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Yet another one: Portuguese Automatic vs GO Panoreserve

10K views 82 replies 50 participants last post by  bas9 
#1 ·
So I think the Panoreserve is now the top of my GO list and perhaps all the lists. Another watch I've always wanted that is pretty similar in price is the IWC Portuguese Automatic.

Portuguese Automatic



Pros: Amazing power reserve. Unique automatic winding system. Free sprung balance, Breguet overcoil, blued everything, very versatile, movement fills up the case better than any watch I've ever seen.
Cons: Less than stellar accuracy reputation. Slightly large for me. Date transition is slow. Beautiful and even borderline Germanic, but not quite as eccentric as I like. Low frequency movement (shouldn't be too distracting since it's a seconds subdial).

Glashutte Original Panoreserve



Pros: Extremely unique and attractive eccentric dial layout. The best date complication in the business. The best looking balance bridge in the business. Hand wound. 28k frequency for smooth seconds.
Cons: For all its beauty, the movement is fairly pedestrian, with an ordinary power reserve and flat regulated hairspring (although the performance seems to be better than the IWC, probably due to the power delivery). Date rings don't match the color of the dial (in real life, not in the photo). Slightly cheaper.
 
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#2 ·
Love the Panoreserve in photos - in person the cream dial just leaves me flat and the white date rings just amplify the color of the dial. The portugese is one of the all time great lookers and who can resist that PR? The reported accuracy used to bother me - b ut as I get older I realize I don't need COSC type accuracy, or even close.

For me - IWC.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Need I say more?

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OK, I'll say two more things. Living with the GO dial exhibits different colors from pure white, to silver to cream. It's hard to appreciate if you look at it in a showroom, you need to live with it. It's just drop dead beautiful. The IWC is beautiful, however, it's not different enough from so many others to turn my head at this price point.
 
#33 ·
Need I say more?

View attachment 1646731

OK, I'll say two more things. Living with the GO dial exhibits different colors from pure white, to silver to cream. It's hard to appreciate if you look at it in a showroom, you need to live with it. It's just drop dead beautiful. The IWC is beautiful, however, it's not different enough from so many others to turn my head at this price point.
Brother, you didn't have to say anything at all. That watch speaks all for itself. Gorgeous, just drop-dead gorgeous.
 
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#13 ·
The Portuguese is a mighy fine looking watch. I love the marine chronometer aesthetics. But ...
Free sprung balance and Breguet overcoil are vaste of effort and resources if the accuracy is no better than standard ETA.
Long power reserve is also meaningless for me (if the watch is more expensive because of that) - if I want a watch to be always ready, I put it on a winder.
And finally, aesthetics. There are a lot of similar looking and much cheaper watches, and I mean not only Parnis. So why spend all that $$$$ for an IWC?

On the other hand, the Panoreserve is unique. The alternatives, as far as looks are concerned, are much more expensive (ALS). It's also much prettier from the backside. I just love all those gold chatons. I also love the big date.

So, for me there is no contest at all.
 
#17 ·
And there you have it, as expected, different opinions. I hate to say it as it's said a lot around these parts, but that's because it's true. You're going to have to choose based on your own likes and dislikes.

For me, getting the GO was easy as I'd wanted it for a very, very long time. When I first saw it at an AD many years ago, I knew I'd eventually have one.

Which one really speaks to you?
 
#18 ·
And there you have it, as expected, different opinions. I hate to say it as it's said a lot around these parts, but that's because it's true. You're going to have to choose based on your own likes and dislikes.

For me, getting the GO was easy as I'd wanted it for a very, very long time. When I first saw it at an AD many years ago, I knew I'd eventually have one.

Which one really speaks to you?
I don't know...the Portuguese Auto has definitely been on my radar longer...for many years. I've really only known about GO for 4 or 5 years now and wasn't that into them until a couple years ago. But I will see the avant garde nature of that dial definitely hooks me. Like my Ananta Double Retrograde or Zenith Chronomaster or many amazing Breguets....I love a dial layout that is easy to read, but unconventional.

