The short answer: a replica IW371473 is judged on three things. Case thickness and lug shape, the layout and printing of the dial, and the movement driving the two registers. Nail those and it reads like a Portugieser Chronograph from across a table. Miss them and no amount of polishing helps. Expect $300 to $600 for a serious automatic build, and treat anything under $200 as a different product category.
What the IW371473 actually is
The reference sits in the Portugieser Chronograph line, the one with the clean dress-watch dial and the two stacked subdials. Family traits matter more than the exact dial colorway: a steel case just under 41 mm, roughly 12 mm thick, feuille hands, applied Arabic numerals, a railway minute track, and sapphire on both sides. The genuine watch runs on the 79350, an IWC-modified Valjoux 7750 with the chronograph minutes at 12 and running seconds at 6.
That vertical register layout is the whole personality of the watch. Any replica that puts the subdials side by side at 3 and 9 is not a Portugieser, no matter what the listing says.
The three details that separate good from bad
Case and crystal
I measure thickness first. A standard A7750 build usually lands around 13.5 to 14 mm, which is a full millimeter or more over the original, and it shows under a cuff. Better factories thin the caseback and use a reworked rotor to close that gap. Check lug taper too: the genuine lugs curve and thin toward the tips, while cheap casts look slab-sided.
Dial and hands
Look at the subdial spacing against the center pinion, the weight of the printed numerals, and how the date sits in its window. On the genuine dial the printing is crisp with no ink bleed, and the hands are blued or polished steel with a clean bevel. Replica feuille hands often come slightly too wide or too flat. The logo under 12 is another tell: too thick, too shiny, or set too high.
Movement
Most builds use an Asian 7750 or a clone with a small-seconds conversion. That conversion gear is the weak point. You do not set the time backward on these, and you do not flick the chronograph on and off for fun. If you want minimum trouble, ask for a build with an unmodified 7750 layout and accept the small compromise in subdial position.
Price bands, roughly
- Under $200: quartz or a crude automatic, wrong thickness, painted dial details.
- $250 to $400: decent 7750, correct layout, average finishing on the caseback and bracelet.
- $400 to $600: best tier, thinner case, sapphire with proper AR coating, closer dial printing and bracelet end links.
- Above $600: you are paying for a name, not a better watch. Put the money into servicing instead.
Quick QC checklist
- Measure case thickness with calipers, not with a listing photo.
- Confirm subdials sit at 12 and 6, stacked vertically.
- Check that the date font matches the reference and centers in the window.
- Run the chronograph for ten minutes and watch the minute counter advance cleanly.
- Inspect the crown and pushers for correct shape and smooth action.
- Look at bracelet end links: gaps at the lugs are the most common cheap-build giveaway.
- Ask for a video, not stills. Stills hide wobble in the seconds hand.
Water resistance and long-term care
The genuine watch is rated for light splashes, not swimming, and a replica is rated for even less. Gaskets are often dry from the factory. I treat any replica chronograph as splash-proof at best and keep it away from pools, showers, and salt water. If you wear it daily, budget for a service within a year or two; the 7750 family needs lubrication and the small-seconds conversion is the part that fails first.
Where the copies still fall short
Two things rarely match. First, the finishing on the movement itself, which you see through the display back, is visibly rougher than the genuine 79350 with its Geneva stripes and engraved bridges. Second, the bracelet feel: the genuine five-link style has a specific weight and click at the clasp that replicas approximate but seldom copy. Neither is visible from a normal distance, which is the honest reason most people buy at this tier.