The IW371424 sits in the Portugieser Chronograph 3714 family, and fakes of it are common enough that you should assume any bargain listing is one until proven otherwise. The short version: a decent replica gets the case profile and the bicompax dial right at arm's length. What exposes it is the movement, the depth of the caseback engraving, and small dial details like the date font and the shape of the leaf hands. If you are shopping for a replica, grade it on those three things. If you are shopping for a genuine one, grade the seller harder than the watch.
What the reference actually is
The 3714 family is IWC's Portugieser chronograph: roughly 40.9mm across, about 12.3mm thick, sapphire on both sides, and water resistant to 30m. Inside is Calibre 79350, which is a reworked Valjoux 7750 with the running seconds moved to 6 o'clock and the chronograph minutes at 12. Case metal and dial colour change across the variants within the family, the architecture does not. That matters because replica makers often mix parts from two different variants and end up with a watch that never existed. Check the exact reference against IWC's own record before anything else.
Dial tells that survive a bad photo
- Subdial spacing. Because IWC reworked the 7750 layout, the two subdials sit close to the centre line. Replicas built on a stock 7750 with a transfer gear often push them apart, and the gap reads wrong from a metre away.
- Numerals. Applied, with crisp edges and a slight facet. Cheap fakes print them, or apply them with soft edges and glue visible at the base.
- Hands. Feuille shape, tapering to a fine point. Replicas tend to be blunter and slightly thicker, and the polish is flat rather than mirror.
- Date window. Framing, aperture size, and the font of the numerals. Replica date wheels are the single most common giveaway in photos.
- Print. The minute track should be sharp under a loupe. Fuzzy or thickened printing means a cheap dial.
Case, lugs and finish
Look at the transition between the brushed caseband and the polished lugs. On a genuine piece the line is clean and consistent on both sides. On replicas it wanders, or the polishing is over-buffed and softens the lug tips. The crown and pushers should feel firm, with a defined click on the chrono start and stop. Mushy pushers are a movement problem, not a cosmetic one.
Weight is a rough but useful signal. A steel 3714 on a bracelet feels substantial. Replicas are often lighter, though good ones are close enough that you should not rely on it alone.
Caseback and engraving
The display back is where replica factories cut corners. Genuine engraving is deep and legible under raking light, with reference and serial numbers in the correct fonts. Fake engraving is usually laser-etched, shallow, and slightly grey. The sapphire itself should sit flush, with even cement and no glue haze around the edge.
Movement: the part you cannot fake cheaply
A stock Asian 7750 with a seconds-at-6 transfer gear is what most mid-tier fakes run, and the transfer gear adds drag that shows up as a stuttering seconds hand and early wear. Better replicas use a modified movement with cleaner finishing, engraved rotor text and perlage on the bridges. But the tell is behaviour, not decoration: set the chrono, watch the sweep, listen to the rotor. A noisy, rattling rotor on a watch claiming to be a Portugieser is a red flag.
The three tiers you will meet
- Budget: quartz or basic 7750, printed dial furniture, wrong subdial spacing, shallow engraving. Fine as a costume, not as a watch.
- Mid: A7750 with the correct layout, applied numerals, decent AR coating. The flaws live in the date font and the caseback.
- Top: modified movement, correct hand shape and thickness, deep engraving, good bracelet end links. This is where the money goes, and where a competent watchmaker can actually service it.
Before you pay
- Ask for a close-up of the date window and the caseback engraving. Both are hard to fake in a photo.
- Ask for a video with the chronograph running and the rotor audible.
- Confirm the exact reference variant so you are not comparing against the wrong dial.
- Assume 30m water resistance means splash only, on genuine and replica alike. Do not swim with either.
- Budget for a service if you intend to wear it daily. A cheap 7750 will need one sooner than you think.
On the "is it genuine" question
If a steel Portugieser chronograph is offered at a third of market price with a story attached, the story is the product. Genuine examples come with paperwork and a service history you can verify. Replicas do not, and no amount of good dial work changes that. Know which of the two you are buying before money changes hands.