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Omega Speedmaster Hodinkee LE - Arrivals Thread
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Brian61992
·My email said my expected delivery date is January 25-30th but of course it’s “subject to change”.
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profzhu
·I just got the email from Hodinkee saying my delivery is from jan 25-30 and subject to change after I sent an angry DM to Eneuri Acosta.
If all of you rmb, he also sent out an email pre christmas saying quote "We received a small batch of watches the last week of November, which we processed and sent out to customers in the order in which purchases were made."
So I went back to check my order confirmation email and realised that our order numbers in the email are sequential. We can compared if they really do send out watches to customers in the oder in which purchases were made, and in this case, they're not.
My order number is 48381, and I'm got the email together with my friend with order number 48426. We are in the same country. However, my other friend in another country with order number 48424 did not get the call up.
If all of you rmb, he also sent out an email pre christmas saying quote "We received a small batch of watches the last week of November, which we processed and sent out to customers in the order in which purchases were made."
So I went back to check my order confirmation email and realised that our order numbers in the email are sequential. We can compared if they really do send out watches to customers in the oder in which purchases were made, and in this case, they're not.
My order number is 48381, and I'm got the email together with my friend with order number 48426. We are in the same country. However, my other friend in another country with order number 48424 did not get the call up.
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owlan
·I just got the email from Hodinkee saying my delivery is from jan 25-30 and subject to change after I sent an angry DM to Eneuri Acosta.
If all of you rmb, he also sent out an email pre christmas saying quote "We received a small batch of watches the last week of November, which we processed and sent out to customers in the order in which purchases were made."
So I went back to check my order confirmation email and realised that our order numbers in the email are sequential. We can compared if they really do send out watches to customers in the oder in which purchases were made, and in this case, they're not.
My order number is 48381, and I'm got the email together with my friend with order number 48426. We are in the same country. However, my other friend in another country with order number 48424 did not get the call up.
What country are you from. I'm in the US, my number is before yours, and I got the February-March email.
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profzhu
·I'm in Singapore. Apparently Singapore is getting deliveries ahead of HK, as with the example statement in my last para.
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owlan
·I sent Hodinkee an email about what's going on with random shipments vs order numbers. They told me that they assigned numbers according to the orders that came in. Omega is sending the numbers in random to them which is why some later orders are getting filled before the early orders.
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profzhu
·I sent Hodinkee an email about what's going on with random shipments vs order numbers. They told me that they assigned numbers according to the orders that came in. Omega is sending the numbers in random to them which is why some later orders are getting filled before the early orders.
So I guess Eric Ku just got assigned a number that was "randomly" picked by Omega to deliver first then. Sometimes I wonder why don't all these blogs go beyond the glamour and once in a while talk about what's wrong with the industry, what's causing these delays within Omega since it's obviously not a one off thing. Shrugs.
Here's the email from Hodinkee for all to see.
My name is Adam Becker and I'm a shop associate here at HODINKEE stepping in for Eneuri.
When we launched, we (and Omega) were under the impression that we would be able to deliver before the end of 2018; however, Omega has experienced significant delays throughout the production and rigorous QC processes. These have continued to compound, further delaying delivery for the vast majority of the watches (for both HODINKEE and Omega boutique buyers). We're in touch with Omega every day pushing for updates and to see if we can get any more watches any sooner, but as it stands right now, these are the timelines that Omega has been able to share with us.
Due to the fact that we've received such a small number of watches from Omega thus far, and because the watch sold so quickly, there are many folks who placed orders all at once. Keeping that in mind, we're doing our best to fulfill in a fair and orderly manner. We assigned limited edition watch numbers in the order the purchases came into our system but because we have no control over what numbers Omega has been sending us, we're working with the cards we've been dealt. That being said, we do understand your frustration here and again we apologize profusely that this has become an issue. I know it's a small consolation but, when you get your watch next week, you'll have received your order before a large number of people.
We hope you can understand the multitude of issues that came together to put us where we are today and we will be sure to provide more information to you and the others in the same boat as soon as we're able.
Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any further questions!
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dslee
·I just got the email from Hodinkee saying my delivery is from jan 25-30 and subject to change after I sent an angry DM to Eneuri Acosta.
If all of you rmb, he also sent out an email pre christmas saying quote "We received a small batch of watches the last week of November, which we processed and sent out to customers in the order in which purchases were made."
So I went back to check my order confirmation email and realised that our order numbers in the email are sequential. We can compared if they really do send out watches to customers in the oder in which purchases were made, and in this case, they're not.
My order number is 48381, and I'm got the email together with my friend with order number 48426. We are in the same country. However, my other friend in another country with order number 48424 did not get the call up.
mine is 48428 in US. Got the Feb-March delivery email.
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tyrantlizardrex
·"When we launched, we (and Omega) were under the impression that we would be able to deliver before the end of 2018; however, Omega has experienced significant delays throughout the production and rigorous QC processes"
So they learned nothing from the ST1 launch then?
Other than to take full payment upfront to really piss off customers.
So they learned nothing from the ST1 launch then?
Other than to take full payment upfront to really piss off customers.
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Lonestar
·Not so different from the ST LE's, then 😁
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Ssunnylee24
·If you are a Joe Shmoe whos not popular/famous in watch industry, they will make you wait.
Eric Ku will get his before anyone here.
