| Brand: | IWC |
| Model: | OCEAN BUND |
| Reference: | 3314 |
| Gender: | male/uni-sex |
| Year: | 1986 |
| Material: | titanium |
| Dial Color: | black |
| Dimensions: | 42 mm |
| Watch Movement: | quartz |
| Bracelet/Strap: | titanium bracelet plus nato strap |
| Box/Paper: | box and papers |
| Condition: | Excellent |
WRIST ICONS presents the IWC 3314 Ocean Bund Kasmpftaucher Full Set. This is one of the most iconic military diving watches ever made. These military IWC Bundeswehr watches don’t pop up that often. And especially not with this so iconic dial configuration with the 3H circle on it. And a full kit, with box, manual and papers but most important the IWC extract of the archives which confirms the authenticity.
History of the IWC Ocean Bund
The IWC Porsche Design Ocean Bund a very collectable military watch. It follows IWC’s grand tradition of military watches and, in fact, was the last production model that IWC made specifically for actual military use. It is a very rare watch in all its variations and, in the even rarer minesweeper variation, it follows IWC’s antimagnetic watch tradition. Of course, it also is a Porsche Design model with its purity of design. Above all else, it is a diving watch.
In 1980 the German Navy placed an order at IWC to develop a new Divers Watch. In a 30 pages brochure, the Navy determined which specifications they demanded. The most important specification was, along with sturdiness, extreme degree of waterproof etc. that some of the new watches should be completely anti-magnetic.
After the successful launch of the Porsche Design line of watches in 1978, perhaps as an attempt to survive in face of the quartz onslaught, IWC introduced a Porsche-styled titanium diving watch, the Ocean 2000. It also obtained a contract with the then-West German military, the Bundeswehr, to make a variation of that watch for their Navy.
Alexander Porsche, had created the famous civil Ocean 2000, a watch made from mainly titanium, a non-ferro metal. IWC guaranteed that this watch was water proof until 2000 meters!. It seemed logical that the military version should be a super development of the civil Ocean 200 which already had a lot of titanium in its construction, rather than a further development of the already existing IWC "Aquatimer",ref. 1812, which was a steel watch.
Juergen King, technical director of IWC in 1980 was assigned to lead the project. During a time span of 4 years: 6 different military Bunds were developed.
These are:
From these Bunds ,ref. 3519 AMAG(anti-magnetic) is the most special and rare. Although, neither IWC nor the German Navy will reveal the total production, it is a well kept secret that there are no more than than 50 Bunds ref. 3519 AMAG around, world wide. It is the first and only completely anti-magnetic divers watch in the world.
The Porsche Design Ocean watch for the Bundeswehr had various minor design changes from the civilian version. These primarily involved a black bezel, an orange minutes hand, a flat sapphire crystal, and a nylon strap (a titanium bracelet was sold to the German Navy separately and was not affixed by IWC to the watch). In addition, to comply with the Bundeswehr's specifications, the watch was tested for water resistance to "only" 300 meters, unlike the 2000 meters of the civilian Ocean 2000. However, one German military watch expert told me that the watches were more water resistant than 300 meters, but only tested to the that standard. Source mrwforum
Distribution of the IWC Ocean BUND
None of the watches was transferred directly to the german military. The IWC contract was with Diehl Avionik Systeme, Frankfurt; the watches were delivered to them for transfer to the bund. DAS was already a qualified military supply source AND had a corporate relationship with VDO (a manufacturer of original replacement parts such as electronics and mechatronics, who owned IWC during the period when the ocean bund watches were made). the watches were delivered over approximately a 12-15 year period from the early 80s to the mid 90s. further, some of the case references had sub references. the 3509, e.g., existed in 3509-001, -002, and (possibly) -003 form. that case reference was issued to combat divers (kampfschwimmer), fire/SAR divers (tauchdienst), and clearance divers (taucher). different dials were issued (plain and 3H) and different NSNs were assigned to each sub-reference. the same may have been true of the other case references; i have concentrated on the 3509. replacement parts, including dials, hands, and bezels were also supplied, and it is unknown to what extent the distinctions among the dials were kept straight during service. Source mrwforum
Design of the Kampftaucheruhrr
Wristwatch for combat divers, IWC Reference nos. 3314 or 3315 was introduced in n1983. The watch had the Bundeswehr planning number 6645-01060; BUND stock no. 6645-12-199-5070
This version used a quartz movement, IWC cal. 2250 that beat at 32,678 Hz and batteries lasted approximately three years. Per Bundeswehr specifications, its accuracy was +/- 2 minutes a year. This model had extra tritium-treated material on its dial, hands and at the bezel (called type TL 8010-019). Because of this special tritium dial, the dial was had a red 3H in a red circle, the German military symbol for tritium (3-H, an isotope of hydrogen). Note also the eccentric placement of the IWC name and the dial.
