Hi all I just wanted to share my experience buying a brand new speedmaster moon watch here in London.
I purchased the watch brand new at a well known dealer in Hatton gardens. on the way home on the train I noticed that on one of the 1/8th second markers that one in particular was half missing when I got home I took the loop that came with the box and checked the watch over I then found another two flaws both were metallic particles on the dial one just above the 60 on the second sub dial and another just to the right of the 3 on the hour sub dial .
While waiting to take the watch back the next day I went online and discovered other people were also reporting dust on the dials then I found out that during the quality control stage visual inspection is done by eye only with no loup and under specific lighting conditions and from a set distance away, this shocked me as I have done and extensive amount of research online before pulling the trigger and I had never heard of this.
The dealer took the watch and confirmed what I was saying with his own more powerful jewellers loup and agreed to swap the watch before swapping the watch he looked at the replacement and said there is a slight defect with this one too! He showed me the lume on one of the hour markers was going over the white marker underneath it. I checked it and alto he was right I could live with it as it didn’t jump right out at me.
Unfortunately I have found another issue in that the minute subdial changes over about 3 seconds before the seconds hand moves past the 12 all in all as much as I wanted to like this “iconic” watch I just feel very disappointed by it and will probably just go back to the submariner.

 

Please check if there isn't a copy/paste error, because your post seems to be doubled.

Do you have some pictures? Sometimes two or three pics can tell more than thousand words.

 

I didn’t take any pictures of the first watch that was returned as I was hoping the second one would be perfect and I wasn’t planning to post on this forum unless it was to show off my new pride and joy. On this watch you can’t see the lume issue very well in the pictures but it is apparent in person. I will try to upload a video on the sub dial issue if I can.

 

If the error is unseeable without a loupe id not care. If your expecting perfection under a loop, I’d avoid Rolex and stick with Patek.

 

Sorry to hear about your experience. Thankfully it is not typical. And it is good the AD made things right for you right away, as they can be harder to deal with in that respect than OBs.

 

Just to clarify on both watches you can see the faults without the need of a loup. You can see it in person but it’s not easy to see in photographs.

 

This all reinforces the need to carefully look over a watch at time of purchase. Running issues are tougher to identify though, and often only become apparent after some time spent with the watch.

 

I’m not sure how much truth there is in it but when I purchased my watch from an official omega shop recently he said that many of the watches that find their way into grey dealers are watches that didn’t get past quality control. Not sure how much truth there is in it but certainly makes me think seeing your post.

 

False, grey market watches are unsold stock from AD’s.

 

I'm not going to praise greymarket but also I won't bad mouth them. Grey market will save you money but you forfeit buying experience,customer service (from what I've heard) and if the situation like the OP went thru came up then you'd probably not get a replacement (at least not as easily as he did) I would say that's where the diffrence of going grey ends. After talking with a friendly gent at an AD about grey's, and saying exactly what you are saying, he said it wasn't true (I too heard these stories) It's my impression that if a watch from an AD or OB is not up to par they are sent back and corrected because ultimately Omega or whichever high end name brand doesn't want their name on a product with defects. But I dont know if that's fact either

 

So you think grey market is supplied by Omega or walked out the back door of the factory?

 

If one of your markers is missing i would raise this with the AD and look at either returned and exchanging the watch or returning it for an expedited dial swap.

What i will say is I collect different watch brands and all brands have inconsistencies in manufacturing.

The worst i've had with omega are some small scratches on the bracelet / case but i've never felt compelled to raise them with the AD because i will only add more.

My rolexes have had misaligned bezels and dust. My JLC has had 2 fairly large particles of dust on the dial.

I think i could probably spot something under the loupe on every watch i own, so its best not to look and only focus on what can be seen with the eye... which leads me back to your first point. If the market is missing this should be fixed.

Good luck with getting it sorted.

 

Nope, I'm just saying that grey market is not supplied with "defective" examples that didnt make the cut at an AD or and OB. I originally was replying to the comment from winrya but I hit the wrong reply button and was quoting someone else.

Edited that post with the quote inserted for your reading pleasure

 

There's a lot wrong in the above statement.
The web it full of grey dealers who supply watches with all the relevant dealer stamped international warranty paperwork, you have a problem with a particular watch, contact Omega directly and claim warranty directly, problem solved.

 

Maybe you're not getting what I'm saying but in my experience grey means not authorized as as a dealer and therefore no warranty. Cards dont come stamped. If there are grey dealers who are selling watches that are stamped from other dealers then ok but that has not been my experience. My original point is that the stock greys get, from what I'm told, is not defective or blemished stock from ADs and OBs.

 

I do get what you are saying and it's not correct, many grey dealers supply watches via the AD and are supplied to us with full stamped warranty paperwork.

 

I edited out "warranty" in my statement however I have bought grey market watches that weren't even considered "high" end and they never came with a warranty that would be honored by the manufacturer of the watch. I would love to save hundreds of dollars and get a warranty. Which greys can you direct me to?

 

You don't have to look very far, Chrono24 is full of such dealers, mind you there are the Ashford's and Jomashop's out there who offer their own warranty, but I've no idea how they offer warranty repairs on in house movements, but below is an example of a "Grey dealer" offering a Hublot with a full Hublot warranty.


https://www.chrono24.co.uk/hublot/classic-fusion--id9315531.htm

 

I'm aware of jomashop and the like who offer their own warranty. In my opinion that's no warranty at all if it isn't factory. I wouldnt take a new BMW to "the shop down the street" and expect the same level of knowledge when it came to a repair. To be honest I never considered most C24 sellers as grey market rather a group of private sellers. Maybe that confusion on my part has left me blind to "greys with a warranty". My idea of grey is the jomashops out there which definitely dont include a stamped card.

 

It also might be the case that the way in which things can be sourced and in Europe and in the US could be two different things depending on the law around such things, but it's safe to say that here in Europe it is possible to buy from a grey dealer at a good discount and be supplied a full manufacturers warranty.
Also, I've found surprisingly that what is offered from Monaco has been one of the cheapest ways to buy a quality Swiss watch in Europe and as they are part of the EU there's not VAT to pay.