Portuguese 3714 ver1? pics and review

[VinnyJones]

The short review

 

IMO this is a cool and fun watch that is hurt by a lack of AR coating.  Performance issues are well documented (second hand subdial issue).  I wouldn’t buy another until it has AR coating. 

 

If AR coating and subdial issue fixes were available and inexpensive, I would definitely buy another but would probably wait to see to what extent the version 2, 3 addresses the issues.

The long review

 

Where I’m coming from, and some things to keep in mind regarding any review (skip this if you “just want the facts man”)

 

I believe all reviews are subjective and depend greatly on one’s perspective and expectations.  What I mean is, if your expectations are for a watch to be “virtually identical to a gen in nearly every way” you will see things much differently than if your expectations are “ looks good from a distance, doesn’t break”.

 

Also one’s perspective and goal is important.  For example if the goal is primarily to have a watch that looks cool and gets compliments, the watch’s presentation from 5-20 feet away is really what counts.  If your goal is to inwardly gush about the watch’s details as you stare at it incessantly on your wrist all day, every little detail becomes very important.

 

Time since purchase of the review is also critical.  A review on day one may be much different than after 2 years of wearing the watch.  Like the NFL draft, an accurate evaluation IMO can only be made after some time has gone buy (unless you are simply looking to see how the features differ from the gen).

 

So where I’m coming from (my perspective, goal, and time since purchase) is I just got the watch today after the Omega I wanted was not in stock.  WARNING TO ALL NOOBS, please verify all watches you want are in stock prior to ordering.  I verified stock on some others I purchased at the same time but didn’t on the Omega because quite frankly I got tired of researching and looking at different trusted dealers etc. and said “F*!# it, lets get this show on the road”.

 

My perspective is that of a Noob who can appreciate the high quality and details of a gen but can’t afford it.  My goal is to get something that would look very good in a professional setting and get compliments.  Another more personal goal is to test drive rep watches to see what it’s all about.  Finally a third goal is to test drive the watch for a possible future gen purchase.  Like many, I would like to buy the gen in the future if I can afford it.  So from my perspective, the overall look of the watch is most important, and things that shout “FAKE!, FAKE!” are also important.  I bought this watch because of it’s looks.  I had knowledge of the sub dial seconds hand issue and hope I can make it last by not hand winding or resetting chrono while stopwatch is running but we’ll see.  I’ll have to update later.

 

The “Elegance Factor”, or the overall look or feel or design elements that make you glad to be wearing it

 

Things that make my want to wear this watch:

 

Overall look of dial case/crown etc.  The dial and numbers etc. are exceptional IMO and I just wish their was less reflection (lack of AR coating) so you could see them better. I love how the raised numbers stand out and reflect the light.  The hands are very nice and the blued subdial hands look great  Size is perfect for me.  The dial is a nice matte finish.  There’s a speck above the 2 that’s a tad bit shinier but if one’s that picky they probably need to be looking at a gen I would guess.  The stopwatch when running is very  nice to look at.  The pusher has a bit of a clunky feel when engaging but the watch is new and I don’t expect it to have a very expensive smooth feel.

 

The “Cheapness Factor”, or things that make it look or feel cheap (ranked 1 to 10, 1= only noticeable to the anal retentive, 10 = “Get this nasty thing off my wrist!”)

 

Wristband = 6  Looks and feels EXACTLY like those cheap chinese black fake leather shoes.  Pretty nasty IMO  the metal clasp is brushed and looks awesome.  I’ll replace this band with leather. Others might feel differently about the band this is just my take.

 

Lack of AR coating = 5  For me this is the biggest issue with this watch.  It just doesn’t look right with the reflections.  The best way I can describe it is you see a beautiful woman with some amazing deep rich eyes, but she wears +10 power glasses and you think there is something really amazing behind there but it just doesn’t show like it should.

 

Tinny sound and continuing “vibration” of autowind = 3  To me the autowind counterweight/mechanism (don’t know the proper name for that) sounds and feels goofy.  If you’ve ever seem those Chinese medicine balls you hold in your hand with the weighted sound makers inside them, it’s like that.  Sorta loose and jiggly.  As far as the actual sound the closest I can come up with is those tiny little pinball type games you get in a cracker jack box.  You know it has that tiny little metal ball that rattles around between the metal posts.  It sounds just like that to me.  Not that big of a deal for me and maybe all 7750 reps sound like that I don’t know.  But if you are expecting gen like smoothness you will be unhappy.

 

Too stiff to handwind = 2  Honestly I could care less about this but it would be important for some I’m sure.  There are some good comments (and also contrary opinion comments btw) that say do not handwind these watches as it could break them.  Mine is very stiff to wind clockwise and I won’t do it.  It’s silly to force it when you can just shake the watch IMO.  My guess is this is how a lot of these fail?

 

Nervous (i.e slightly skiping) small second hand = 1 The small second hand drank too much coffee.  Just slightly skittery that is only noticeable if you stare at it and really look for it.  It would not be noticeable to anyone else that is not completely anal retentive or a watch nut, even if they were holding it in their hand.  It’s really hard to notice.  I believe this is due to the documented small second hand issue.

 

“It’s an obvious fake” factor

 

I’ll let someone else pint out the differences between this older version of the rep and the genuine as I don’t have the knowledge to do it.  One thing I would guess is that the gen is thinner (guessing here).

 

How to make your 7750 movement last (copied from “Q and A” portion of Trusty Time website)

 

If your Valjoux 7750 has DATE function, DO NOT ADJUST the date when your time is between 10:00 to 3:00. It will damage the internal gears unknowingly if you do that. The BEST WAY is to manually adjust the time to 6:00 and then adjust the DATE after that.

If you are using the chronograph functions of the Valjoux 7750, always make sure that to start the stopwatch, you depress the pusher button on top and also to STOP the stopwatch, depress the same pusher button

REMEMBER: START & STOP is TOP Pusher Button

 

ONLY after you STOP the stopwatch, then you depress the lower pusher button to RESET the stopwatch function. DO NOT DEPRESS the lower pusher button when the stopwatch function is running. ONLY Depress the lower pusher button after you STOP the chronograph.

 

Trusty Time buying experience

 

Great, excellent communication and delivery incredibly fast.  Can’t compare to other TDs though cuz this is the only one I have used.

 

Bottom line

 

I’m happy to wear this watch at it’s price point and if it had AR coating I would be very happy.  It really looks the part as they say, except for reflectiveness of crystal.

 

Pics below (note how some show a reflection, bottom of caseback is polished not brushed, I blurred the serial number or whatever that is on the caseback and that is the only alteration of any photos, sorry for poor quality photos the forum rules call for a very low res image for posting 800x400 maybe?)

Edited August 25, 2013 by VinnyJones

[StormTooper4]

Nice review thanks for putting this together. It is a great looking watch 

[van_damme1988]

Thanks for posting Vinnie. Nice timekeeper and review. Wear it well. 

[VinnyJones]

FYI watch gained 5 seconds over the last 20hrs which isn't too bad

[gran]

The classic grail type watch!

 

Thank you for the review

[tomo9272]

I agree with everything you said here. Gorgeous watch. How is it holding up? I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on one of these! What TD did you use?

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[junior bonner]

Gorgeous watch ! so classy ! Love this panda dial !!!

Thanks mate