Like the other Ocean bund models, this watch was water resistant to 300 meters and was supplied with a Nylon-Velcro strap. Reference 3314 and 3315 differ regarding the design of the strap attachments, primarily whether one line or two were used). The watch weighed 57 grams.
Source: Michael Friedberg November 2001 iwcforum . com/Articles/OceanBund/text.html
Condition
This stunning example of this IWC 3314 Ocean Bund Kampftaucher is in vintage condition. It has all the good parts what makes this a great looking vintage piece. The watch is worn regularly and the case is unpolished.
Dial: This IWC Ocean Bund features a rare 3H dial. A red circle with the inscription 3H in the upper right corner of the dial indicates the tritium luminescent used in the dial and in the bezel. The three-liner "IWC, International Watch Co., Schaffhausen" is offset to the left. During army combat these tool watches had to be in immaculate condition since they were life saving devices. Therefore the swapped parts to keep the performance like new. The matte black dial has original lume that has aged to a beautiful yellowish vintage color.
Hands: Original "BUND" Tritium hands. The patina of the snowflake hands match the patina of the hour markers. Most likely the hands have been changed during service since this was . The lume of hour hand of early Tudor Snowflake are notoriously prone to get a break in the lume or loose a part of the luminescent material.
Crystal: The Ocean Bund has a flat sapphire crystal.
Case: Case shows wear. (Please see pictures). The titanium bezel is rotatable in one direction, as is common in professional diving watches.
Crown: Original IWC lock crown.
Bezel & Insert: Original bezel with stunning.
Bracelet: IWC signed titanium bracelet with correct links. Comes also with the NATO strap. Like other titanium watches produced by IWC in the 1980s, the connection design for the bracelets evolved. As mentioned above, slightly different fastening systems were used and there were different reference numbers for each variation. However, usually the watches were ordered only with a Nylon-Velcro-strap. The titanium-bracelets were ordered separately and were not mounted by IWC to the watches. The nylon straps had the separate BUND stock no. 6645-12-197-8310. The older style titanium bracelet had BUND stock no. 6645-12-197-8310 and its successor was BUND stock no. 6645-12-339-2164. The older bracelets used two silver pins while the newer ones used a tube with one steel pin. All IWC Ocean Bund watches had the planning number on the case back and either the back of the Nylon-Velcro strap-connection part or the first link of the bracelet. However, a few watches of the Bundeswehr-type were sold to VDO executives and do not have the planning number.
Movement: Just serviced by our watchmaker. Running perfectly with a one year service warranty. The watch carries the IWC cal. 2250 that beat at 32,678 Hz and batteries lasted approximately three years. Per Bundeswehr specifications, its accuracy was +/- 2 minutes a year.. The movement is clean, and during the time of testing the watch was fully functional.
Accessories: The full set of this Ocean Bund significantly increases its collector's value. The watch comes with its original square white box, titanium bracelet, nylon velcro strap, instruction manual, and Bundeswehr Kampftaucher patch. The engraved numbers on the titanium band, velcro band are all correct.
Notes: Absolutely stunning example of a super desirable IWC 3314 Ocean Bund Kampftaucher with an attractive dial and original hands. Very hard to find these in this condition.
Overall, the IWC 3509 Ocean Bund Kampftaucher is noteworthy, both for its design and execution. This IWC 3509 Ocean Bund Kampftaucher remarkably well preserved.
As with all of our pre-owned watches this watch comes with a full 12 month warranty with ourselves that will be invoked from the day of purchase.
Viewings can be arranged at our office by appointment.
Specifications: