cpaman Posted May 12, 2006 Report Share Posted May 12, 2006 :yucky: :yucky: :yucky: The last couple of watches I purchased had the date too high or too low in the date window. Again, what do I expect for a couple hundred bucks is not the main issue. I would be happy to pay an extra $10 to make sure the date is centered in the date window. The problem is compounded on Rulexes because the cyclops makes the bad date look bigger and usually the cyclops is also misaligned. Nothing spells FAKE more than a bad looking date on a watch. Even an idiot knows that a $4000 Rulex should have a centered date. It's to the point now that I'm afraid to buy a Rulex with a date. This is my biggest pet pieve with reps. :yucky: :yucky: :yucky: My rant is over!!! Anyone else been having this issues? Seems to be happening more and more lately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Category 5 Posted May 12, 2006 Report Share Posted May 12, 2006 I'm with you on thet one. Unfortunately I think it's the date wheel overlays that are the problem. On my EL Sub the date is aligned until the 20's, and then it rests on the bottom of the date window. I noticed that hte GEN has a slightly larger date opening, so maybe hey are decreasing their chances of lining up correctly with small windows...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warburg Posted May 12, 2006 Report Share Posted May 12, 2006 :yucky: :yucky: :yucky: The last couple of watches I purchased had the date too high or too low in the date window. Again, what do I expect for a couple hundred bucks is not the main issue. I would be happy to pay an extra $10 to make sure the date is centered in the date window. The problem is compounded on Rulexes because the cyclops makes the bad date look bigger and usually the cyclops is also misaligned. Nothing spells FAKE more than a bad looking date on a watch. Even an idiot knows that a $4000 Rulex should have a centered date. It's to the point now that I'm afraid to buy a Rulex with a date. This is my biggest pet pieve with reps. :yucky: :yucky: :yucky: My rant is over!!! Anyone else been having this issues? Seems to be happening more and more lately. Yes. it's true; the question is how much does it really matter? If you look at Thor's comparison of a genuine vs. rep. LV Sub (cc/members/index.php?showtopic=4135), the first pictures, which show the entire watches, make it clear that only a near-sighted person who holds them a couple of inches from his eyes would be able to discern any difference. How many of us encounter people who would do this, or would even be able to do this? Reps and originals will never be identical, but for most of us this will really not be of much concern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Tracy Posted May 12, 2006 Report Share Posted May 12, 2006 There are quite a few replicas with centered date wheels... I have some... Mis-alignment bothers me as well, mostly in off center markers... Not because of what other people think.. but because I have to look at the watch.. and want it.. like a child of mine, to be as perfect as it can be.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanerich Posted May 12, 2006 Report Share Posted May 12, 2006 Yes. it's true; the question is how much does it really matter? If you look at Thor's comparison of a genuine vs. rep. LV Sub (cc/members/index.php?showtopic=4135), the first pictures, which show the entire watches, make it clear that only a near-sighted person who holds them a couple of inches from his eyes would be able to discern any difference. How many of us encounter people who would do this, or would even be able to do this? Reps and originals will never be identical, but for most of us this will really not be of much concern. Personally I think the date window things is a legit gripe. I buy reps mostly because I enjoy owning them, and not primarily to fool people. If that was my only goal I would buy a $100 datejust rep and call it a day. It detracts from my ownership enjoyment if I have to stare at an ugly flaw like a misaligned dial every time I look at the watch. If you get into the "who cares it passes the sleeve test with most people" slippery slope, then we'd never get decent reps since most people don't know Panerai from panna cotta, but I still want mine (Panerai, not panna cotta) 1:1 with a nice CG and crown and AR on the crystal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cpaman Posted May 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2006 Well said KENERICH. I can live with a lot of rep mistakes, because most people (and including me sometimes) can not tell. A bad date alignment is just too much for and should be a easy thing to correct at the factory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namor Posted May 12, 2006 Report Share Posted May 12, 2006 I really hope these chinese guys will develop some kind of Quality Control in the near future... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yodaddynukka Posted May 12, 2006 Report Share Posted May 12, 2006 cant The Zigmeister or rbj align the datewheel and the cyclops? well i know they can do the cyclops, but i dont know about the datewheel... