A few weeks back, I was walking down Sixth Avenue here in NYC, and passed by Bucherer “3 Bryant Park.” Taking a quick glance, a large, and I mean large, brand display from perfect fake IWC caught my eye. It read, in super-sized, like-over two-feet-tall font, “The Big Pilot’s Watch.” Being the well-informed Hodinkee employee I am, I know what this means. But for a moment, I wondered what a layperson, who knows nothing about high end copy watches, would think when presented with this giant text. I landed on something like, “Oh, okay, nice. Big, for Pilot’s, got it.”
Since I’ve been interested in watches, that has been mostly my response to the best 1:1 replica IWC Big Pilot’s Watch (emphasis on the ‘s). I get it, the historical reference used by pilots; it’s big for a reason, but really, the case is far too big for my taste. Even John Mayer’s endorsement on Talking Watches of the ref. 5004 as the perfect travel copy watch did not sway my Hodinkee-crazed young watch enthusiast brain.
With the prototypical pilot watch clearly not for me, it’s about time I get to my actual pick. This is the aaa quality replica IWC ref. 3741 Fliegerchronograph from the same brand, IWC replica for sale. No, it’s not the legendary ref. 3705, but rather, this one is quartz and solid 18k yellow gold – yep. Snub your nose at quartz all you want, I’ll take my quirky “why did they make this” pilot chronograph and run. Production on these started in the 1990s, so I can find one with tritium lume that tends to age creamy and play off of the case tone. There’s something about this watch. Every time I see one, I chuckle and imagine owning it. Someday I probably will, they trade under $5,000. At that price point, I can’t see having more fun than the Swiss movement replica IWC 3741 in gold.