In-depth review on different version of IWC 3714

[Trevor]

Hello folks, today I'm going to compare the old, improved and very new IWC 3714 with a genuine article.


Dial/sub-dial





The left hand side is the old version, the middle is the improved version and the right hand side is the gen.


The left hand side one is an instant give away because of the sliver sub-dial. The number 2, 4, 10 are all wrong. The improved version got this issue solved, but upon close inspection, we can see the factory did get the curved 2, 4 done right and the 0 in 10 is as fat as gen; but the 11 is not straight. The slope of the bevel is still not addressed.


Crystal
There is little improvement on the domed crystal, which I found spot on for the rep


Hands
Hands are also spot on, except the the pin, I will let the photo do the talking:


This is gen:



This is rep:



I won't tell the difference from distance, so I won't sweat about the "flaw"


Case construction
The case construction of the rep is very solid, almost as identical as gen.



Pushers and crown are identical:





Gen crown:



Rep crown:



More photos:
Two old version side by side:









Tell me which one is the rep:



The latest version
This version is made by the V6F, which I believe is the best of the best.


The shape 4 is now very accurate:



Matt finish sub-dial



Correct bevel slop!



Some more photos:









In conclusion, the latest version from V6F has the improved bevel slope, better finish on the "6" as below shows a macro shot of the previous version:





I will do a further update on the movement as I haven't got the time to do a through check on the chrono function of the new rep.


-Trevor

 

[motoman83]

Very nice pictoral review Trevor. Thanks a lot!

The movement is what holds a lot of us back from this beautiful watch. Has anything been changed on this version to address the reliability?

 

[bRONX]

to me even the first model wasnt terrible , thanks trevor

 

[pippo]

Thanks Trevor very helpful comparison and damn nice rep.
The inner bezel is misaligned in the new rep version, not a big deal but worth mentioning.

 

[alvedon]

Unfortunately the crown is in a different size! Why they didn't fix it while making the Probus Scafusia one is beyond me!
The colors are very off IRL (especially the blue)

 

[spursian]

Nice review. I have the same V6F watch. Beautiful piece. Only downside is the stuttering seconds hand, caused by the sec@6 movement even though I had it serviced.

 

[Chel]

V6f ?? Not JF ?

 

[peterpl]

Trevor, How many of these have had problems lately with sec@6? Do you provide any warranty period of these "NEW" models with updated movement?

 

[trailboss99]

Nice review Trevor! Thanks for taking the time to do this.

 

[zero_deficit]

Good stuff Trevor!

 

[Trevor]

Trevor, How many of these have had problems lately with sec@6? Do you provide any warranty period of these "NEW" models with updated movement?

I just ran a tally on the return repair rate between last year and this year (with forecasted Aug-Dec number base on the first 8 months data). It appears the return repair rate dropped pretty significantly.

But I still strongly recommend that 3714 should always be an occasional watch rather than a daily beater.

-Trevor

 

[peterpl]

^ Whats the numbers so we all know the improvements?

 

[Trevor]

^ Whats the numbers so we all know the improvements?

I can only tell you the number dropped by around 50%.

 

[wildcherry19]

this is awesome.. thanks for doing this

 

[botsyboy]

The new version is JF not V6F is it not?

 

[higginsd]

Good question... All these new versions are not complete clear for me, it's confusing...

 

[peterpl]

Man i've been wanting one of these for like 4 years since I joined. I wonder if I should risk it now and just buy one.

 

[Trevor]

The new version is JF not V6F is it not?

I stand corrected. It is actually called JJ factory (not J factory), who made this version. Very strange factory name, in Chinese JJ stands for male genital.

 

[peterpl]

^LMFAO

 

[higginsd]

I stand corrected. It is actually called JJ factory (not J factory), who made this version.

OK. Ryan/Intime has a "JF version". This makes sense because the JF maker is known.

Very strange factory name, in Chinese JJ stands for male genital.

LOL! That fact let us hope they took as much care on creating this version as they take every day on their "best part"...
[MENTION=39255]peterpl[/MENTION]: I'm in the same process like you. Should I or should I not... I have better IWCs like my 3777 Franken as daily beater, so I can buy the 3714 and wear it only a few days a month. And the day the sec@6 breaks down I can start buying a gen 79350. Or try to sway Domi to perform on last "jewel-mod" to my A7750-sec@6...