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Disappointed with Omega QC and Swatch Group Support - Misaligned Hand Brushed Off

TheChosen1!
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Hey everyone,

Just wanted to share my recent experience with Swatch Group customer service regarding a misaligned hand on my Omega. I’m posting this because I believe others should be aware of the standards (or lack thereof) that Swatch/Omega appears to consider acceptable—and how they handle legitimate concerns from customers.

The Issue:​


I noticed that one of the hands on my Omega Speerdmaster Pro was visibly misaligned. I took photos (pictures are attached) and contacted Swatch Group support in September. Initially, the representative was polite and responsive. I sent the requested photos, and was told the issue would be reviewed by management and Omega HQ.

After a long wait and multiple follow-ups from me, I finally received a reply stating that the hand alignment was “within specification”, and attributing the issue to parallax—a term I’m sure many here are familiar with, but in this case, simply not applicable. The misalignment is visible dead-on, and not a trick of the eye.

My Concerns:​


-They never directly acknowledged the misalignment, even when I explicitly asked if they could see what I was seeing.

-The explanation leaned heavily on parallax, which felt dismissive and generic.

-When I pressed for clarification on Omega’s tolerances and whether anything could actually be done to correct the issue, the response was vague at best.

-I was eventually told a “minor adjustment” could be made—yet no explanation was offered about what that entails, or why it wasn't suggested earlier.

This whole experience has seriously shaken my confidence in Omega and the Swatch Group’s standards. I understand that no watch is perfect, but when you’re spending thousands on a piece that’s supposed to reflect craftsmanship and precision, the least you expect is transparency and a genuine effort to make it right.

Takeaway:​


If you're considering sending your watch in for a similar issue, don’t expect a clear resolution or accountability—even with photo evidence. And if you're thinking about buying a piece from Swatch Group (Omega, Longines, Tissot, etc.), keep in mind that their definition of “within spec” might be very different from yours.

I’ve listed the watch for sale and will be upfront with potential buyers by sharing the full support email chain. I believe that kind of transparency is important—especially when the brand won’t offer it themselves.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of issue with Swatch/Omega? Curious to hear if this is a one-off or part of a broader pattern.

Best,
Terry

pic 1.webp pic 2.webp pic 3.webp
 
Davidt
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Not sure I understand the issue apart from it seems their customer service/comms wasn’t great.

If im understanding this correctly, your chrono hand is slightly misaligned and they’ve offered to adjust it. Problem solved.
 
Evitzee
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I've had many Speedmasters over the years and a slight misalignment is pretty normal, and as long as it doesn't inhibit the correct reading of the elapsed time I don't worry about it. Yes, your minute hand is slightly off, if it bothers you send it in and have them adjust it. Just be aware that anytime a watch is opened after it leaves the factory there is potential for other issues to be introduced.....dust, scratches, nicks, and mechanical issues that weren't there before. If you are selling it because of the alignment I think it is overreaction, but it's your watch. If you are selling it for other reasons than don't worry about the misalignment, it won't bother most people.
Edited:
 
TheChosen1!
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Evitzee Evitzee
I've had many Speedmasters over the years and a slight misalignment is pretty normal, and as long as it doesn't inhibit the correct reading of the elapsed time I don't worry about it. Yes, your minute hand is slightly off, if it bothers you send it in and have them adjust it. Just be aware that anytime a watch is opened after it leaves the factory there is potential for other issues to be introduced.....dust, scratches, nicks, and mechanical issues that weren't there before. If you are selling it because of the alignment I think it is overreaction, but it's your watch. If you are selling it for other reasons than don't worry about the misalignment, it won't bother most people.
Thanks for the reply—I get where you're coming from, and I respect that you’re okay with minor misalignments on Speedmasters. But in this case, I think it's worth drawing a line.

Yes, my watch’s hand is visibly off, and I’m not talking about a microscopic misalignment that you'd need a loupe to see. It’s noticeable at a glance, straight on—not a matter of viewing angle or “parallax” as Swatch claimed. When you spend this kind of money on a watch that’s marketed as a precision timepiece, I think it’s completely reasonable to expect… precision.

What frustrates me most isn’t just the misalignment—it’s the refusal by Swatch/Omega to even acknowledge that it exists. Instead, they downplayed it with vague language and generic explanations. I wasn’t looking for a refund or anything extreme—I just wanted them to stand behind the product and offer a concrete fix without me having to press for it.

I hear your point about the risks of opening the case, but honestly, if the brand can’t fix a basic hand alignment issue without introducing new problems, that says a lot about their service standards. And while it might not bother some people, I don’t think it’s unreasonable for it to bother me. This isn’t a budget watch—it’s a luxury item, and it should meet a higher bar.

So yeah, I am selling it. Not out of overreaction, but because this whole experience has taken the shine off the brand for me.

Appreciate the discussion, though.
 
Evitzee
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Of course a brand should be expected to be able to open a case, do whatever needs to be done, and give it back to the owner without any sign of an intervention. Unfortunately we live in the real world where folks working in service centers aren't as skilled as they could be due to training and turnover, and their own diligence to the job at hand. So stuff happens, we see it all the time here. You will find this across most watch lines I'm afraid.

