Hi everyone, i just bought my first Speedmaster at the Omega boutique. I guess I was very excited during the whole experience and did not notice That the caseback lettering is off center (photo). Anyone else had this issue? Thinking of taking it back to replace…
I have seen some where the letters were offset a bit between the notches, but this is the first one I've seen where the notches cut into the letters. It's basically purely cosmetic, and you probably won't see it like 90% of the time. I would keep it. It's your piece unique in a way. I am not sure it's worth it to have the watchmaker opening a new watch and meddling around with your movement just for that. I think every time the service centre opens your watch, they will regulate it. The result sometimes may not be what you anticipated.
"HE FIRST WATCH... " bro, you just bought yourself a One Of A Kind, bespoke, Speedmaster. Me, I'd keep it... between wait times and shipping perils and any number of various "oopsies" that can occur during service I wouldn't send it in. However, if you've got eyes for another Omega at the same boutique you might be able to use that caseback as discount leverage.
Looks like it is sized and worn. No store is gonna exchange it for you. It's gonna get sent to the service centre and get opened.
Leave it, when it goes in for its first service have it replaced. But five or seven years down the line it probably won't even matter to you. I just don't like some service jockey monkeying around with a new watch for something like this, too much chance for other issues being introduced.
I understand the feeling of excitement. But this is why we gotta check the watch really meticulously. You are paying a lot of money for it, so it's best to take your time checking throughout the excitement, before confirming the piece. Just leave it imo. You'll get over it eventually.
Call me old fashioned but it seems reasonable to assume that Omega has checked such things first. A purchase is always partly about trust. If it were me it would annoy me....unless I found that its value doubled through rarity
Thanks for all the replies. I am leaning on keeping it as it is quite unique. I managed to get a better picture and you can see the remainder of the T bar engraved within the notch itself.
My initial reaction was definitely to exchange for a new one. As others have stated though if it’s been worn you’d be dealing with a warranty claim and probably not worth it. I think @Evitzee nailed it.
I would speak to the boutique, and ask if they have a watchmaker on staff. If they do, ask them to order a replacement, and when it comes in, have their watchmaker do the swap, and they can send the old case back to Omega for credit. The swap itself would take all of 5 minutes (including a pressure test after). If they don't have a watchmaker, or won't do the above, I would just wait until it's serviced, and have that swap done then.
Since it's just the caseback without a serial on it, wouldn't the boutique just be able to order the part and swap it out? Isn't it just making sure the right amount of torque is applied to achieve the necessary seal?
This is clearly the fault of Omega, so it wouldn't make a difference. If the OP is concerned, he can at least register the issue with the boutique now.
I went to the boutique today. They told me everything you guys had already said hehe. I would have to send the watch in to replace the caseback. The guy at the boutique was perplexed by the print error and literally took out all the Speedmaster sapphires in the shop to compare. Mine was the only one with the error print. I decided to keep it as it is. It has grown on me and it’s very unique. . Thanks for all your help.
Good decision. I think he offset printing makes it a little more unique. he valuation of the watch should not be affected, as some collectors may prefer a 'factory error'. At he end of the day its a watch, and this does not really affect anything. Enjoy it!
Sorry to burst your bubble, but there’s nothing unique about this. Just a pesky QC slip that happens here and there. I would urge the boutique order in a new caseback, and have it replaced. Seems like they aren’t able to do that since there’s no watchmaker on hand. As such, I would request a total replacement and I think that’s more than fair.
This must be a huge and widespread problem as I just saw the same problem on some other well known forum.