Gap Between Case and End Link on Seamaster Aqua Terra

Hi everyone. I've got a QC question that I'd like to pose to the forum to canvas some opinions. I acquired a 3rd generation AT in February this year, still under factory warranty till November. Initially, I noted a spot on the hour hand and a clasp that was very tight. Sent it in to the OB to get it fixed. No problem. Now, I've noticed a gap between the endlink and the case at the 12 o'clock position. I've included photos of it and it's opposite endlink for comparison:

I'm a bit annoyed at myself for not noticing this earlier as I could have had it fixed at the same time. My wife reckons that I should just let it go, as it's not easily visible by a casual observer and it wouldn't be visible when I view the watch from my usual perspective:

She also reckons that the more people that muck around with my watch, the greater the risk of introducing other issues (accidental damage) etc.
Is she right? Am I being too fussy? Is this within acceptable tolerances? Is this quite common with watches? Thinking of taking it to the OB tomorrow. Thanks in advance for your responses.

I would suggest that's likely within tolerance. You might find the tangs on the underside of the end link have bent ever so slightly, allowing for a small amount of play that you are seeing.

Thanks for your reply. I forgot to mention that from a functional point of view, these endlinks are OK. There's absolutely no movement at all of the endlink when installed, so no free play.

Looks OK to me 👍
I bought a bracelet for my Bremont S300 via my wife's Bremont Facebook account.
The bracket is great but there was gap betwixt endlink and case so the seller paid for new end links from Bremont.
The gap in the Bremont was chasm-like compared to the AT here.
Great 👍 watch by the way, I love the AT's

Not something that would bother me, and I assume it will even out (meaning that the super tight opposite lug will loosen a bit) with time and wear.

I was also going to suggest checking that is has the correct spring bars, or at a minimum that it is not bent on that side. Although the gap does appear somewhat trivial, it might end up marking or grooving the case at the friction points if it develops any play.

I'll check my Skyfall tonight and will report if it shares this same issue.

It happens usually from one of the lugs getting bent, a lot of used watches I see have one lug looser than the other. My 14060M sub had one that was like that when I got it - I bent it back into shape with my fingers and now my OCD is happy. Sometimes you can just buy a new end link like in the case of the Rolex, but I think in this case it's part of the bracelet so it wouldn't be cost effective to do so.

Could even be the spring bars. I would just try a fresh set of spring bars and see if that helps...

Just an update. So I took the watch to an OB in town after work for them to have a look at it. They tried changing spring bars to see if that would do the trick but no luck. The sales assistant suggested that I take it to the OB that I normally deal with, as they're a bigger shop with an in-house watch tech who can have a closer look at it. Sadly, that place is currently undergoing renovations and won't reopen until another couple of weeks at the earliest. I must admit, I'm increasingly leaning towards just living with it, as I'm getting nervous about all the people dicking around with my watch and I'm loathe to be without it for another 2 months. Need to find my inner zen now...

Looks like my OCD has finally got the better of me. As I was in town, I made a spur of the moment decision to take my AT in to the OB I normally deal with. The sales assistant was very nice and agreed to have a look at it. His initial impression was that the gap might be within Omega's tolerances. He took out a 41mm green dial AT from the display case to compare and whilst that example did not have as big a gap with its end links, there was a lot of free play (both side to side and forwards/backwards). It was so rattly that I was shocked. I also saw a ladies AT that had an end link with as big a gap as mine. Anyway, the sales assistant agreed to send my watch in to the service centre for further assessment under warranty. Hopefully the turnaround time won't be too long and Omega will agree to give me a better fitting end link.

The last couple of days I've been doing a bit of research on this issue by trawling forums and looking at pictures of listings on Chrono24. Looks like it's a not uncommon issue with the AT. So, this begs the question: Why can't Omega make a decent end link more consistently? In contrast, the brand with the crown seems to make end links that fit tighter than a goldfish butt hole. I love Omega but if they want to put up their prices, then the quality has to improve accordingly.

You'll get a Nobel Prize for medicine if you do.

So I finally got my watch back from the OB after a month's absence. Omega ordered a new end link for me and fitted it. Here's the result:

As you can see, there's still a slight gap between the end link and the case. But at least it's now smaller than before and it looks symmetrical all the way across. I think this is about as good as it's going to get for this watch, so it's case closed for me. However, as a learning exercise I hope that other watch enthusiasts will be able to benefit. The lesson? When buying an Omega, especially the Aqua Terra, make sure you look closely at the fit of the end links and ensure that it's to your satisfaction before you pull the trigger.