What a counterfeit IW938720 actually is
A counterfeit IW938720 is a watch built to look like IWC reference IW938720 and then sold as the genuine item. The giveaway is rarely a single flaw. It is the pattern across the caseback engraving, the dial print, the movement, and the paperwork. When two or three of those disagree with each other, you are looking at a fake, or at a genuine watch rebuilt from mismatched parts.
Genuine IWC watches carry a reference number and a serial that agree across the caseback, the guarantee card, and the movement. Copying the number is easy. Keeping the rest of the file consistent is where fakes fall apart.
Start with the reference itself
IWC references follow a fixed format: IW followed by six digits. On the caseback that string is engraved, not laser-printed and not stamped into a soft blank. I run a fingernail across it. Genuine engraving has crisp shoulders and even depth all the way to the last digit. Fakes feel shallow, or the font runs a touch wide, or the spacing drifts as the string goes on. Look at the surrounding text too: brand name, model line, and the case material markings should all sit on the same baseline with the same depth.
Case, crown, and caseback
Turn the watch in raking light. Genuine cases are machined so the lug profile flows without a flat spot, and the brushing runs in one continuous direction. A fake case usually shows a change in grain where the finishing was done by hand, or a polished bevel that cuts into the brushed surface at an uneven width.
Check the crown. It should thread smoothly with no wobble on the stem, and the logo on the crown should be cut, not cast with soft edges. On the caseback, the engraving around the edge, the water resistance figure, and the country of origin stamps should all be sharp and correctly spelled. Spacing errors and wrong abbreviations are common on counterfeits.
Dial and hands
A loupe does most of the work here. Genuine dials have applied markers with polished edges and clean lume fill, print that stays even at 10x, and date windows with a crisp frame. Fakes tend to have heavier print, a marker rotated by a fraction of a degree, or lume that overflows its border.
Hands matter as much. Genuine hands are polished on the bevels and finished at the base where they meet the pinion. Cheap copies leave tool marks there, and the seconds hand counterweight is often the wrong shape.
The movement is the real test
No inspection from the outside settles it. A watchmaker needs to open the caseback. Genuine IWC movements show proper finishing on the bridges, a correctly engraved rotor, and the movement number tied to the reference. Replicas use third-party movements, sometimes with decorative plates screwed over the top to look like something they are not. Have the movement number checked against the reference and the serial before money changes hands.
Boxes, papers, and the price question
Boxes and cards are the easiest part of a watch to fake, so a full set proves almost nothing on its own. What helps is consistency: serials that agree across every document, a seller who allows an inspection, and a service history that can be verified through the brand. A price well under the going rate for the reference, on a watch offered as genuine, is the loudest warning sign there is.
If you want a replica, buy it as one
The replica market does produce high-grade copies, and most popular IWC references show up there. That is a separate conversation from counterfeiting. A replica sold as a replica is a known quantity with a known price. The same watch offered as a genuine IWC, or resold later as one, is fraud. That distinction is what the law cares about in the US and most of Europe.
Fast checklist before you pay
- Reference and serial agree across caseback, card, and movement.
- Engraving is deep, sharp, and evenly spaced.
- Case finishing runs in one direction with no soft spots.
- Dial print holds up under a loupe, markers sit straight.
- A watchmaker has opened the watch and confirmed the movement.
- The price sits in the normal range for the reference.
Two or more failures on that list and you should walk away. One failure is enough to ask for a second opinion.