Dont like it? Don’t buy from Hodinkee.
Its very unfortunate but thats how they are
Eric Ku will get his before anyone here.
Dont like it? Don’t buy from Hodinkee.
Its very unfortunate but thats how they are
Edited:
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brandnew2
·If you are a Joe Shmoe whos not popular/famous in watch industry, they will make you wait.
Eric Ku will get his before anyone here.
Dont like it? Don’t buy from Hodinkee.
Its very unfortunate but thats how they are
To be fair (though I understand the sentiment), I’m a Joe Schmoe and am not popular/famous either in the watch industry or outside of it, and I got mine at the same time as Eric Ku. I just got really lucky, as far as I can tell.
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profzhu
·It sucks that Omega can't release LE watches all at once they are made instead of releasing them over a period of months. It's a sure way of pissing off their loyal fan base. It's understandable for kickstarter watches or small houses to not have the cashflow or production capacity but for a company as big as Omega, it's definitely not out of their financial and production capabilities.
Omega must be extremely backward in the digitisation of their manufacturing line to be able to screw up every single one of their LE release, and continue to underestimate time taken for production. Let's break the manufacturing value chain down, the watch is made up of a standard movement, with customised case/dial/hands, and the goodies like boxes, etc
- thus movement manufacturing shouldn't take any additional time, they're standard 1861 movements, no special finishing involved
- case/dial/hands: the manufacturing of these should, in order to save time and cost, be done at scale, in one or two batches. The first one with some room for QC. The second batch, in bulk. Custom serial engraving for the cases is dirt easy and done by cutting machines.
- the goodies are likely outsourced, not a point of concern here as well
As such, analysing it in the way of how I understood manufacturing is done (at least how it's done in FMCG, automotive, aerospace, and pharma), I don't see how an efficient manufacturing line would be making all the parts for a LE release in batches. The only reason that I can think of is not a QC or manufacturing issue, but rather on the side of assembly, and that's where the bottleneck is. Omega probably shares the assembly team between regular and LE speedies, and allocate a small resource for LE speedies. Given how many LE releases Omega is doing, why don't they just create a small team dedicated to LE speedy assembly, which will give them a much more accurate estimation of manufacturing timeline and steady output.
Omega must be extremely backward in the digitisation of their manufacturing line to be able to screw up every single one of their LE release, and continue to underestimate time taken for production. Let's break the manufacturing value chain down, the watch is made up of a standard movement, with customised case/dial/hands, and the goodies like boxes, etc
- thus movement manufacturing shouldn't take any additional time, they're standard 1861 movements, no special finishing involved
- case/dial/hands: the manufacturing of these should, in order to save time and cost, be done at scale, in one or two batches. The first one with some room for QC. The second batch, in bulk. Custom serial engraving for the cases is dirt easy and done by cutting machines.
- the goodies are likely outsourced, not a point of concern here as well
As such, analysing it in the way of how I understood manufacturing is done (at least how it's done in FMCG, automotive, aerospace, and pharma), I don't see how an efficient manufacturing line would be making all the parts for a LE release in batches. The only reason that I can think of is not a QC or manufacturing issue, but rather on the side of assembly, and that's where the bottleneck is. Omega probably shares the assembly team between regular and LE speedies, and allocate a small resource for LE speedies. Given how many LE releases Omega is doing, why don't they just create a small team dedicated to LE speedy assembly, which will give them a much more accurate estimation of manufacturing timeline and steady output.
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tyrantlizardrex
·Is it really such a big thing?
If they released them all in one batch, you would not see peak pricing as early watches get flipped for profit...
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S.H.
·why don't they just create a small team dedicated to LE speedy assembly, which will give them a much more accurate estimation of manufacturing timeline and steady output.
Because just as you said, they would have to dedicate (or worse, hire) trained personnel => big costs, they must be integrated on swiss soil to have the "swiss made" sticker, it means swiss labor costs. And why bother, LE are selling, so they let it slide. Most Swiss brands have too much inventory already, so upping the HR costs is probably a bad idea.
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Gasman
·Sorry don’t like the blue bit.
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profzhu
·Because just as you said, they would have to dedicate (or worse, hire) trained personnel => big costs, they must be integrated on swiss soil to have the "swiss made" sticker, it means swiss labor costs. And why bother, LE are selling, so they let it slide. Most Swiss brands have too much inventory already, so upping the HR costs is probably a bad idea.
Not saying they need to hire new people. Just split the existing team, take a couple guys out from the standard assembly line. So you get the exact same headcount, but you get 2 concurrent production lines. It doesn't even need to be that big, because the LEs all use the same movement, so what you need is literally just a team for watch (ex-movement) assembly. For example 85% of the line is for regular speedy and 15% would be for LE speedy. And the LE speedy line would assemble an entire release before moving on to the next (i.e. done with trilogy series, and then do the ST2, and then the hodinkee, etc, etc). In this way there is less disruption to a production batch, and they should be able to better predict time required to finish the batch. But all these is in theory in my very simple brain that only understands manufacturing at the surface. I've only worked with big manufacturers that are adopting digitisation, maybe Omega is still working with pen and paper who knows.
And to the question on releasing watch all at once. Yes it is a big thing. Like what tyrantlizard said, it really screws with scalpers by removing peak pricing. It will also be the fairest release method, everyone gets treated the same and get the watches together (give and take time for delivery).