BTW, the reason parallax was mentioned by Omega is the chrono hand is the furthest from the dial and is subject to the parallax effect where the other hands aren't as much.
Edited:
 
Davidt
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They’ve only seen pictures. It’s understandable for them to suggest it may be parallax. You’ve countered that isn’t the case and they’ve offer to adjust it.

I think selling the wqtxh is a huge overreaction
 
pdxleaf
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This reminds me of when I started work as a framer with my friend's dad. My first job was in about 1988 on a million dollar house in a suburb of Minnesota. That was alot of money back then. The owner was a surgeon.

One Monday we returned to the house and all the doors had been pulled out of the frames. The wife had come in and decided they wanted the tops and bottoms painted. The painter obliged.

I later learned that the boss would charge 10% more if the owner was a doctor or lawyer. Most doctors and lawyers would hold back 10% or have so many miniscule nit-picks that it always cost extra.

In order to prove to me that this chrono hand is such a big deal that you felt it necessary to complain on an Omega watch forum, you need to explain to me how 1/10th of a second difference is going to impact you. Not to mention, your ability to measure anything that accurately and consistently. Or how you can see it when the watch is four feet away and not in a close up photo.

As for the Minnesota house, the couple later divorced.
 
TheChosen1!
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Davidt Davidt
They’ve only seen pictures. It’s understandable for them to suggest it may be parallax. You’ve countered that isn’t the case and they’ve offer to adjust it.

I think selling the wqtxh is a huge overreaction
Totally fair point that they were going off photos at first—but that’s also why I made sure to take clear, straight-on shots, and explained that it wasn’t a parallax issue. What’s frustrating is that even after reviewing the images and following up multiple times, the issue still wasn’t acknowledged directly. Instead, it was just brushed off as “within spec,” with no explanation of what those specs actually are.

As for selling the watch being an overreaction—I get how it might seem that way to some. But here’s a bit more context:

When I initially raised the concern with the authorized dealer, they told me if they sent it to Omega, there was a real chance Omega could inspect it, decide it’s in spec, and deny any warranty service. Not only that, but they’re seeing 3–6 month turnaround times for even basic issues from the service centers. That’s a lot of time to be without the watch, with no guarantee it’ll be fixed. That’s why I ended up contacting Swatch Group directly instead of going through the AD further.

At the end of the day, whether this is an “overreaction” depends on your expectations. From my perspective, if I’m buying a watch at this price point from a brand like Omega, I shouldn't have to settle for something I wouldn’t accept on a much less expensive piece. Some people are fine with slight misalignments—I'm not, and that’s okay too.

Thanks for the discussion—it’s helpful hearing how others see it. Just sharing my side of the experience.
 
Tekashi_145.022
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My vintage Speedmaster 145.022 reset perfectly for 7 years, then began to reset/zero like yours (actually a bit worse). I took it to a watchmaker that used to do repairs at Omega and was told the same thing: it’s within Omega’s QC standards and didn’t need addressing.

I believe he said that as long as the chrono hand reset above the 12 o’clock marker, it was within spec. (And I also received a long explanation that it could be parallax).

It was a little alarming at first since it was a decline in quality, and frankly it’s a bit of an eyesore (I’m not very OCD but OMG) - but the functionality of the watch is not affected, so I understand Omega’s perspective.

For what it’s worth, my watch was only resetting perfectly maybe 20% of the time once this issue began, and a couple of years later, it began resetting perfectly most of the time again.
 
TheChosen1!
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pdxleaf pdxleaf
This reminds me of when I started work as a framer with my friend's dad. My first job was in about 1988 on a million dollar house in a suburb of Minnesota. That was alot of money back then. The owner was a surgeon.

One Monday we returned to the house and all the doors had been pulled out of the frames. The wife had come in and decided they wanted the tops and bottoms painted. The painter obliged.

I later learned that the boss would charge 10% more if the owner was a doctor or lawyer. Most doctors and lawyers would hold back 10% or have so many miniscule nit-picks that it always cost extra.

In order to prove to me that this chrono hand is such a big deal that you felt it necessary to complain on an Omega watch forum, you need to explain to me how 1/10th of a second difference is going to impact you. Not to mention, your ability to measure anything that accurately and consistently. Or how you can see it when the watch is four feet away and not in a close up photo.

As for the Minnesota house, the couple later divorced.
Interesting story—and I get the analogy you’re going for. But I think it’s important to separate “nit-picking” from reasonable expectations, especially when you're paying for a premium product.

To your example: if the tops and bottoms of the doors were supposed to be painted, then the owner wasn’t nit-picking—they were just holding the builder to the standard that was expected (and likely paid for). Same applies here. I never claimed the chronograph hand made the watch defective—I simply pointed out that it's visibly misaligned and that at this price point and from this brand, I expected better attention to detail.

I'm not asking Omega to rebuild the movement. I’m asking them to make a simple correction under warranty—a correction that would take a trained tech very little time to fix. The issue is that they won’t even acknowledge the misalignment, instead choosing to explain it away as "parallax" and saying it's "within spec"—without ever defining what those specs actually are.

