The short answer
An IW371432 replica is a copy of the IWC Portugieser Chronograph in stainless steel with a silver dial. Chinese workshops build them around an Asian 7750-family movement, and prices run from about $120 for something you will spot across a table to roughly $450 for a copy most owners would not question at arm's length. The reference is thin, clean, and mostly dial, which is exactly why it is hard to fake well. There is nowhere for a sloppy case profile or a printed numeral to hide.
IW371432 Fake: How to Tell a Real IWC Portugieser Chronograph From a Copy
What the real watch is
The Portugieser Chronograph is a 40.9mm steel watch, around 12.3mm thick, with a silver-plated dial, applied gold numerals, leaf-shaped hands, a railroad minute ring, and two subdials: elapsed minutes at 12 and running seconds at 6. A date sits at 3 on the versions that carry one. The crystal is box-shaped sapphire with antireflective coating on both faces.
Movements across the reference's life are the IWC-reworked Valjoux 7750 sold as the 79350, and the in-house 69355 on later production. That lineage matters when you shop for a copy. Because the original is a 7750 at heart, a decent replica movement is not a wild approximation. It is the same architecture, finished to a lower standard.
Fake IW371432 for Sale: A Replica IWC Portugieser Buying Guide
Where the tiers split
- Case profile. This is the giveaway. A 7750-based copy almost always runs 1.5mm to 2.5mm thicker than 12.3mm, and the caseband flares where the genuine tapers into the lugs.
- Dial printing. Look at the rail track. On cheap copies the lines are thick, uneven, or crowd the numerals. Subdial rings should be flat and matte, not glossy.
- Hands. Leaf hands need a crisp edge and a warm gold tone. Plated brass reads yellow under warm light.
- Subdial hands. The small seconds at 6 should sweep. If it ticks, you are looking at quartz or a badly geared conversion.
- Crystal. Box sapphire shows a slight dome from the side and minimal glare. Mineral glass picks up scratches within a month.
- Strap and buckle. Real alligator has visible scale structure. Most copies ship embossed calf, and plenty of sellers swap the strap before shipping anyway.
- Caseback. A solid back means engraving depth and font are the whole story. Reference numbers set in the wrong weight stand out.
Movement notes
Most copies use a Chinese 7750 clone with a modified plate so running seconds land at 6 instead of 9. That conversion is where reliability lives or dies. Ask how the chronograph starts. It should engage with a firm push and reset to zero without the minute hand drifting. A soft pusher or a minute counter that stops short of twelve tells you the mechanism is not finished well. Power reserve on a healthy clone runs close to 40 hours, same as the original layout, and service is realistic because any watchmaker who knows a 7750 knows this movement.
Price bands
- $120 to $180: quartz or low-grade automatic, thick case, obvious dial flaws.
- $250 to $320: the sensible middle. Asian 7750, sapphire crystal, decent dial, thickness within a millimeter.
- $400 and up: best dial and case work, sometimes a decorated movement with a rotor engraved in the IWC style.
What you are not buying
No warranty, no service network, and water resistance claims you should not test in a pool. These are unlicensed copies, and importing counterfeit goods into the United States is grounds for seizure by Customs and Border Protection. Reselling one as genuine is fraud, full stop. Buy it as what it is, a novelty with a real movement inside, and the experience is fine.
Bottom line
Judge an IW371432 replica by thickness first, then by the small seconds at 6, then by the dial printing. Get those three right and the rest of the watch tends to hold up. If a seller cannot tell you the case thickness or the movement family, keep looking.