Is this within tolerances? (New speedmaster)

Lug

I can say with certainty that a ten grand watch (of the quality and spec of an Omega Speedmaster) will never seem ‘modestly priced’ to me, however rich I one day become.

And I don’t expect ‘perfection’ from it btw, I just expect it to have been assembled with care and attention to detail. We’re talking about an expensive instrument made by machine to incredible tolerances, not something made in 20 seconds by sticking a steam wand into a jug of milk. The precision of the item is kind of the point, imho.

Dan S

These people expecting literal "perfection" because some product cost $X are apparently not living in the same world that I live in. I only hope I never have to interact with them in person. "That foam better be perfect on my $5 latte!"

The closer you look, the more imperfection you will find. And something that seems expensive to you now may seem modestly priced at a different time in your life.

BlackTalon

Good luck buying a luxury car for >$100k that doesn't have at least a handful of "but it should be perfect!" items. Including things like motors that fail due. The amount of money spent does not correlate to 'perfection'.

Lug

As previously noted, I don’t think people are after perfection

phrede

Yes, I know it is minor.
But the speedmaster now has a pretty "grown-up" price that certainly calls for perfection in my view.

YandB

My ed white is like that, I’m fine with it… almost every single one of my watches has alignment issues on it.

BlackTalon

Good luck buying a luxury car for >$100k that doesn't have at least a handful of "but it should be perfect!" items. Including things like motors that fail due. The amount of money spent does not correlate to 'perfection'.

Scarecrow Boat

The OP certainly is

Olhenry56

I can't see myself ever spending more than a couple thousand $ on a watch (I have mostly vintage watches in the hundreds), so my opinion may not be worth much, but I would certainly expect something that could reasonably be done better to be done better at that price. Parts can fail, timekeeping will certainly vary, so perfection is impossible and shouldn't be expected, but the fact that the OP has now been promised better alignment makes it clear that it could have been better aligned from the beginning. So it seems like a reasonable expectation, and thankfully the service center agreed. That said, i still think the apparent misalignment was mostly due to parallax, and i wouldn't personally have risked having anyone open it and mess with it for such a small misalignment. I'm just being a little risk adverse, though, and I'm sure it will be great when you get it back.

Rat Fink65

Its costly enough that he shouldn't have to deal with this issue...

SC1

Disagree. A 100k watch is a lot more expensive than 10k -- as is a 10k to a 1k and a 1k to a hundred dollar watch. It's relative no? And stating it, while potentially painful to digest, is a simple fact.

But much more important (and topically specific) is brand specs.
If the OP wants to pursue sending it in for a tolerance inspection that's what needs to happen -- but beware, if it falls within spec it's coming back As Is.

Can't be stated enough: be wary of the loupe for it may ruin your day.

YandB

My ed white is like that, I’m fine with it… almost every single one of my watches has alignment issues on it.

BlackTalon

Good luck buying a luxury car for >$100k that doesn't have at least a handful of "but it should be perfect!" items. Including things like motors that fail due. The amount of money spent does not correlate to 'perfection'.

Evitzee

We better hope that a speck of dust, a hair, a nick on the hands, marks on the back cover, lug marks or a scratch somewhere else doesn't appear on OP's watch or we will be arguing again about what is acceptable in the demand for expected perfection.

Annapolis

Surely you know that nowadays even irrefutable textual evidence can be written off as “fake news.” 😀


All seriousness, nobody’s saying that anyone should accept a truly subpar product or expect the chrono hand to be pointed at 11:57 instead of 12. But if it’s a quarter-tick off—something you’d need a loupe to really see, as I believe was the case here?—that’s probably within the margin. It’s certainly a higher standard than I’d hold Omega to, but good on the AD for wanting to keep this customer happy.

Also, people keep talking about $10k watches: why are folks paying $10k for a $6600 watch? If you want to get fleeced that badly, go buy something from that other brand.

D Duckie

Intersting👎
I've never ever had a watch which was like that, even a cheap and cheery Seiko.
Having said that the only chronograph I have ever had is my 1861 Speedy Pro and I'm OCD enough to inspect a watch thoroughly enough at the point of sale for hand and or bezel misalignment as others have noted, it is a thing we must factor in especially if it may lead to a discount😉