Bundeswehr 3501 IWC Porsche Design Ocean 2000

We now live in a world where a good Milsub is a 500K proposition in USD. So how does it make any sense at all that Bundeswehr-issued Ocean 2000 is still just over 20K? This is a combat diver issued, under-hyped, comparatively economic (I suppose anything is when contrasted against a milsub), materially innovative, 1980s diver in titanium with tritium and Porsche on the dial. It should be no surprise that this German’s practical charm won it two military contracts. If that package doesn’t turn you on at least a little bit, you’re probably reading the wrong site.

Now, I grant you, there isn’t as much dial-side differentiation. But each says what it is on the back, ‘BUND’. And the issued ones are equally differentiated by their included grey straps, you get one fixed link and then a sort of half-way between a NATO and NASA fabric velcro affair with enough slack to go over three wetsuits (or my wrist). Ferdinand Alexander Porsche may have penned the original design, but the dive tech was developed and tested with the Bundeswehr, originally an adaptation of the antimagnetic movement from the 500K A/m Ingenieur’s well-modified ETA 2892, which IWC called the 3752-1.

Bund Ocean 2000s come in many variants: for example, ref. 3314 & 3319 which are quartz calibres with a 3H signed dial. Then there are the 3529, 3509, and this 3501 which have no 3H signature but the above-described automatic calibre. Finally there was the rarest 50-example 3519 which had a super a-magnetic movement for their minesweeper divers. All watches bear their NATO stock number on the caseback. The levels of history here are off the charts. So is the 80s charm. Though the Octo Finissimo may be the most modern sports offering today, this was the 1980’s best technical effort. And it’s just damn cool.

This example has the kind of case you’d expect from a military issued diver, but bearing that in mind it’s not abused at all. The tritium is all present and well-preserved. It comes with its titanium bracelet, original box, and extract of archive from a well-regarded London retailer.