Well months ago, I wanted either a Datejust 36 two tone, or a SM300M.

Bought the Datejust 2 weeks ago. Didn't bond like I thought I would, the lume was not impressive, and further, to top it all off, the clasp was a little crooked. It would rub on one side of the bracelet.

I sold it, lost $1600, but thought I would get out of it.

Anyway, I went and tried on a SM300M yesterday. Beautiful watch, but I inspected like crazy. Don't want to buy another defective watch.

I noticed that the bezel insert doesn't line up perfectly with the dashes on the dial.

So I passed.

Am I being too picky?

Should I got to another AD to look for one that lines up? Or is bezel misalignment common on Omega as it is with a $300 Seiko?

 

Have any pics? Should be aligned. AD should be able to get another one. Purchased one last month, clasp was difficult to close. You may want to check that too.

 

You mean you rotated it a bit and still couldn’t get it to line up? That’s not acceptable.

I second the clasp bit, having just had to replace the seized-up clasp on mine after less than one week of ownership. Open and close the clasp several times to make sure the action feels right. (So far so good with my new clasp.)

In my experience both visiting ADs and talking to others on the phone, these watches are in plentiful supply: you should not have to settle for one that’s out of alignment in any way.

 

No, I didn't take any pics. I took maybe 10 minutes starring at it, wondering if I cared that it was crooked. Then I decided I did, and left.

Thanks, I had heard about the clasp, so I checked that too.

 

Yes that is exactly what I mean.

I probably spun it 7 times for the full counter clockwise rotation just to make sure.

And yup, never lined up.

I am 4 hours away from another AD. I will drive over there soon enough.

I just wanted to ask if it a misaligned bezel is common on these or not.

Seiko for example, you're lucky if you get one that aligns.

On sub $600 watches though.

 

That's a defective watch and should not be accepted. Bezel should always align perfectly. I have rejected Rolexes for crooked rehaut and that to most is acceptable. I still don't know why.

 

Hi, I am so happy that you replied to my thread. I was wondering if any modern Rolex owners would reply.

You are completely correct about the crooked rehaut on Modern Rolex. It is insane.

This is why I wanted to ask about the bezel on the Omega.

Is it considered normal like a crooked rehaut is?

But apparently not!

Thanks again for your reply.

 

It’s bound to happen. I grew up in a family that ran a tiny manufacturing company (25 employees) that had, at times, two dedicated QC managers, and still mistakes would slip through. According to publicly speculated figures, SWATCH is cranking out an Omega-branded watch every 20 seconds or so; Rolex is probably churning out watches at twice that rate. (I understand that doesn’t mean it takes 20 seconds to make a watch—to be clear—I’m just saying, these are mass-, rapidly-produced objects.) Considering the volume made, it’s actually impressive that mistakes aren’t more common. There was a pretty funny Rolex OP one shared a few months back at the Rolex Forum: the “4:20 watch,” as it came to be called, because of an error dial with double stick indices at 4.

It definitely pays to scrutinize the watch before forking over the cash!

 

Yes, this one wasn't as crooked as the rehaut was on a Submariner that I sold. But I am at a point where I would rather keep looking that jump on something that might bother me in the long run.

 

Without pictures, it is hard to say for certain if this bezel was severely misaligned or not — some people have a very low tolerance for ANY misalignment on a $5000 watch, and they often don’t account for parallax when looking at the watch.

With that said, I have never owned a diver where the bezel marks line up perfectly all around the dial. I own 3 divers at the moment (a Seamaster, a quartz Certina, and a Formex Reef). All have some level of misalignment at some point. For example, on the Seamaster, when the bezel marks are lined up perfectly with the 15 minute and 45 minute markers on the dial, the bezel lume plot is aligned, but the 25-minute bezel mark is just slightly rotated CCW from the corresponding mark on the dial, and the 30-minute bezel counter is also slightly off center.

On the Certina, 20, 25, 30, and 35-minute markers are rotated about 1-click CCW from the dial marker.

I can show you pictures of Rolex Subs that have a similar issue, primarily at the 25-, 30-, and 35- minute markers.

You have to remember that the dial is a different diameter than the bezel and with small, reasonable tolerances for manufacture, there are likely to be some slight deviations somewhere on the bezel. By slight, I’m talking a 1 click offset. I believe in the QC-stage, they only focus on the bezel lume plot matching the 12 o’clock marker on the dial.

 

Hi, I was specifically referring to the bezel lume plot, not lining up with the 12 o clock marker on the dial when it is supposed to.

Thanks for the thorough response. I specifically like the last paragraph, abut the different diameter, and how that can affect alignment in general. I hadn't thought of that.

I will upload a picture soon, a guy posted it on Instagram, and you can tell that the bezel insert isn't well centered.

 

look at the other bezel markings as well. It’s quite possible the bezel is just a click or two off — a lot of people don’t really pay attention to how the bezel is set.

 

Sorry it took me so long. This is the one from Instagram. If you look closely, the bezel is a little too far clockwise to be dead center

and it seems like it the person did one more click counter clockwise, it would go over

this is what I mean.

 

The tip of the triangle from the bezel doesn’t line up with the dash on the dial at 12

 

I don't think that you can use the bezel to measure bottom time so precisely that a small misalignment like this would be dangerous. And anyway, these days I think you're better off using a dive computer to determine your bottom time since it accounts for your dive profile in a much more sophisticated way.

 

I thinks it aethetics not functionality, that's the concern.

 

While I certainly see what you mean to communicate, what bothers me is the aesthetic, that something is off.

I am simply wondering if this is acceptable/common for an Omega watch.

I've seen some perfect ones, and some like this. So I wonder.

 

Why would anyone care about such a minor thing? Just get it adjusted when you have it serviced.

 

Is it possible to get it adjusted? That was actually my follow up question.

The problem with the Rolex rehaut for example, apparently the rehaut is part of the case, so the only way to center it is to buy a new dial, because the dial is the one that is misaligned, not the rehaut.

So how would Omega rectify this?

With a new bezel insert?

Or just remove the bezel insert from the bezel and reattach it?

Or new bezel insert AND bezel?

@Archer would know I'm sure.

 

OCD thing. I understand. Some people buy a new Porsche and want all the seams in the seats to be perfect. Others FLOG it on the track. To each his own.
You pay top dollar for a nice watch you should have to right to be a perfectionist. That said, the first brush against a cement wall and it's no longer perfect.