Your thoughts on hour-hand misalignments? (+pics)

Leviathan · Apr 3, 2022

Archer
The watch was from a member here (Stuart - haven't seen him here in years) in the UK who sent it to me for service. I emailed him when it arrived, and asked if it had always been this way - he confirmed it had, right from the day he walked out of the AD with it. He just never bothered to get it fixed.

That’s really interesting! Only off by a quarter hour 😁

As an expert, what are your thoughts on the misalignments above? Would they warrant cracking open the watches (some of them new) to get them fixed? Or just a thing to leave for the first service?

Stripey · Apr 3, 2022

The Gruen in my profile picture has this issue. I've never fixed it because (a) the watch is otherwise fine (b) it cost me £20 from eBay and a bit more for the Hirsch strap I put on it and (c) it has radium hands, so I didn't feel like disturbing it until necessary. I'd feel differently about a £7,000 or £8,000 watch!

Archer · Apr 3, 2022

Leviathan
That’s really interesting! Only off by a quarter hour 😁

As an expert, what are your thoughts on the misalignments above? Would they warrant cracking open the watches (some of them new) to get them fixed? Or just a thing to leave for the first service?

This is really a question only the person who owns the watch can answer, that’s one reason I posted that example. It shows that no matter what someone else might think, only you know if it bothers you enough.

For me personally, ima stickler for hand alignment, so if I bought a watch with misaligned hands, I’d just fix it myself.

Leviathan · Apr 3, 2022

Stripey
The Gruen in my profile picture has this issue. I've never fixed it because (a) the watch is otherwise fine (b) it cost me £20 from eBay and a bit more for the Hirsch strap I put on it and (c) it has radium hands, so I didn't feel like disturbing it until necessary. I'd feel differently about a £7,000 or £8,000 watch!

Yeah, yours looks late by almost 10 minutes.

I think this issue occurs regardless of the price of the watch (until you perhaps start crossing the £10,000 range). From my modest experience, I find it’s somewhat common in the low to mid range brands—also evident by the pics above. Roughly half my watches have this issue, and that’s irrespective of price.

Leviathan · Apr 3, 2022

Archer
This is really a question only the person who owns the watch can answer, that’s one reason I posted that example. It shows that no Matt what someone else might think, only you know if it bothers you enough.

For me personally, ima stickler for hand alignment, so if I bought a watch with misaligned hands, I’d just fix it myself.

Thanks, that’s really helpful.

Would this kind of issue constitute a valid warranty claim? For example, the Rolex and Omega shown above… would that be something these companies should be obliged to fix under their 5-year warranties? Or would they just say it’s within factory specs.. etc. etc.

Archer · Apr 3, 2022

Leviathan
Thanks, that’s really helpful.

Would this kind of issue constitute a valid warranty claim? For example, the Rolex and Omega shown above… would that be something these companies should be obliged to fix under their 5-year warranties? Or would they just say it’s within factory specs.. etc. etc.

It would depend on what their specs are. The Omega I posted is certainly out of spec. The first one posted in this thread is likely okay, but again the hands aren’t positioned for a proper check.

Scarecrow Boat · Apr 3, 2022

This was a Sub I used to own and as you can see, the hands were not aligned. It was a little detail that stood out to me but only when I looked for it. It was something I planned on having addressed whenever I was going to have it serviced but was something I could easily live with until then.

bombaywalla · Apr 3, 2022

Dan S
In a couple of those photos (Seamaster and Explorer), I can't even see significant misalignment. So I think you must be much pickier than I am about how the hands are installed.

I can see it in the Seamaster -- hour hand is not quite in the center of the minute marker.
I agree, I cannot see it in the Exp1.

bombaywalla · Apr 3, 2022

my own experience with a lower level brand -- hour hand peeking thru......
And, you can see the seconds hand is not hitting the minute markers.....
And, you can see i didnt even take off the hang-tag -- straight of out the box like that.... ::facepalm1::

I did return it & get a replacement with has all hands aligned....whew!! 😉

Leviathan · Apr 3, 2022

Scarecrow Boat
This was a Sub I used to own and as you can see, the hands were not aligned. It was a little detail that stood out to me but only when I looked for it. It was something I planned on having addressed whenever I was going to have it serviced but was something I could easily live with until then.

Thanks for sharing!