But it's hard to deny the similarly austere beauty of the Portuguese. It's classic to a T, but not boring or plain. Those bright blue applied Arabics look awesome. No cut off numerals, sub seconds and PR in balance, that terrific white/silver dial. And believe it or not, I actually think I like how the movement looks more too. It's more interesting--it's far more skeletonized than the German style 3/4 plate. It isn't as well decorated, sure, but there's just a lot more to see.

Of course, the Portuguese is also a little more expensive, but I think if I'm in it for the GO, might as well be in it for the Portuguese.

I do value long PRs a lot, and I always try to get something new in terms of movements. I've never had an ultra-long PR, Breguet overcoil or pellaton winding system before. On the GO, I've never had a big date, or an instant change over date (both of which I love), or double swan neck adjustment, although both of those are more for form than function.
 
#26 ·
I have the IWC but I think if I was re-spending the money I think the GO would win by a hair. Grande dates have really caught my fancy and while I love the IWC the GO is "mo different".
 
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#27 ·
I wanted the Portuguese auto for a while but was a little disappointed with it in person. A little bland and the thickness was a turn off. I actually purchased a portofino 8 days which I thought was far more interesting for about the same price. I would go GO. Real classy, slim, and a very unique dial.
 
#32 ·
The IWC is nice, and the long PR is a cool but ultimately fairly useless complication.

The GO is in a whole different league in terms of design. That's one of the most beautiful sub-$10k watches out there. The dial is sufficiently busy to not be boring, and yet it's not cluttered in the least. It's a very well-thought out layout.

Again, the IWC is nice, but I simply don't see it as being substantially different in terms of its look than a lot of other watches out there. The same is not true of the GO at all. That's a special watch.
 
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#34 ·
The IWC is nice, and the long PR is a cool but ultimately fairly useless complication.

The GO is in a whole different league in terms of design. That's one of the most beautiful sub-$10k watches out there. The dial is sufficiently busy to not be boring, and yet it's not cluttered in the least. It's a very well-thought out layout.

Again, the IWC is nice, but I simply don't see it as being substantially different in terms of its look than a lot of other watches out there. The same is not true of the GO at all. That's a special watch.
I wish it was sub 10k! If it was I'd get it in a heart beat lol. Unfortunately it's 11.3...the Portuguese Auto is 12.4, so enough more to make a difference. On the other hand it's pretty easy to get a Portuguese used.

It's interesting that there are a lot of people who pretty even, a lot of people who like the Portuguese but also like the GO, but it seems like the guys that really prefer the GO really don't like the Portuguese lol. For such a legendary watch it's kind of surprising to still be so polarizing.
 
#35 ·
You are in the same position as I was about a year ago. As you know, I ended up with the JLC MUT Moon (a choice which I do not regret!).

Between the GO and the IWC.... That's tough. Movement, finishing, coolness, rarity - all these are in favour of the GO; Dial and case design go to IWC, imo.
The GO is simply better value for money, but I know that IWC is a beauty. Hard to pick for sure, but I think you could do with a manual wind piece ;)
 
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#36 ·
The GO is simply better value for money, but I know that IWC is a beauty. Hard to pick for sure, but I think you could do with a manual wind piece ;)
Yeah… but beauty and design should never be relegated to outside the 'value for money' proposition. Indeed, I think it's just as important as movement design and complications offered. In the case of the IWC - when you get beauty that reaches that sort of level, you have something special, and it's worth paying for.
 
#38 ·
There is an element of wanting to have a German watch in my collection...I feel I've got some excellent representatives of Japan and Switzerland already and I'm a big fan of German watches (probably my second favorite style after Japanese) but have no German representative. Some days I'm fairly shocked I haven't bought a Nomos yet actually. I guess I can always buy one so-called "high end" watch and throw a Nomos in there later this year. They're such a terrific value.
 
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