Acceptable TAG Carrera Day/Date?

[ianGP]

***Just copied & pasted from my original thread @ RWI/RepGeek***

Hey guys, I just received my Carrera this morning from a trusted dealer at RWG forum. Dealer will remain anonymous for now...

I want to know everyone's opinion about the rep I received.. there are a few things on it that I feel should have better quality but you be the judge

First up, Dial @ 6: look at the edges and how roughly it's finished

Dial @ 12: same thing about the finish on the outer and inner circles; take note of the "50" on the top left and how it's not even; also a white dot below "20"

Piece of hair or some sort of string

Piece of loose metal moving about the dial and crooked "1" off the "15"...it's WAY off

Overall pic of the watch:

Shot of movement:

And also the conversation prior to receiving the watch: (not verbatum but I retained all e-mails)

July 1

Dealer: I got a new one, I'll ship in 2 days

Me: K, thanks would you send pics of new one before shipment so I can confirm?

July 2

Dealer: I'll send pics this evening

(later in evening)

Me: Have you sent pics yet? haven't received them...

July 4

Dealer: *pics attached* I shipped it last Saturday, here's the tracking# btw, I didn't take the pics in the studio so it's not clear

And then I receive the watch and it's crap. The pics attached *after* shipment were blurry. I saved them in a folder. I took another look at them but no way is anyone able to tell the flaws I pointed out.

Here's a few examples of the attached picture sent to me for the curious:

I know I zoomed some of the pics for a better look but these are definitely noticeable without zooming in.

What do you guys think? Am I just being a beeyotch about this? Or should there be something done from the dealer side of things?

Edited July 11, 2010 by BoltGP

[Whatever123]

Well, my Day/Date certainly looks better... the edges of the subdials look strange. But maybe it's just a bit a glue residue that could be removed with a piece of Rodico. You can ask your dealer for a new watch, but I think I'd rather have it fixed. A skilled watchmaker can fix all the problems you mentioned for sure.

But - I agree - this is bad QC and the blurry pics are a joke! I definitely wouldn't buy from that dealer again if I had received a watch like this.

W.

[hooky]

Buddy that is bad... I think most is fixable, due to dust and piece of metal, but the 50 and the 15 cannot be fixed. So taking into consideration about the customs risks of sending it back to Asia and then back to the US, I would ask for a new dial and let a local watch smith install the new dial onto the watch. Imo best option.

[Rolexman]

Don't look at reps with a 10x loup. Nothing will look OK. Most things can be easily fixed by uncasing the movement and removing the dial. You wil never receive a rep that is a 100%. There will ALWAYS be something. It can be the movement, bracelet, dial, etc etc. That's the rep business. See it as a sport. Back in the days when I didn'n knwew my way around movements I sometimes had to buy 6 identical watches in order to end up with one which was up to my standard. All came from the best dealers around. I sold the rest with some profit so it was a win-win. Now I usually buy one and make all the adjustments, improvements and fixes myself. There's nothing more rewarding!

[Whatever123]

I would ask for a new dial and let a local watch smith install the new dial onto the watch. Imo best option.

I agree, that's probably the best option!

[ianGP]

Well, my Day/Date certainly looks better... the edges of the subdials look strange. But maybe it's just a bit a glue residue that could be removed with a piece of Rodico. You can ask your dealer for a new watch, but I think I'd rather have it fixed. A skilled watchmaker can fix all the problems you mentioned for sure.

But - I agree - this is bad QC and the blurry pics are a joke! I definitely wouldn't buy from that dealer again if I had received a watch like this.

W.

Yep, I agree with you. The dealer was supposed to send me pics PRIOR to shipping so I can tell them that it's "ok" Well that wasn't the case on this one. It was shipped first AND THEN pics were sent...to top it off, they were BLURRY. While I also think it might also be fixable, it's so easy to spot these things had it been QC'd or at the very least, sent me pics - CLEAR ones - before shipping out. There were several preventative measures that were pretty much bypassed and this is an example of what could happen.

Swapping dials out is a good idea but it's also $$$ out of my pocket... I don't mind shipping fees and what not but swapping dials is bigger $$... not to mention I don't know any good watchsmiths around here so I'd have to ship out to The Zigmeister, Vac, or some of the other modders. A definite inconvinience but realistically - it comes with the hobby and i've come to terms with it. I'm just venting a bit now and awaiting the dealer's response.

A member here had a great idea of cross-shipping - the dealer ships another watch over simultaneously as I ship mine back to them. I'm more leaning towards this method because of minimal expense AND wait time.

thoughts?

[hooky]

better ask the dealers who is taking customs risk when sending it back to the dealers and receiving it back from them to the US...

And swapping dials should be around 30-40usd. And yes.. this is all in the rep game. You'd better be prepared. .

And if you need to send it to Vac or Zig, then better let them relume the hands as well, while you at it. the day date only has small lume on the hands, but then you directly have a superb watch.

just my 2c.

[Jkay]

The "50" and the "15" are certainly reason to complain .. but the dust under the crystal is just part of the replica watch game. Your expectations are too high in that area.

You get a workable watch, and get it brought up to snuff locally. That's how it works.

You're not going to get a watch as good as the "real" version. That's just reality. As someone already said .. why are you looking at a rep with a 10x loupe searching for flaws?