IWC SOLD-IWC 3509 Porsche design Ocean Bund Waffentaucher Full Set

SOLD-IWC 3509 Porsche design Ocean Bund Waffentaucher Full Set

€0,00
Brand: IWC
Model: OCEAN BUND
Reference: 3509
Gender: male/uni-sex
Year: 1983
Material: titanium
Dial Color: black
Dimensions: 42 mm
Watch Movement: automatic
Bracelet/Strap: titanium bracelet plus nato strap
Box/Paper: box and papers
Condition: Excellent

IWC 3509 Porsche design Ocean Bund Waffentaucher Full Set 

WRIST ICONS presents the IWC 3509 Ocean Bund Waffentaucher 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, toll, manual and papers.

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:

Ref. 3314 Quartz, 3H dial

Ref. 3319 Quartz, 3H dial

Ref. 3509 Mechanical,"plain" dial

Ref. 3509 Mechanical, 3H dial

Ref. 3529 Mechanical, "plain" dial

Ref. 3519 Mechanical, 3H dial

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 Taucheruhr oder Waffentaucher

Wristwatch for divers, IWC Reference nos. 3509 or 3529 introduced 1983  (ref. 3509) and 1984 (ref. 3529). Bundeswehr planning number 6645-0103; BUND stock nos. 6645-12-197-9681 or  6645-12-197-8096 (Ref. 3509) and 6645-12-339-1536 (Ref. 3529)

This version used an automatic movement that beat at 28,800 half-beats per hour. The first ones used  IWC cal. 375, which represented IWC's first use of an ETA 2892 base movement. Later ones used an enhanced version of that movement, the IWC cal. 37521. As mentioned below, these movements had 22 rather than the more standard 21 jewels found in the 2892. The "extra" jewel was actually six jewels that served the same function, and replaced steel rotor bearings.

The Bundeswehr specifications appear to require the same rate standard of these models to   the civilian Ocean 2000,  which was 0 to +8 seconds per day. The movement  was required to have more than 40 hours power reserve.

While apparently not as luminous as the quartz model, the specifications for this watch required "long glowing material on dial, hands and at the bezel, type DIN 67510".

Again, like  the other models, this version was water resistant to 300 meters and was supplied with a Nylon-Velcro strap. Like the quartz Kampftaucheruhr the two reference numbers differentiate the design of the strap attachments. The watch weighed 43 grams.

Source: Michael Friedberg November 2001 iwcforum . com/Articles/OceanBund/text.html

Condition

This stunning example of this IWC 3509 Ocean Bund Waffentaucher 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. It comes with an additional dial. 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 crown.

Bezel & Insert: Original blue bezel with stunning original fat font faded blue insert.

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 self-winding IWC caliber 37521 based on ETA calibre 2892 with a date disc, polished decorations and circular Côtes de Genève finishings. The movement features 22 jewels and a bi-directional central rotor, beating at 28,800 A/h, with a power reserve of 42-hours. 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, screwdriver, instruction manual, hangtag. The engraved numbers on the titanium band, velcro band and on the screwdriver are all correct.

Notes: Absolutely stunning example of a super desirable IWC 3509 Ocean Bund Waffentaucher with an attractive dial and original hands. Very hard to find these in this condition.

Overall, the IWC 3509 Ocean Bund Waffentaucher is noteworthy, both for its design and execution. This IWC 3509 Ocean Bund Waffentaucher is 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:

  • Brand:                   IWC 3509 Ocean Bund Waffentaucher
  • Model:                   Ocean Bund Waffentaucher
  • Reference:             3509
  • Serial number:        2388xxx (1983)
  • Movement:             mechanical automatic in-house self-winding Calibre IWC 37521 with 22 jewels
  • Functions:             date, hours, minutes, center seconds
  • Features:               unrestored dial, original lumes
  • Case Diameter:       42 mm
  • Lug Width:            integrated bracelet or strap
  • Case Material:        titanium
  • Crystal:                 sapphire
  • Bracelet:               IWC signed titanium bracelet with correct links. Comes also with the NATO strap

 

 

 

 

 

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