Pilot's Watch Chronograph Mechaquartz

In Context

At 36 mm it is classically proportioned: the size a dress watch was understood to be for most of the twentieth century, and small enough to sit under a cuff. At 10.2 mm thick it is about average for a modern wristwatch. The case back is closed, so the movement stays out of sight, and the plexiglass crystal scratches easily but polishes back out at home, which sapphire does not. 60 m covers rain and hand-washing comfortably; it is not a watch to swim in.

It is quartz, so it will hold time far more closely than any mechanical watch here, and asks for a battery every few years rather than a service.

IW3740-01 stands on its own in this catalogue — no other reference here shares its base number. It pairs a black dial with a stainless steel case. Introduced in 1988. Beyond the time it carries a chronograph.

Not a mechanical movement, despite the chronograph. The 631 belongs to the Jaeger-LeCoultre 630 family of mechaquartz calibres built for IWC, in which quartz regulates the rate while a conventional mechanical module drives the chronograph, so the counters snap back on reset as a mechanical chronograph does. The 631 adds a moon phase over the base 630. IWC fitted it through the late 1980s and early 1990s to Portofino, Da Vinci and Pilot's chronographs.

50 other watches in the library run the IWC 631.

IWC

Portofino Lady Chronograph MecaQuartz Stainless Steel / Yellow Gold / White / Alligator

IW3730-14 · 29 mm

IWC

Portofino Chronograph MecaQuartz Stainless Steel / White / Calf

IW3731-07 · 35 mm

IWC

Portofino Chronograph MecaQuartz Yellow Gold / White / Alligator

IW3731-02 · 35 mm

IWC

Portofino Lady Chronograph MecaQuartz Stainless Steel / Black / Calf

IW3730-05 · 29 mm