IWC Portugieser Chronograph

A pocket watch for the wrist

The Portugieser name goes back to 1939, when two Portuguese wholesalers, Rodrigues and Teixeira, asked IWC in Schaffhausen for a large wristwatch with the precision of a marine chronometer. IWC's answer, the reference 325, used one of its pocket-watch movements, the 17-ligne caliber 74, in a case far bigger than wristwatches of the day.

It was not a hit. IWC's archives show that just 690 examples of the reference 325 were sold between 1939 and 1981, and only 141 of them reached Portugal. The very first deliveries, in February 1939, went to a wholesaler in Odessa; the first shipment to Portugal followed on February 2, 1942. Over the decades the watch ran on three calibers: the 74, the 98 and, for a 57-piece 'German Edition' at the end, the 982.

The design came back in 1993, when IWC marked its 125th anniversary with the Portugieser Jubilee, reference 5441, in 1,000 steel, 500 rose gold and 250 platinum examples. A minute repeater followed in 1995, and a split-seconds chronograph, the 'Rattrapante' reference 3712, around 1995 and 1996.

The people who rebuilt it

The 1990s Portugieser revival happened under Günter Blümlein, the chief executive who led IWC's return to serious mechanical watchmaking. Two watchmakers shaped the collection's technical character: Kurt Klaus, who developed IWC's perpetual calendar module, and Richard Habring, who engineered the split-seconds mechanism that made the 1995 Rattrapante one of the first mass-produced split-seconds chronographs, built on a Valjoux 7750 base.

The plain chronograph of 1998, reference 3714, was a simplification of that Rattrapante: the same case, the same dial and the same display, without the split-seconds function. It used an automatic movement built on the Valjoux 7750 and heavily modified by IWC, which called it the caliber 79350.

Twenty-two years without a change

The 3714 measured 40.9 mm across and 12.6 mm thick, with 47 mm from lug to lug, and was water-resistant to 30 meters. Its dial put a 30-minute counter at twelve and the small seconds at six, so the two registers sat on a vertical axis, with Arabic numerals. Its movement had 31 jewels and a 44-hour power reserve.

That layout barely changed for two decades. A 2018 review called it the most recognizable and best-selling model in the Portugieser family. By then a steel 3714 listed at $7,300 in the United States, in versions such as the 371446 with blue hands and the 371447 with a black dial. It also found its way onto famous wrists: Keith Richards was photographed wearing one on the cover of Rolling Stone.

In 2018, for IWC's 150th anniversary, the company released a 'Portugieser Chronograph 150 Years' limited to 2,000 pieces and powered by its new in-house caliber 69355, a preview of what was coming.

The 3716 and its in-house movement

In February 2020 IWC replaced the 3714 with the reference 3716, the first standard Portugieser Chronograph with a movement made by IWC itself. The caliber 69355 is an automatic, column-wheel chronograph beating at 28,800 vibrations per hour, with 27 jewels and a 46-hour power reserve. The column wheel gives the pushers a smoother, more even feel than the cam system of the old movement, and a sapphire case back shows the movement for the first time in this model.

Outwardly the change is almost invisible. The case grew by 0.1 mm to 41 mm and about 0.3 mm in height, all of it in the case back, and the IWC Schaffhausen logo on the dial took a more modern, slightly smaller typeface. Steel versions launched in silver, blue and black dials, with two rose-gold models, at EUR 7,850 for steel. In the United States the steel model was priced at $7,950, or $8,900 on the new steel bracelet.

The IW371605 has a silver-plated dial; the IW371606 is the blue-dial steel version. IWC's U.S. site listed the IW371605 at $9,200 in October 2026.

Telling the generations apart

The easiest test is the case back: a 3714 has a solid steel back, while the 3716 has a sapphire window showing the caliber 69355. The 3714's references run in the IW3714 series, such as 371446 and 371447; the current watch's begin IW3716.

On the dial, the newer logo is smaller and set in a more modern font. Both generations share the same basic face, which is the point: IWC has kept the vertically stacked registers and the Arabic numerals essentially unchanged since 1998.

The numbers

Reference

IW371605 (silver dial), IW371606 (blue dial); 3716 series

Caliber

IWC 69355, automatic, column wheel, 27 jewels, 28,800 vph, 46-hour power reserve

Case size

41 mm, about 13 mm thick (13.1 mm in one source)

Case material

Stainless steel; also offered in 18k rose gold

Water resistance

30 meters

Production years

Ref. 3714 1998 to 2020; ref. 3716 2020 to present

Production numbers

Not published by IWC

Timeline

1. 1939

   IWC builds the first Portugieser, ref. 325, for Portuguese wholesalers Rodrigues and Teixeira.

2. Feb 1939

   The first Portugieser deliveries go to a wholesaler in Odessa.

3. Feb 2, 1942

   The first Portugieser shipment reaches Portugal.

4. 1981

   Production of the ref. 325 ends after 690 watches.

5. 1993

   The Portugieser Jubilee, ref. 5441, marks IWC's 125th anniversary in 1,750 pieces.

6. 1995

   IWC adds a Portugieser minute repeater; the Rattrapante ref. 3712 follows around 1995 and 1996.

7. 1998

   The automatic Portugieser Chronograph, ref. 3714, is introduced.

8. 2018

   A 'Portugieser Chronograph 150 Years' edition of 2,000 pieces debuts the caliber 69355; the steel 3714 lists at $7,300 in the U.S.

9. Feb 2020

   The ref. 3716, with in-house caliber 69355 and a sapphire case back, replaces the 3714.

10. Oct 2026

    IWC lists the IW371605 at $9,200 in the United States.

The world in 1998

• Feb 7, 1998

  The Winter Olympics open in Nagano, Japan.

• Apr 10, 1998

  The Good Friday Agreement is signed in Northern Ireland.

• Jul 12, 1998

  France beats Brazil 3-0 in the World Cup final.

• Sep 4, 1998

  Google is founded.

• Nov 20, 1998

  The first module of the International Space Station, Zarya, is launched.

• Dec 19, 1998

  The U.S. House of Representatives impeaches President Bill Clinton.

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, IWC Portugieser Chronograph is number 83 of 100 in the watches entries of the FLOAT 100. 54 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (83 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• IWC sold only 690 of the original 1939 Portugieser over 42 years, and only 141 of them went to Portugal.
• The first Portugieser watches were delivered not to Portugal but to Odessa.
• The 1939 Portugieser was oversized because it used a pocket-watch movement.
• The Portugieser Chronograph began as the simplified version of a split-seconds watch.
• The design ran essentially unchanged from 1998 to 2020.
• Keith Richards wore one on the cover of Rolling Stone.