What a fake IW371620 actually is
A fake IW371620 is a counterfeit of the IWC Portugieser Chronograph, reference IW371620. The name is not exotic. IW371620 is IWC's reference number for one specific version of that chronograph, and "fake" means someone built a watch that copies the look without coming out of Schaffhausen. Sellers label them "IW371620 replica," "super clone," or "1:1 Portugieser." The string "fake" in a listing is the honest part of the listing.
The genuine watch, briefly
The Portugieser Chronograph is a 41mm steel watch with two subdials, one at 12 for elapsed chronograph minutes and one at 6 for running seconds. Inside sits the in-house calibre 69355, a column-wheel chronograph with roughly 46 hours of power reserve. Water resistance is a modest 3 bar, so treat it as a dressy chrono, not a sports watch you swim in. Retail runs somewhere around $8,000 to $9,000 depending on strap and market. The reference suffix changes dial, hands, and strap, so IW371620 is one flavor of the line, not the whole line. Check the exact suffix against IWC's catalog before you trust any spec sheet a seller sends you.
Why this reference gets copied so heavily
It looks simple. No tourbillon, no openworked dial, no strange case shape. That makes life easy for a counterfeiter, because a clean chronograph layout with applied numerals and a printed minute track photographs convincingly. Demand is high too. The design reads as a first serious watch to a lot of buyers, and the real thing costs real money in every market. Replica supply follows demand, always.
Best Guide to Buying Fake IW371620 Price
The tells I check first
- Subdial behavior. A genuine 69355 drives both subdials from a proper chronograph movement. Fakes often run a cheap modular unit, so one subdial turns out to be a 24-hour indicator instead of elapsed minutes.
- Pusher feel. Real chrono pushers have short, crisp travel with a clear start, stop, reset sequence. Replicas feel spongy and sometimes need a hard shove.
- Dial printing. Look at the "IWC" and "International Watch Co." text up top. Fakes show thicker strokes, uneven spacing, or ink sitting on the lacquer instead of in it.
- Caseback engraving. Depth and crispness matter. A shallow gray laser etch on the reference stamp is a bad sign.
- Polished flanks. Genuine IWC finishing stays flat and mirror-clean. Fakes go wavy under raking light.
Price math that kills most deals
Replicas of this watch sell for a few hundred dollars, more for the better-made ones. If a steel Portugieser Chronograph with box and papers is offered anywhere near $1,500, something is off, because nobody dumps an $8,000 watch at that number for fun. The reverse holds too. A $400 asking price is not a bargain, it is the confession. I treat any gap over 50 percent from market as a statement about authenticity rather than an opportunity.
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Questions worth asking before money moves
- What is the full reference, suffix included, and can you photograph the caseback stamp?
- Is there service history, and which watchmaker did the work?
- Can you put it on a timing machine and show rate and amplitude?
- Do you allow a return window long enough for an independent inspection?
A real seller answers all four without heat. Someone moving replicas stalls, sends stock photos, or pivots to "same factory as IWC."
Bottom line
If a listing says fake IW371620, believe it. The watch is a counterfeit of a well-known IWC chronograph, built to look right in photos and rarely built to run right for years. Buy the real one used from a seller with paperwork, or buy a different watch you can afford new. There is no middle path where a $500 Portugieser turns out to be genuine.