I like how IWC chooses to honor their back catalog in so called ?Tribute? watches. They are never straight up re-issues, rather, they capture the intended aesthetic within modern IWC design language, packed with modern IWC tech. We?ve seen it with their Tribute to MK XI, and this year we get the Tribute to one of the great ?90s sport watches, the IWC reference 3705. This is the ?Tribute to 3705? IW387905, and we tried it out next to my own ref 3706, the steel cased sibling to the 3705.

$11900

Hands-On With The IWC ‘Tribute To 3705’ & A Steel 3706

Case
Matte Black Ceratanium

Movement
IWC Caliber 69380

Dial
Matte Black

Lume
Super-Luminova

Lens
Sapphire

Strap
Leather

Water Resistance 6 Bar

Dimensions
41mm

Thickness
15.3mm

Lug Width
20mm

Crown
Screw Down

Warranty
2 Yr

Price
$11900

The 3705 was a touchstone moment in its use of ceramic as a case material when it was introduced in 1994. It wasn?t the first to use the stuff, but it was the most extensive application within a tool watch to date. Omega used a ceramic and metal mixture called ?Cermet? in a special order Seamaster in the late ?70s and early ?80s, while Seiko used a ceramic coated shroud on the 6159-7010 ?Tuna? from the mid-?70s. IWC more fully embraced the material with the release of the Da Vinci ref. 3755 in 1986, which housed a rather impressive perpetual calendar chronograph automatic movement (with no pushers required). Heading into t...