IWC Compass Porsche Design "Kompassuhr" ref.3510 from 1978

In 1977, five years after the release of the Chronograph 1, the team at Porsche Design—still small and experimental—set out to create a watch that merged survival functionality with their signature minimalist aesthetic. The idea came from Ferdinand “Butzi” Porsche, an avid outdoorsman, who envisioned a timepiece with a built-in compass. By August of that year, the concept had evolved into a striking design: a matte black dial with bold white hands, luminous hour markers, crosshair lines, and a subtle, color-matched date window at 3 o’clock. The dial's cross-sectioned design echoed hunting optics and the navigational purpose of the watch. The real innovation, however, lay beneath the dial. The watch featured a removable compass, developed in collaboration with Lufft, encased in sapphire crystal and fully functional outside the watch. On the caseback sat a polished emergency signaling mirror, and the aluminum bracelet featured 5mm-wide links that could be used as a ruler—form following f