As for whether the misalignment makes a functional difference: it’s not really about my ability to measure down to the 1/10th of a second. It’s about alignment of components on a luxury timepiece that is meant to embody precision. I notice it every time I look at the dial straight on. It’s not visible from four feet away—sure—but that’s not where we read watches from, is it?

So no, I don’t think I’m being overly picky. I’m just expecting the same level of care and quality control from Omega that they build their reputation on. I figured they’d be glad to correct it under warranty. Instead, I got deflection and vague explanations. That’s what disappointed me.

Appreciate the discussion—different perspectives are always good to hear.
 
Dan S
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If you are talking about the alignment of the chrono hand then I can only imagine that you are trolling us.
 
Canuck
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Pray that the watch you buy to replace the Speedmaster is absolutely perfect!
 
TheChosen1!
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Dan S Dan S
If you are talking about the alignment of the chrono hand then I can only imagine that you are trolling us.
Trolling? Oh absolutely. I bought a multi-thousand-dollar Omega just to come here and stir up the chrono hand alignment community. You caught me.

In all seriousness though—if pointing out that a chronograph hand on a luxury timepiece isn’t aligned properly is enough to trigger cries of trolling, maybe the bar for quality has gotten a bit too flexible.

Imagine expecting precision from a company that literally sells precision as its brand identity. Wild, I know.
 
Evitzee
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I know you believe that a $7,800 watch is a luxury item, but in today's horology world it's a mass produced mid-line watch, call it near-luxury. You can expect perfection but you'll be disappointed when you loupe any watch these days, even very high end watches will show slight misalignments, uneven finishing or other 'flaws' in the dial, case, movement, function or hand alignment. Either accept it or move on to other items.

For the last three months there has been a discussion about the acceptance of variations on a subdial on the Silver Snoopy watch, no agreement as to what's acceptable or not. 26 pages long, and counting. https://omegaforums.net/threads/snoopy-2025-production-issues.184731/
Edited:
 
Davidt
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Are you going to replace it with a watch of similar value?
Tudor - date issues.
Rolex - amplitude and time keeping issues with new movements.

At this price point, even though we like to think they are precision instruments, perfect to the smallest detail, the fact is, they are mass produced items and occasionally QC may miss something. I’m sure Omega will have a spec for what is and isn’t without acceptable tolerances for chrono hand alignment and I don’t know whether this is within spec or not. But, if it isn’t that’s what warranties are for. You’re just as likely to have an issue with another similar mid iteration brand as you are with Omega.
 
TheChosen1!
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Evitzee Evitzee
I know you believe that a $7,800 watch is a luxury item, but in today's horology world it's a mass produced mid-line watch, call it near-luxury. You can expect perfection but you'll be disappointed when you loupe any watch these days, even very high end watches will show slight misalignments, uneven finishing or other 'flaws' in the dial, case, movement, function or hand alignment. Either accept it or move on to other items.
 
TheChosen1!
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Totally fair take—and honestly, I agree with a lot of what you said. You're right: even in the higher-end watch world, absolute perfection is rare, and if you go hunting with a loupe, you're going to find something on almost anything, whether it’s alignment, finishing, or casework.

I get that a $7,800 Omega sits in that "near-luxury" tier compared to haute horology, and maybe I did have expectations that were a little too high. But I still don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect basic visual alignment on a watch that’s part of a brand known for precision. It’s not about chasing perfection with a loupe—just looking at the chrono hand dead-on and seeing it off enough that it catches your eye every time you start the chrono.

That’s also why I mentioned I’d probably be selling it. If I’m going to keep a watch, I need to enjoy it every time I look at it—not have my eye go straight to a detail that bugs me.

For what it’s worth, I also own a couple Tudors right now and haven’t had any alignment or QC issues with them. I’m curious what happens if we do see the Oyster Prince Chronograph drop next year—especially with how the Black Bay chronos (with the Breitling movement) have been handled. Will Tudor be better about hand alignment on those? We’ll see.

Appreciate the perspective. This kind of discussion is exactly why I brought it up.
 
TheChosen1!
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502 to right 502 to right
In my opinion this is an overreaction on your part.
Totally fair—that’s your opinion, and I respect that. I get that for some people, this kind of thing wouldn’t be a big deal.

That said, I’ve actually owned this same generation of Speedmaster before, prior to Omega adding the on-the-fly micro-adjust to the clasp, and that example didn’t have this issue. So I know this kind of misalignment isn’t inherent to all Speedmasters, or something caused by the heavily domed crystal or viewing angle. This seems to be more of a one-off QC slip rather than an unavoidable design quirk.

I get that different people draw the line in different places, but for me, this was enough to raise a flag—especially given the price point and the brand’s reputation for precision. Just sharing my experience and seeing where others stand.

Appreciate you weighing in.
 
Donn Chambers
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502 to right 502 to right
In my opinion this is an overreaction on your part.
Agreed. My Speedmaster Chronograph hand is about the same as the OPs. I didn’t even notice it until I’d had the watch for a couple of months. Doesn’t bother me at all. I just close my left eye when I look at it, and problem solved. 😀
 
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