2012 IWC Portuguese Chronograph Black IW371447

Here we have a 2012 IWC Portuguese Chronograph Black IW371447 with a 40.5mm stainless steel case, the sides of the case are expertly brushed with a mirror finish to the tops of the lugs, and a lug-to-lug length of 47.5mm and a case thickness of 12mm give the watch an impressive wrist presence. On the right side, we have the polished chronograph pushers and a large signed crown in the centre. A thin, smooth bezel holds a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal AR coated on both sides above a matte black dial. An outer minute chapter ring precisely executed surrounds applied polished Arabic numeral indexes marking the hours, at 12 o'clock a recessed 30-minute register and at 6 o'clock a recessed 60-second register. Elegant polished leaf hands with a fine tapered chronograph hand complete this classic bi-compax. Text “IWC Schaffhausen” is precisely executed at 3 o'clock and “Chronograph Automatic” at 9 o'clock, respectively. On the reverse, a screwed-down case back, inside an automatic IWC Cal. 79350, 31 jewels, 28,800 beats per hour; this movement is based on the Valjoux 7750, assembled, finished, and tested at their IWC factory. The watch comes fitted on a 20mm IWC leather strap with a signed folding clasp; the watch also comes with its original IWC presentation box and original IWC paperwork.

This watch is sold with its original IWC presentation box and original IWC paperwork; the watch is from May 2012 and comes paired with a 20mm IWC leather strap with an IWC-signed folding clasp. The watch is in worn condition but is overall very fair, as you can see in the photos. The watch comes with our 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty.

This IWC Portuguese Chronograph is instantly recognisable amongst us watch nerds and rightfully so as it has proven to be a timeless design. This reference IW371447 is from May 2012 and is therefore powered by the IWC Calibre 79350, essentially a modified Valjoux 7750, which is great when it comes to reliability and serviceability. Often, people strive for in-house, which is fine, but it does often come at an extra cost when servicing and can prove far more difficult to source parts when servicing with a private watchmaker, just something to keep in mind. I would not hesitate to add this iconic chronograph to your collection today, whilst you can!

Reference : IW371447
Movement : Automatic IWC Cal. 79350
Age : May 2012
Year : 2012
Case Size : 40mm
Case Thickness : 12mm
Lug to Lug : 47.5 mm
Lugs : 20mm
Condition : Pre-Owned
Box and Papers : Box and Papers
Case Material : Stainless Steel
Warranty : 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty
The wrist model's wrist size is 7inch

Florentine Aristo Jones founded IWC in 1868. In 1867, he applied for a European passport with the ambition to create watches using the American system of Watchmaking. This system was derived from the Federal Armories at Springfield and Harpers Ferry. Where high-precision interchangeable parts were needed for armaments. This was perfect to use in watchmaking, and Florentine was a pioneer in introducing it to the Swiss. In 1868, Florentine and Charles Kidder ended up in  Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Originally called the company F. A Jones & Co, which was later changed to IWC International Watch Company. Florentine returned to the USA in 1876, where he retired and sadly passed away in 1916. His spirit carries on today in the modern IWC watches. The IWC Portugieser was first introduced way back in 1939 when two businessmen, Rodrigues and Texeira, visited the factory in Schaffhausen. They had an unusual request: they required a marine chronometer in the form of a wristwatch.  IWC got to work and created a 43mm, stainless steel watch with a hand-wound Cal.74 pocket watch movement. This was very large for the time, with 33mm being the norm for a wristwatch. It had Arabic numerals, an almost non-existent bezel, and slim leaf-shaped hands, a second subdial at 6 o’clock. Only 304 pieces were ever created with the Cal.74 movement. Since then, the IWC Portugieser has become one of IWC's most iconic and best-selling.