IWC, Doppelchronograph, Split, Ref. 3713.

A fine and rare, self-winding, stainless steel wristwatch with round button, split-seconds chronograph, three registers and day and date, circa 1997.

Case: Two-body, polished and brushed, concave lugs, stepped bezel, screwed-down case back and crown, push-button at 10 is for the split-seconds chronograph function, sapphire crystal. Signed IWC buckle.

Dial: Matte black with white Arabic numerals and luminous indexes, outer 1/5th seconds track with 5-minute/seconds Arabic markers, apertures for the date and the day, subsidiary dials for the seconds, 12-hour, and 30-minute registers. Luminous steel baton hands. Signed IWC.

Movement: Caliber 79230, rhodium-plated, 29 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, monometallic balance, self-compensating fl at balance spring, shock absorber, index regulator, hack mechanism. Signed IWC.

Condition: Dial is mint with no blemishes. The tritium markers and hands have aged to an ivory white which contrast with the Arabic numerals and chronograph hands. Case is unpolished with light markings. Back shows some light markings. Serial numbers and signature are crisp. Time keeping with COSC, /- ten seconds per day.

Ref.: 3713.

Serial: 2875XXX

Diameter 42mm, thickness 16mm.

Not accompanied by original box or papers.

More about IWC:

The Doppelchronograph's split-seconds complication was implemented in the early 1990s.  This technically challenging complication, which had been unseen for decades, was recreated by Austrian watchmaker, Richard Habring, who was in house at IWC at the time. 

This ingenious design showed that the rebirth of watchmaking was happening not only in the upper-echelon of watch manufactures, but also in smaller watchmaking companies throughout Switzerland.  It also came at an important time for IWC, when it was splitting from Porsche and was eager to introduce the pilot collection alongside the Portofino and Da Vinci collections.