active Member
22/8/15
366
20
18
Thanks for the review!

As usual with most IWC reps - it is almost always the date wheel with the biggest difference/tell.
 

rypho1

Active Member
8/7/16
477
63
0
fantastic review! cheers :)

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
 

Peter Pan

Active Member
29/1/13
230
59
28
Thank you for the review!

I was considering the MK white dial, gold index Portofino for quite some time and now I am even more into the latest MK Portofinos. Unfortunately my model is not in stock :-(
 

rypho1

Active Member
8/7/16
477
63
0
got something interesting,... was at an IWC AD today and noticed they had 2 models of this watch side by side in display in the window, and guess what..

one bold date font (which is taken as a small tell on rep) and one not with thiner font (considered gen font).... im guessing the bold one was older batch that got phased out for the newer style with thin font by iwc! so looks like the factory did right with the bold font and was probably the font on the gen sample they used.

The gold model in my pic matches the op's with thin font but website must still have old pics of same watch but with the bold font
https://www.iwc.com/us/en/watch-collections/portofino/iw356504-portofino-automatic.html

pleased its not a tell anymore just older batch :)



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hadamokel

Active Member
11/12/17
330
225
43
Germany
got something interesting,... was at an IWC AD today and noticed they had 2 models of this watch side by side in display in the window, and guess what..

one bold date font (which ive alsways taken as a small tell on rep) and one not with thiner font (considered gen font).... im guessing the bold one was older batch that got phased out for the newer style with thin font by iwc! so looks like the factory did right with the bold font and was probably the font on the gen sample they used.

so its closer to gen then widely thought of :)



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Good eye, sir!
You may be correct.
However, my gen is nearly 4 years old, and has a thin date font.
My suggestion is that the steel models have a thick font and the gold models have a thin font.
As with the tang buckle on the rep, I fear the maker was a bit lazy not printing a thin datewheel which would be correct on the rosegold rep :/

I guess if we dug our way through countless Gen pictures of both steel and gold versions, we would know for sure
 

rypho1

Active Member
8/7/16
477
63
0
Good eye, sir!
You may be correct.
However, my gen is nearly 4 years old, and has a thin date font.
My suggestion is that the steel models have a thick font and the gold models have a thin font.
As with the tang buckle on the rep, I fear the maker was a bit lazy not printing a thin datewheel which would be correct on the rosegold rep :/

I guess if we dug our way through countless Gen pictures of both steel and gold versions, we would know for sure

yeah maybe but...i edited my post slightly above as i saw your model on the iwc website also has thick font.... all sorts of batches about :)

https://www.iwc.com/us/en/watch-coll...automatic.html
 

rypho1

Active Member
8/7/16
477
63
0
Haha true. I really doubt they would change the font on purpose.

Maaaybe I should give the date font a better score?

yeah i guess so, its only fair...hahaha thanks for the review though and loving that gen mate!
 

hadamokel

Active Member
11/12/17
330
225
43
Germany
yeah i guess so, its only fair...hahaha thanks for the review though and loving that gen mate!

Done, datewheel is now 9,5 out of 10. The 0,5 I had to deduct because of the skewness to the right of the number 11on my example. If that had been centered, it would have gotten top score.
​​​​​​Thanks again for your eagle eyes dude :)
 

rypho1

Active Member
8/7/16
477
63
0
Done, datewheel is now 9,5 out of 10. The 0,5 I had to deduct because of the skewness to the right of the number 11on my example. If that had been centered, it would have gotten top score.
​​​​​​Thanks again for your eagle eyes dude :)

I agree, its definitely not perfect..a lot of dates are not centered! Great thread though buddy, very informative for people one of my favourite reps alongside the new zf moon phase JLC :)
 
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