Chrono Logic

Throughout its history and across myriad collections, IWC Schaffhausen's chronographs epitomise the consummation of form and function.

- Charmian Leong

ACCORDING TO HOROLOGICAL standards, IWC Schaffhausen has been making chronographs for a relatively short amount of time. The earliest examples of chronographs were created in the 1800s, and wrist-worn versions followed in the early 1900s. IWC, on the other hand, rolled out its first chronographs only in 1980. But age, as they say, is just a number. The Swiss brand’s chronograph debut hit the ground running and IWC instantly demonstrated its virtuosity and progressive thinking with this popular complication.

The chronograph in question was the Reference 3700, a hardy and high-performance watch made in partnership with Porsche Design. Right away, it disrupted an industry norm dominated by steel chronographs. Reference 3700 was clad instead in lightweight and robust titanium—the world’s first chronograph to be so.

Appreciating IWC’s chronographs requires an understanding of why mechanical chronographs are sought-after by collectors in the first place. The most obvious reason is their practicality. Besides telling the time, chronographs function as a stopwatch of sorts to help measure elapsed interval timings.

And there is a tactile, old-school allure to using these watches, too. To activate a chronograph, the user presses buttons on the side of the watch, which sets off the timing function. The information is displayed on extra subdials, hands and scales, which add sportive dynamism to the watch’s design.