IWC Porsche Design Titan Chrono 3700 History

I have had a love affair with the IWC Porsche Design Titan chrono since my first in 1989. Since then, I have bought and sold three examples. I am in possession of my fourth example, and do not plan to sell it this time!
I have scoured the archives for information about the model. There is a lot of information out there, but much of it is speculation. I read on a few occasions that moderator Michael Friedberg was going to attempt an article specifically geared toward Porsche design models. Did this happen (beyond the spreadsheet)?
Here are some of my wishes/questions for which I seek confirmation:
Regarding the first ref. 3700 chronograph. I have read that it was first offered for sale in 1980, when it first appeared in the manufacturer's catalog. I have also read that IWC confirmed the first drawings were made in 1977, and that the first chronograph would have been sold in 1978. When was the first 3700 sold?
Regarding the five dial variations: there are at least six. Five were documented in the forum, and the sixth simply has the words "PORSCHE DESIGN" above the date with nothing below. It was suggested the variations were due to marketplace, and also suggested the variations were related to Porsche Design's desire for greater brand presence. So what is the reason for the variations?
Regarding the letter (A- or E-) and three digit number on early case backs. Why are they there? Were these the Tourneau Limited from 1980? Did the numbers represent different markets (A for the United States, E for Europe?)
Regarding clasps: some are marked PD, others IWC. Why?
Regarding the TITAN and PORSCHE DESIGN bracelet links: can this be attributed simply to age? Or market? Were the owner's name engraving offered by Tourneau for the limited edition? Or by IWC? For how long was it an option?
I probably have more questions but I'll stop here for fear of never reading a response!

Great questions! I hope there are still one or two collectors left here who really know the answers! Good luck!

A search for examples on a major auction site and a major trading site do nothing for clarification. One example has the fourth dial (IWC/International Watch Co./Porsche Design signature without PD), the second style bracelet (2 pins on the link back), includes the TITAN link, and has a co-signed IWC/Porsche Design clasp.
Not sure definitive answers are out there! Plus I may be one of very few who care. Still hoping for the best!

Many of those details were published on the former german site of the forum.

But all datas have been deleted ::--((

I will try to answer some of your questions, but that will take some time.

A for the United States, E for Europe => My info as well

Regards

HEBE

Waiting for answers doesn't seem to work. Judging by the views of this thread, there may be others interested in knowing the history of the 3700?
Perhaps I should restructure my questions as statements, and provide my own best-guess answers. Maybe folks who have some knowledge are more inclined to correct a mistake than provide the information?
I guess what I'm looking for are the facts determined over the years to be presented in a comprehensive work. I doubt I am the only one who admires the watch's quality and style, and feels it is significant in the history of IWC and Swiss-made mechanical chronographs.
For now, I guess I'll hold on to what trivia I remember, and just enjoy my watch.

Unfortunately, the people who were interested more in the the history of the brand have been systematically put off by the more fashion and bling bling style of the collections nowadays. This explains why you don't see any answers to your profound questions. My fear has been proven correct.

Actually, I like to think I know a lot about IWC's history and models, and have written numerous articles about them --including on Porsche Design models. But I haven't replied here because I don't know the answers to every question, and some other questions require more research than what time I have.

I mean this as no disrespect to the questions, but my failure to reply has zero to do with any concern about a shift today in IWC's products or marketing. I know of perhaps a dozen vintage experts who participate today on this forum, but like me I suspect these questions aren't easily or simply answerable.

Hi Bryan

First let me agree with some of the more general comments made in this thread: I have become over time one of those guys refraining from this forum. I collect only vintage watches, hence only vintage IWC's. I theory there would be this section in the forum called "vintage", but I have figured that recently the majority of posts are "I want to buy this IWC on ebay but it is probably fake, can you confirm" (they are of course always tagged differently like "I got this watch from my grand-dad, does anybody know what it is..."). I have tried to initiate a few times questions similar to yours but experience seems to show that this is the wrong forum. Wrist shots, bling bling, as you say.

In addition, the technical infrastructure of this platform is - mildly speaking - antique, cumbersome, just a time consuming pain. It keeps me off.

To your questions as far as I can make some uneducated statements which I am sure will not hold firm against all the experts here:

First of series / Tourneau: I had written the entry on the advertisement of Tourneau on the first 500 Titan Chronos. On the other hand, I have an original advertisement in German langauge from IWC (directly, so not by a store), which says: if you want to become owner of one of the world's first 500 individually numbered Titan Chronos, you could order them directly in Schaffhausen with IWC. I could scan and upload the ad but I will not do for the reason mentioned further up. So far the facts. I guess it makes quite some sense that they did an "E" batch with numbered first of series Chronos for Europe, directly ordered at IWC and an "A" batch for US to be ordered through Tourneau. That would however have added up to 2x500 pieces.