Leviathan · Apr 3, 2022

bombaywalla
my own experience with a lower level brand -- hour hand peeking thru......
And, you can see the seconds hand is not hitting the minute markers.....
And, you can see i didnt even take off the hang-tag -- straight of out the box like that....

I did return it & get a replacement with has all hands aligned....whew!! 😉

All my quartz watches are 100% aligned. Not sure what the reason is (perhaps tighter gears, but I’m no expert).

Regarding the second hand landing right on the index with quartz watches, thats the first thing I check when buying a quartz watch.

JwRosenthal · Apr 3, 2022

Scarecrow Boat
This was a Sub I used to own and as you can see, the hands were not aligned. It was a little detail that stood out to me but only when I looked for it. It was something I planned on having addressed whenever I was going to have it serviced but was something I could easily live with until then.

Now you tell me! 🙄

Scarecrow Boat · Apr 3, 2022

JwRosenthal
Now you tell me! 🙄

Oh no, no, this was another sub I owned around the same time as yours. No need to investigate yours further 😗 😁

YY77 · Apr 3, 2022

Scarecrow Boat
Oh no, no, this was another sub I owned around the same time as yours. No need to investigate yours further 😗 😁

Do you have a pic of the two together, asking for a friend. ::stirthepot::

Scarecrow Boat · Apr 3, 2022

YY77
Do you have a pic of the two together, asking for a friend.

Your friend is in luck! I do happen to have just one of the two together. 😎

JwRosenthal · Apr 3, 2022

Scarecrow Boat
Your friend is in luck! I do happen to have just one of the two together. 😎

Awww, don’t want to show that they both have cracked pips??😗😉

JwRosenthal · Apr 3, 2022

JwRosenthal
Awww, don’t want to show that they both have cracked pips??😗😉

For the record- i never noticed it, I couldn’t give a shit- this sucker is badass.

Scarecrow Boat · Apr 3, 2022

And for the record x2, if anyone noticed a color difference in the tritium between mine and @JwRosenthal ’s images, it’s because in my first image I raised my wrist into the golden Southern California sunset glow and the second image the sky was orange from a wild fire that was raging (look how yellow the concrete I’m standing on is). The tritium is a eggshell color that takes on the color of the light hitting it. (I have always wanted to clarify that haha.)

And I wish I was brave enough to change the crystal like James did. It look amazing.

JwRosenthal · Apr 3, 2022

Scarecrow Boat
And for the record x2, if anyone noticed a color difference in the tritium between mine and @JwRosenthal ’s images, it’s because in my first image I raised my wrist into the golden Southern California sunset glow and the second image the sky was orange from a wild fire that was raging (look how yellow the concrete I’m standing on is). The tritium is a eggshell color that takes on the color of the light hitting it. (I have always wanted to clarify that haha.)

And I wish I was brave enough to change the crystal like James did. It look amazing.

I think it’s actually a good point that perhaps is another thread on its own about how lume color can differ depending on lighting. Sometimes it looks stark white, sometimes light yellow. My speedy is the same way- some pics it looks white, some yellow.
If lume color is your jam, don’t dismiss a watch out of hand if it looks too “white” in pics or assume it’s a relume- it may just be the lighting.

Oh, and in regards to pics- color balance is an issue too. My pic above was taken in shade- blue light. In photography, the way we cancel a yellow hue is by adding cyan.

ghce · Apr 4, 2022

I cant stand hand misalignment and also the the other less obvious problem where your day or date changes at the wrong place, sure many movements don't have snap changes but many other fine movements do as do many ETA movement and I often see them changing day and date at the wrong times, the hands may be well aligned but the WM sure forgot something.

luckily 95 % or more of my new (old ) watches go thru my WM first and these problems/ oversights just disappear.

Another thing that bugs me is misaligned chapter rings and its a sure fire way of knowing some useless WM has been inside messing with things he is not competent to touch.

Your thoughts on hour-hand misalignments? (+pics)

Leviathan

Stripey

Archer

Leviathan

Leviathan

Archer

Scarecrow Boat

bombaywalla

bombaywalla

Leviathan

Leviathan

JwRosenthal

Scarecrow Boat

YY77

Scarecrow Boat

JwRosenthal

JwRosenthal

Scarecrow Boat

JwRosenthal

ghce

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