Pilot's Watch Double Chronograph Top Gun

In Context

At 46 mm it is a large watch — well above this catalogue’s 40 mm median, and enough to dominate a narrow wrist. At 17.8 mm it is very tall, and sits high off the wrist. The case back is closed, so the movement stays out of sight, and the sapphire crystal will resist everything short of deliberate abuse. 60 m covers rain and hand-washing comfortably; it is not a watch to swim in.

The movement winds itself from the motion of your wrist. 44 hours of reserve carries it overnight, but not through a weekend in a drawer. At 21,600 vph the seconds hand advances 6 times a second, the slower and more audible rate of an older design.

3799 stands on its own in this catalogue — no other reference here shares its base number. It pairs a black dial with a ceramic case. Beyond the time it carries a chronograph.

The 79230 is IWC's split-seconds chronograph on a Valjoux 7750 base, the movement of the Doppelchronograph since 1992. It powers 94 watches in this library, 88 of them Pilot's Watches. Richard Habring designed the rattrapante mechanism in 1991 as a simple, robust addition to the 7750 rather than the delicate traditional construction, using a lever-and-cam arrangement that could be built and serviced at a fraction of the cost. The result was the first split-seconds chronograph at a production price. A second chronograph seconds hand runs beneath the first; a pusher at 10 o'clock stops it to read an intermediate time and releases it to catch up. The movement has 29 jewels, a 44-hour reserve and a 30 mm diameter, and the [7750 piece](/blog/the-valjoux-7750-family) explains its base. IWC later replaced it with the 79420. In the library it sits under 88 [Pilot's Watch](/brands/iwc/pilot) references, the Doppelchronograph refs 3711 and 3713 in a 42 mm case, plus 5 [Portofinos](/brands/iwc/portofino) and one [Ingenieur](/brands/iwc/ingenieur). The 42 mm case accounts for 83 references, and 15 are limited editions. The [79320](/calibers/iwc-79320) is the plain 7750 chronograph in the same Pilot's line, and the [89361](/calibers/iwc-89361) the in-house flyback that succeeded it at the top of the range.

93 other watches in the library run the IWC 79230.

IWC

Pilot's Watch Doppelchronograph Yellow Gold / White / French / Strap

IW3711-12 · 42 mm

IWC

Pilot's Watch Doppelchronograph Stainless Steel / Black / English / Strap

IW3711-07 · 42 mm

IWC

Pilot's Watch Doppelchronograph Yellow Gold / Black / English

IW3713-15 · 42 mm

IWC

Pilot's Watch Doppelchronograph Yellow Gold / White / German

IW3713-09 · 42 mm