First watches sold: I own an A-37x with case number 22 78 4xx. It was delivered on April 30, 1981. Given it is an "A" series, it should belong to one of those "first 500". Also, the lowest case number I have ever found on a 3700 is 22 78 146. I would therefore strongly assume, that delivery has not started earlier than spring 1981. The one I own is complete with hang tag, all papers, original bordeaux box, "Porsche Design" on the second link of the bracelet, no mention of "Porsche Design" on the dial. But I admit, we speak here of my "A" series, so it could well be that sales of the "E" series, hence the first 500 in Europe had started earlier. But again, so far I have not come across a Titan Chrono case Serial lower than 22 78 146 which would be very close to mine.

On "Porsche Design": my A-series has "Porsche Design" on the second bracelet link and no PD reference on the dial. I strongly believe that these "Porsche Design" bracelet links were only on the first batch of watches and thereafter the "Porsche Design" moved up into the dial into the well known various forms and shapes. I understand from a discussion with an "Insider" that there was a constant power struggle between PD and IWC whereby both of them wanted their name to be more prominently positioned and I guess history shows that "Porsche Design" got more prominent over time at cost of "IWC". Same by the way for the bracelet clasp: first series/years with "IWC", a short while with "IWC" and "pd" and later on only "pd".

I hope this gives some directional answers.

Best regards

Dear Brian Brooks,
I cannot hide a feeling that you have become frustrated about the lack of information that exists about the IWC Porsche Design Titan Chronograph. As an author of several articles about vintage IWC watches, I would like to express my personal opinion and experience on this matter. A few of my views have been shared by others in this thread. The IWC forum is for collectors by collectors and being around from the start of this forum it is my experience that collectors are happy to share their knowledge about models in which they are interested. I assume that the limited response you got sofar is caused by the fact that there are few collectors who know everything about this line. IWC itself is not officially represented here as a provider of all data wanted by collectors. If you want to know about vintage watches, there is currently virtually no person at IWC who has been involved in the design and production of these. So the way to disclose information is to start persistantly the research yourself. This is extremely time consuming , often disappointing, a few times rewarding. To find new (old) information is thrilling. For my own research I have managed to contact people inside or outside IWC. Some of them retired a long time ago. Others never worked for IWC but are a living data base. Unfortunately, I have little knowledge about the PD line, with the ecxeption of the military "Oceans". A person at IWC who will help you to the best of his ability is the museum curator Dr. David Seyffer.
Kind regards,
Adrian,
(alwaysiwc).

First, thank you for the responses. I understand now why answers are not coming. I guess I shouldn't expect the love of the 3700 to reach the fevered and historically researched minutiae of say, the Omega Speedmaster or Rolex Submariner! Still, the educated "best guesses" are plausible enough to serve as answers until definitive facts prove otherwise.

@Michael Friedberg, indeed I was hoping for your input, and do appreciate your response. Regarding your article on Porsche Design, are you referring to the spreadsheet with references? I have seen this (and thank you, it is very helpful!) If, by chance, you have completed some other article, is it something you would share with a link?

@HSTE, your comment about the first 500 seems logical, and perhaps DOES refer to the first 500 ever made available to the public. Still, we don't know if there were 500 with A- and E-prefixes depending on the market (sourced by Tourneau or IWC) or if each source had 500 examples to disperse, totaling 1.000.

Just for fun I looked up my documentation of the first 3700 I purchased as a used watch in October 1989 (sorry, no pictures). The serial number was 22 78 212, and there was indeed an A-142 engraved on it. Since it was purchased used, I cannot confirm the original factory configuration. The example I had was with the fully signed dial (IWC/International Watch Co Schaffhausen/Porsche Design/pd), which research suggests was the third dial variation. Both the day and date were white font on black background. The bracelet was the 1st generation one-pin variety, had a TITAN link but no PORSCHE DESIGN link. It had the "pd" (only) clasp. As I say, no way of knowing if the dial, date discs, or bracelet were replaced prior to my ownership.

@ALWAYSIWC, yes, frustration was beginning to set in, but I am "at peace" now with the understanding that the answers to my questions are unavailable and educated guesses at best. I do believe collectors share information, as I myself have offered what tidbits I know to fellow collectors. As I mentioned, I had hoped some body of research told the history of the 3700 in one (or more!) sources. I admit I am a "lazy" researcher, but I am not inclined to bother a collector/researcher/museum curator for answers to questions they themselves would have to further research.

Sorry for being so long-winded (no surprise to those who know me!) Thanks again for the help, and feel free to add any morsels of information about the history of the 3700/2/4!

@ Bryan, at least one other major article comes quickly to mind:
www.iwcforum.com/Articles/OceanBund/text.html

But also some of my posts over the years were really mini-articles, or probably would be in the era of blogs. Like those on PD dials, PD bracelets, and telling about the 5 rare perpetual calendar PDs, etc. Plus PD models were included in other historical articles, like my history of IWC diving watches.