The Portugieser began in the late 1930s, when two Portuguese businessmen asked IWC for a wristwatch with the precision of a marine pocket chronometer. The answer was a watch built around a pocket-watch movement — enormous for its era at roughly 41.5 mm — with a clean dial, slim bezel and railway-track minute ring it still wears today. Nearly ninety years on, it's IWC's flagship, and one of the few dress watches big enough to carry a strap change with confidence.
Here's the good news up front: strap shopping for a Portugieser is easier than for almost any other luxury watch. There's just one trap to avoid, and it's hiding in the model name.
Which Strap Size Fits Your IWC Portugieser?
Most of the range takes 20 mm — the most common strap width in existence, which means Portugieser owners have more choice than almost anyone. The exception is the one to watch:
| Your Portugieser | Lug width |
|---|---|
| Portugieser Chronograph 41 mm (ref. 3714, current 3716 series) | 20 mm |
| Portugieser Automatic 40 | 20 mm |
| Portugieser Automatic 42 | 22 mm |
The trap: "Portugieser Automatic" alone isn't enough information to order from. The Automatic 40 takes 20 mm, but the Automatic 42 — same name, same dial layout — takes 22 mm. Check your case size before you order, and you're done. Our straps for the line are available in both 20 mm and 22 mm, so both watches are covered.
Own a different Portugieser — a Perpetual Calendar, a Yacht Club, or one of the older seven-day automatics? Widths vary across the wider family, so measure the gap between the lugs in millimeters or send us a message with your reference number and we'll confirm the right size.
Rubber or Leather? It's a Genuine Choice
Let's be honest about what a strap does to this watch. On leather, the Portugieser stays what it was born as: a dress watch. On rubber, it becomes a different watch — lighter, water-friendly, ready for summer and travel. Neither is wrong, and you don't have to take our word that rubber belongs here: IWC themselves deliver the current Portugieser Chronograph in a blue rubber configuration straight from the factory. If the manufacturer puts it on rubber, so can you.
The Best Straps for the IWC Portugieser
Every pick below comes from our IWC strap collection and is compatible with your original IWC buckle — so the clasp you already own carries straight over.
1. Blue Rubber – The Portugieser's Own Color
Blue runs through this watch family like a signature — blued hands on the silver dials, and the celebrated blue-dial chronographs. A blue rubber strap for the IWC Portugieser leans into exactly that, echoing the factory's own rubber pairing while adding allergy-free comfort and a lifetime warranty. One of the most popular choices among Portugieser owners, and the place to start.
2. Blue Leather – For Keeping It Formal
If you want the Portugieser to stay firmly in dress-watch territory, a blue leather strap is the refined route — the same signature color, rendered in supple leather with spring bars included. It dresses the watch for the boardroom the way the factory alligator does, at a fraction of the cost of a boutique replacement.
3. Grey Rubber – The Understated One
Most Portugiesers wear silver or white dials, and a grey rubber strap picks up that tone perfectly. It's the quiet, modern option: sporty in material, restrained in color, and at home anywhere the watch goes.
4. White Rubber – The Summer Pick
On a light-dialed Portugieser, a white rubber strap creates one continuous, bright look from dial to wrist — the warm-weather configuration. And because it's rubber, it wipes clean and shrugs off sunscreen and seawater in a way no pale leather ever could.
Prefer something more expressive? Green and red are also available in the collection for owners who want the Portugieser to make a louder statement.
Fit and Details
Our Portugieser rubber straps run 130 mm + 78 mm, comfortably covering the vast majority of wrists, and every strap ships with your chosen buckle. Because the strap is compatible with your original IWC buckle, you can also keep the factory clasp and simply move it across — the most seamless way to make an aftermarket strap look original.
Why Owners Choose Helvetus
Helvetus is one of the leading names in aftermarket straps for luxury watches: model-fitted designs, honest sizing guidance, and straps engineered for the watch they're named after. Every rubber strap carries a lifetime warranty, shipping is free worldwide, and there are no import costs on any order — part of why more than 50,000 customers have trusted us with their watches.
Start with the IWC strap collection — and if there's a Pilot's Watch, Portofino or Aquatimer in your collection too, you'll find those covered there as well.
