Passions Watch Exchange

About This Watch

Pre-owned. Comes with IWC box but no papers.

This is a collector's item and a cult design. The original Titan Chronograph designed by the German firm Porsche Design and made by IWC of Schaffhausen. This was the first titanium chronograph in the world which features an automatic, self-winding movement, chronograph and day+date feature. It is light and very comfortable on the wrist because titanium is one-third the weight of steel. It is non-magnetic and non-corrosive. Titanium was 8 times more expensive than steel and required twice the amount of work. Hence, it was an expensive and difficult watch to produce.

This watch is generally in excellent condition throughout without deep marks nor dents, there is one visible mark on the edge of the back cover due to slippage of tool when opening this watch earlier but otherwise, there's not much to complaint about. The glass is in perfect condition & bezel rim near perfect which often gets dings.

Please have a look at a period advertisement from Ebay and our watch here was retailing for US$4995, $500 more than the Ocean 2000 at that time.

There are 3 references to this model starting with 3700, 3702 and the last 3704 with several dial designs over the decades. Our watch here is the 2nd version 3702 with Porsche Design by IWC and tritium lume signed "T SWISS MADE T" at the bottom of the dial while the buckle is engraved pd. Production of this Titanograph lasted nearly two decades as the IWC & Porsche partnership ran from 1973 to 1995.

"The collaboration between IWC and Porsche Design was significant for reasons beyond the revolutionary watches they developed together. In the late 1970s, IWC was owned by VDO, the German firm that manufactured dials and gauges for many German automobiles, including Porsche. It was partially this synergy between the VDO and Porsche that led to the agreement by which IWC started building watches for Porsche Design.

In 1980 came the world’s first titanium wristwatch. As with the black Chronograph I, it is easy to lose perspective today on how important the Titan chronograph was, since we see numerous titanium watches now. But in the 1970s and ‘80s, titanium was an exotic material, extremely expensive in raw form and exceedingly difficult to work with. Thus its use was limited to the aerospace industry. But IWC innovated new tooling and methods for working titanium to the strict tolerances of a watch case to suit Porsche Design’s minimalist lines and the sleek chronograph with an integrated bracelet and “invisible” pushers was born. It is one of Porsche Design’s most iconic pieces, a milestone in watch building and one that cemented IWC’s place as an expert case builder."

Hodinkee