It pains me that I've become such a watch nerd - but that's from the influence of everyone around here! Here goes (NB I do not own any IWC watches and have only ever laid eyes on and tried the 3777 - please don't take this as gospel, and I'd be happy for someone to correct me - I've only just started reading about watches over the last couple of months)
Let's start with some basic similarities
- they're both IWC pilot chrono watches
- both tell the time
Differences (in no particular order) in addition to Jonnyt's comments
3717 - preceding but now discontinued model, 3777 introduced along with new range of IWC pilots at SIHH in 2012. Being relatively new, the 3777 will likely be around for on average maybe another 5 years before being superseded. This means the boutiques and almost all of the ADs (authorised dealers) will no longer have stock of 3717. Several grey dealer examples remain, and there are examples in the used market.
3777 - higher priced than the 3717 (when comparing new vs new) - seems to be the trend with IWC on new models always commanding a premium - it does however help retain or improve the value of used models though.
3777 - has a splash of red with a triangle pointed at the correct date (from the outer rim vs from the inside on the Mark XVII)
3717 - older models had silver pin for chrono dials, but black pins on newer examples. 3777 silver pins for the chrono
3777 - apart from the triple date, the IWC Schaffhausen logo has transferred from above/below the date window to the left side onto the 9 position chromo - this just kills some of these watch aficionados (aka WIS) as they can't get used to the change
3777 - and the current pilot range have a different steel bracelet which has a micro-adjust function. And by all accounts this is supposed to be a better bracelet.
3777 - even though just 1mm larger, according to forum, seems to wear larger ?because of the thinner bezel which made space for the seconds label
- Informal polls here seem to prefer the simpler, traditional layout of the 3717 (but they could just be stuffy old guys)
Could someone also confirm (I'm guessing as I couldn't validate the figures)
- I think they're the same thickness (or similar)?
- The 3777 is heavier?
I need to stop now and get a life. Hope this helps!