watchman12345 Posted October 2, 2012 Report Share Posted October 2, 2012 After much admiration of the 3717 I decided to get one from a TD. It's an amazing watch and rep but I liked it so much there were one or two niggles on the rep that bugged me. The AR was very blue, and while it is very good AR it didn't sit right with me. The 12 marker was every so slightly mis-aligned. Again not a big deal but it caught my eye when I looked at the watch. I heard a lot about Vac modded watches and decided to go ahead and order. Vac is good to deal with, and I would recommend him. However there was a slight point that didn't sit 100% with me. It's minor but for the sake of completeness I'll mention it. When I enquired about the watch I asked about getting a blue hue to the AR as Vacs AR is pretty clear. He said I could have the rep crystal reinstalled instead of his if I liked but he wanted an extra $50 to do that. Fair enough, his call, but I thought it was strange to ask for more money for something which required less work. I initially went with this option and paid for it but decided to go back to his AR as it had a good reputation. He was not interested in any refund so I ended up paying $615 including shipping and paypal fees. So you can appreciate this is not a cheap watch. Onto the watch. Apologies for the pics I was using an iPhone to snap them. The initial impression was fantastic. The watch looks amazing, the AR is great and the kevlar strap is actually one of the best rep straps I've come across. The watch is "vac-lumed". It's generally applied very well and the overly thick hour markers are trimmed nicely. There is however some slight unevenness of application which is only visable in strong natural light and under close inspection. Basically not an issue. The lume is great after initial charge up... Here are two shots after about 20 seconds charging using the iphone flashlight... No tricks just a standard no flash iphone shot... Now onto the other aspect of the lume... it doesn't last very long. After about 10 minutes it has faded to levels that are just legible in the pitch dark. I've yet to see how long the watch remains legible in the dark, I will update as I wear the watch more. I must say I am a bit disappointed by this. I was expecting superlume performance but I don't think it is. Another aspect which disappointed me was the fact that the watch was running about 40-60s slow per day when I received it. Now this could definitely be caused by shipping and I have regulated it and it is running almost to COSC specs now. No big deal. Overall it's a beautiful watch and I am delighted with it. However, it's about twice the price of a non-modded version from a dealer. Is it worth it? Maybe. On the plus side you get a very well QC'd watch with straight markers, better lume and better AR. On the negative side the lume is not as impressive as I thought it would be and you do loose the slight blue hue of the gen on the AR. The timing issue is unfortunate and I would be pretty confident it was knocked around in shipping as opposed to not regulated. The day is also very slightly mis-aligned but this is a feature on most 7750s, I've even seen gens like this and it's really marginal. Finally a wrist shot. And another. The bottom line: For me I am very fussy about my watches. The price is just about worth it. Vac was fine to deal with and I would buy from him again. I'll try whip out the DSLR at the weekend and update with better photos. Thanks for looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superlative Posted October 3, 2012 Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 (edited) What exactly is modded on your watch that would justify a $615 price tag? I think the standard rep AR looks great. Edited October 3, 2012 by superlative Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watchman12345 Posted October 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 Relumed, markers flattened and straightened and AR redone. Seals lubed and supposedly regulated. I agree it's expensive. I think I may have been unfair about the Lume. It stays readable for a good few hours in the pitch dark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markiemark Posted November 23, 2012 Report Share Posted November 23, 2012 Hmmmm... Im going down the same road! 3717 lumed from Vac. I have a lot of confidence in his lume and work. However Im still in doubt to do an AR job. Is it worth the extra $$$? Oh! And Where did you get the strap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watchman12345 Posted November 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2012 (edited) In a word, no. I have changed the crystal back to rep because the AR is more like gen. The strap is a rep kevlar in initial pics, and BOB strap is the leather. All this watch needs is a relume. No need for AR changes or datewheel changes. Edited November 24, 2012 by watchman12345 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quaresma7 Posted November 24, 2012 Report Share Posted November 24, 2012 Congrats! Here my franken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markiemark Posted November 24, 2012 Report Share Posted November 24, 2012 Nice watches! Cant wait until I have mine! Im thinking about changing the crown for a gen and put in a german day wheel (overlay). But I have absolutely no idea how much $$$ that's gonna take out of my pocket... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomis Posted November 26, 2012 Report Share Posted November 26, 2012 (edited) If i getting the top gun version, what did i should mod, i am new. Edited November 26, 2012 by nomis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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