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cpaman Posted May 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2006 I'm sure any good watch person can fix cyclops and date wheel, something like this should be correct coming from the factory. My second pet pieve, needing to send my new rep for adjustments as soon as I get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Tracy Posted May 12, 2006 Report Share Posted May 12, 2006 I'm sure any good watch person can fix cyclops and date wheel, something like this should be correct coming from the factory. My second pet pieve, needing to send my new rep for adjustments as soon as I get it. I think that sometimes they are saying.. here, take this watch.. do a little work and wholla,.. you have a very close to genuine piece for less than 10% of the price... Any higher in accuracy and GAF sends out the streer rollers ... again.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJFlash Posted May 12, 2006 Report Share Posted May 12, 2006 Agree with you 100%. Most visible flaw to anyone that looks at the watch. Why you don't need to be any kind of expert to see this. I have several with this problem to various degrees. My latest GMT get one quarter of the date itself covered up from about day 15 to 30. What is interesting is that the problem is unrelated to cost. From the least expensive dealer to the most expensive dealer, they all have this issue. Nothing like buying a brand new watch that needs repairs right out of the box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chronus Posted May 12, 2006 Report Share Posted May 12, 2006 I have two ral*xes and the PreciousTime YachtMaster is fine with the date. The two-tone submariner (from another dealer) has this date problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted May 12, 2006 Report Share Posted May 12, 2006 I've had to realign some datewheel overlays on several of my watches. Not the most difficult thing to do, but I agree, it's a bit frustrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warburg Posted May 12, 2006 Report Share Posted May 12, 2006 There are quite a few replicas with centered date wheels... I have some... Mis-alignment bothers me as well, mostly in off center markers... Not because of what other people think.. but because I have to look at the watch.. and want it.. like a child of mine, to be as perfect as it can be.. Well, there are people who want their children to be perfect replicas, and they are almost invariably disappointed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gran Posted May 12, 2006 Report Share Posted May 12, 2006 Well, there are people who want their children to be perfect replicas, and they are almost invariably disappointed. Now that is so sad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Tracy Posted May 12, 2006 Report Share Posted May 12, 2006 Well, there are people who want their children to be perfect replicas, and they are almost invariably disappointed. Great,.. I know where to sell my picasso pieces from now on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chronus Posted May 13, 2006 Report Share Posted May 13, 2006 I've had to realign some datewheel overlays on several of my watches. Not the most difficult thing to do, but I agree, it's a bit frustrating. How do you fix this ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted May 13, 2006 Report Share Posted May 13, 2006 How do you fix this ? To start, it's always best to flip through all 31 dates. Check which ones align and which don't. Make note of the ones that do not, paying the most attention to the worst one, and keep that one in mind- This one will always be the one that is off the most. The goal is to find a happy medium across all dates. Unfortunately, because some datewheel overlays are not printed uniformly, there will be some dates that are always misaligned, though the goal is to minimize the misalignment. Unfortunately, this cannot be helped 100% in these cases. Moving forward, set the watch to the date with the worst alignment, and uncase the movement with the hands at 12:00 for a baseline. Next, remove hands and dial. This will now expose the datewheel overlay, which will need to be lifted and removed. Once removed, clean the glue off of the ETA datewheel, and the back of the overlay. Now... Remember where in relation the alignment of the worst date was? You'll want to glue the overlay back onto the ETA datewheel, giving very slight correction to the position. This will help correct the alignment while not throwing the others off, which were not bad to start with. Be sure to center the overlay evenly on the datewheel- This will ensure that there is no side to side descrepancy. And, remember- Slight adjustment can be exaggerated with the date window and the date mag, so keep the adjustments small. Now, reinstall the dial, hands, and recase. If you are working with a vintage MBW, lining up the dial may be a challenge since the dial feet on the Singer dial have been removed. Patience is key here. Since I'm writing this at the end of my evening while half awake, i'm sure I forgot to mention something. If there is anything I need to clarify, please let me know. Regards, R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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