Hi gang,

I'm not on this subforum very often, but I'm helping my wife's BFF find a watch for her husband for their 15th wedding anniversary. He wants an IWC Pilot Chrono, and when we sat down to look at some pics to help zero in on particular references, he was attracted to the 3713 and 3717. Over the past few months, we've looked at some that came to market, but nothing grabbed him.

Then a 3706 came up - Tritium dial, smaller size at 39mm, very nice. I passed it by him and he liked it.

So now, doing a bit of research, I find myself a little stumped on dials for these 3706's.

It seems there are (at least?) two variations, according to this thread: https://forums.watchuseek.com/f350/could-iwc-3706-all-original-4519835.html (which includes this pic - hope WUS OP and other contributors don't mind!)



This pic shows two variations of the T sw T dial for the 3706 - one with three submarkers around the 5 minute markers and the other with 2 markers plus a lume dot. There are a few other differences with print of words on the dial and all the usual things.

the OP over on the WUS thread posted this pic as well.



which appears to be either a 3rd variation, or some sort of "in between" version, possibly relumed. the OP was able to find other similar examples and while none of them seem to quite match, and there is some skepticism among other WUSsies, there does appear to be a few of these "in between" versions that look somewhat not horrible.

So, question to anyone more familiar than me with these... what is the general rule when considering a 3706 as it pertains to dials? Are there movement/serial number reference guides to approximate date ranges and stuff? Where is the best place to learn more?

any help, opinions, tips or links would be greatly appreciated. I'm hoping this isn't too much of a minefield, given the average price range for these, but there seems to be quite a lot of variation and not a lot of clarity on what's accepted vs what's known fakes / frankens / "anomalies".

thanks!

Edit to add: gratuitous pics of IWC 37xxxxxx are also welcome here. don't be shy!

 

here's an example of a dial on a 3705 that has the lume dots, but also has the 3 sub markers on either side of the 5 minute markers / hour markers.


https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/t...a-look-back-at-a-rare-modern-iwc#&gid=1&pid=7

so I guess i'm wondering... is this a legit dial - lume dots and 3 submarkers? if so, is it specific to a particular reference? 3705?

 

I want to like these IWC’s but I can’t get over what a deal the Sinn 7750’s are vs these.

the 356/358 or 103 with bezel.

 

Yes, but, personal preference aside, which dial variations are legit / ok and which should raise a red flag?

 

Anyone know where I might find some iwc expertise? Seems pretty light out there...

 

My 2 cents

They made these for years if not decades. Some variation is not unexpected. It’s not like it’s a fake, or a fake dial right? I mean they still sell it.

Is the concern a service dial? If no one has done a mfg date to dial variation study will anyone and does it matter?

 

There's a iwc forum right? I used it in the past to get some info about my iwc's

 

https://www.iwc.com/en/forum.html

 

True. I guess I'm trying to get oriented enough on .A brand a line that I'm not familiar with to know if any of this matters. I'd rather err on the side of understanding than to just fall back on "ooh, pretty!"

Sure, lots of variation over the years, but is the 3 sub marker dial for watches from 1994 and the 2 marker one for 2008+? Maybe it doesn't matter a lot today, but maybe it does matter more tomorrow . Everything you said could apply just as well to speedmasters a few years ago.. Now look where we are.

 

I agree it could matter at some point, and I left that open as a question. But as we are talking about T dials wouldn’t you assume pre 1999 production? Additionally any service dial post 1999 would be a luminova? Or am I missing something.

 

That's what I would expect yes. But I know very little about iwc, let alone these specific references, so just asking if there's anyone here that can give me a jump start... or even if there is a reasonably mature body of knowledge anywhere out there at all.

 

I for one think that the IWC is worth the premium over the Sinns, especially if the movement is a priority item in ones purchase but, there is a little bit of a gap under the hood...both 7750s yes, but that's where the comparison ends. It is also my opinion that the overall quality of the IWC is superior. How much this translates into $$$$ is subjective.

 

Very interesting @oddboy ! Although I'm an IWC pilot chrono owner (3713), I've never really studied the full lineage of pilot chronos from IWC. I've always loved their clean, legible dials and these differences make them quite interesting.

I'll have to look into this!

Cheers,

 

Happy to join in @Faz!

 

so, is there a strong conclusion which reference to be preferred or avoided...
i see many 3706s on ebay around 2.6-2.7 USDs and I have started thinking about it... lol