Hello OF,

As stated in the title, I brought my brand new watch to an authorized Omega service center to swap out the leather strap for a new bracelet and they gave it back to me with scratched up lugs. I was shocked to receive my piece back in this condition considering they are the experts. They then proceeded to lightly brush the area to clean it up and I just can’t stop thinking about the terribleness that my brand new watch has gone through.

My question is, what can I really do here? Since it’s brand new can I really ask them to throw a new case on it? But now I’m killing the originality of the watch. Or do I just live with it? This is a shitty spot to be and I can’t believe this happened. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

Sorry to hear that

Do you have any pictures?

 

Seek replacement. Period

 

Oh I forgot to mention, it’s an LE

 

Front or back? Did it buff out?

Pictures?

 

Back. For the most part, yes. But now the “stain” in the stainless steel stamp is faded. I will add pictures shortly, just out at the moment.

 

Ask for a replacement case. They are able to laser engrave the same serial number on the lugs. Takes a while but can be done.

 

Service can probably polish the watch case for you or they probably can do something of customer service... extend your warranty. Or Give you a free watch strap for the scratch of a BRAND NEW watch...

 

Sorry, that’s painful...like the first ding on a brand new car. If the back of the lug is shiny, then maybe try light buffing with a cape cod cloth. Just make sure not to buff over the edges of a lug. I’d probably just leave it and try to get some freebies from the OB.

For the future, learn to tape the lugs and swap straps yourself which isn’t hard.

 

Don't over react, send them a polite email with your concerns and see what emerges. Relay the outcome, but do-not copy/paste the email response, just paraphrase.

 

I wouldn't do any buffing at all. If the OP is trying to get relief from Omega the worst thing he can do is try to buff it or polish it himself and then the OB can claim he damaged it.

 

True, true. Just leave as is. Enjoy the watch. See what Omega will do about it...maybe some complimentary Omega paraphernalia. Looking at these new ways Omega signs the back of lugs, this could really be annoying...good luck.

 

I mean, no matter how careful you, or anyone else is, over time, you will get scratches on the lugs if you are changing straps.
That's a reality. The best thing to do is practice on a watch you don't care about so you can minimize your chances of scratching.
But it's going to happen.
As others have said, you could to see what could be done to fix it but it may be a bit of a challenge and may not be worth it.

This is just around 6 months of changing the strap (when required to remove spring bars) about a dozen or so times. And I consider myself to be decent at changing straps and quite careful while doing so....



I always go from the same side and this one is the worst one of the 2. I don't bother with taping.
And this picture makes it look even worse than it actually is.

 

this may sound silly, but I'm curious if manufacturers could apply some type of coating around the area of the lugs to reduce the chance of scratches to the lugs. I realize this may add to production costs.

 

Sorry to hear thing. I’ve had the same thing happen to brand new IWC. My lug was actually dented not just a scratch. I emailed to IWC customer service to explained what happened. IWC proceeded to give me complimentary Watch strap. The ones I wanted to purchase before the boutique messed up the changeover. Just be reasonable with your request. You will soon forget about the scratch/blemish. Enjoy the piece.

 

I think it’s unacceptable for your new watch to get scratched by a simple strap change. It should be replaced

 

I would be interested to hear from people who change straps and have never scratched a watch. Seriously. To me, even getting an OB to swap a strap means there is a good chance a small scratch or two will occur.

 

I hate when stuff gets scuffed up, no matter how it happens. Not really a good trait to have for someone like me who also likes things like watches and sneakers. I'm a lot better about it these days because things you wear are going to get marked up, scratched, scuffed, etc. It's unavoidable in the long run no matter how careful you are. And it's stupid to let it bother you, even though I've let it bother me plenty over the years. So I'm trying to really just enjoy this stuff by wearing it and whatever happens, happens. It's all just stuff in the end. But I know how pissed I'd be if Omega (Swatch people) scratched a brand new watch. I would definitely complain about it.

 

damn! perhaps a light polish could get rid of it?

 

I understand the frustration of the OP...that's why I'd rather do the bracelet/strap change myself so in the event that something goes wrong, at least I knew I did it.

I agree with BlackTalon's comment..getting an OB or anyone else for that matter to change a strap is really a gamble..you cannot guarantee the person will take the same care of the watch as you would like him to...and lastly, most of the staff in an OB are sales people with basic training, and only the watchmaker (if one is even available) is the only one with proper training on how to handle watches.

In your case if it really bothers you so much you can ask the OB to completely polish the scratches out (which means they have to send your watch to the service center for the movement to be uncased....etc etc..which also means there is a risk that it comes back with some other issue)....or get some cape cod polishing cloth and try to buff it off yourself.....or just ignore it since more scratches will come anyway the next time you swap the strap out

By the way, which LE is it? I hope not the ST2....