GMTIIC Owners - What is the state of your rep?

[drop]

Great poll. CHS running great, has become my daily wearer.

[magagne]

Dealer: Pure time

Type: Asian IHS (Incorrect Hand Stack)

Receive in my hand 2 July, bought on 19 June.

1- When I receive it, the watch was stop on 11:25am (GMT hand at 11-12), I shaked it (rotor winding) nothing, I pull the cronw on first click and push it back right away, it start running.

2- The crystal is "little" higher at 12 than at 6 by about 0.5mm (instead of most people the crystal is more raise at 3 and recessed at 9)

3- (EDITED more details) After full charge (manual wind, at least 50 slow turn) I left it in a box, DU (dial up) position durring the night. The watch stop this morning 11:25am (GMT hand at 11-12), little shake, it start again.

4- The bezel don't make a clear "click" sound, but more a soft click, is it like that on gen? (after reading, yes it's normal)

5- No water testing yet

Mine run perfectly since the "initial startup". It do a great performance too. Absolutly no complain now.

The only thing it bother me it's the crystal, should I go to see a watchsmith for removing it, and re-insert it? I'm worry that he will screw things. Leave it like it is or not? The only thing I want it's wash the watch or my hand under tap water, but even that I'm scare...agrrr.... suggestion? Do the water test, and if it leaks, send it back? or go to see a watchsmith, and pay him to remove the crystal and re-install it? Crystal alignement, it is really the problem of leakage? even with 0.25mm of difference?

[HauteHippie]

How does the rep clasp and clasp lock compare to the gen?

Gen:

[freddy333]

Of course, the 'engraving' quality of the rep is not the same as the gen, but the overall appearance & function is remarkably close

[ilikejeeps2]

Swiss IHS

Ordered from Josh $323

Ordered eraly June received Late June

I love this watch! It is my second rep, first is a Explorer II Swiss ordered from Andrew 6-7 monts ago. Everyting works fine and looks good. I would like to take the back offf to see if I really did get an ETA movement but I do not have the tools. Band is still shinny after being worn everyday and no problems with the GMT hand.

I would have the watch lumed, but The Zigmeister told me that he will not work on this watch due to the high failure rate Overall I am a very happy customer and reccomend buying this GMT.

P

To get the back off can I take the watch to a jewler?

[freddy333]

To get the back off can I take the watch to a jewler?

Any jeweler that works on watches.

Thank you for your purchase info.

[jot9011]

Hey Freddy:

I'm having a hard time interpreting these results. I think the percentages are off due to the null option. 30% of CHS watches that have no problem are part of the group that includes 40% of people who don't even have one (null option). If you negate this percentage (null option) then the percentages change, don't they?

In other words: CHS(running fine) + CHC (minor problems) + CHS (dead) + CHS (being returned) should = 100%

Or is that just crazy talk?

EDIT: If you re-calculate the percentages of CHS and IHS watches with problems they are pretty similar:

48% vs 51% respectively

[freddy333]

I noticed that things did not add up when I checked the numbers early today. I added the Null options because people kept saying they were being forced to vote for both models (chs & ihs) even though they only had 1 rep. I checked the controls for the poll, but did not see anything that forced people to cast votes for each of the 3 sections, so I added the Null option so people could cast a vote (if forced to) in the other column that would then be ignored.

Although none of the totals properly add up, I think we can draw a couple of conclusions from the tally thus far.

1. Of the 27 chs watches out there, roughly half (14, including mine) are still running without problems.
   
2. Of the 35 ihs watches, rougly half (17) are still running without problems.
   

So both movements are suffering an approximately 50% failure rate. It is probably still a bit too early to be meaningful, but I think it is also worth noting that we started receiving the chs watches about 2-3 weeks before we started receiving the ihs watches. So the chs watches have been in use for twice as long as the ihs & yet the failure rates remain similar.

The conclusion I draw from all this is that there does not seem to be any evidence that the chs movements are any less reliable than the ihs movements, since both seem to have similar failure rates. I think it is also safe to say that the problems are inherent in the movements and/or GMT gearing & not directly related to the order of hands on the stack. That is, if given the choice, you might as well opt for the chs version since you stand about the same chance of breakdowns either way.

[Jimster]

I bought my IHS ETA from King. It's keeping time within +2 secs a day better than my gens. I received it in one week which is standard for King.

It's a super rep and I really don't care about the stack.

Jim

[elisiX]

CHS Swiss here. Mines been running perfect so far. Had it since second week released.

I noticed a couple small marks on the clasp and a new one is in the post from Josh.

[jmt]

I noticed that things did not add up when I checked the numbers early today. I added the Null options because people kept saying they were being forced to vote for both models (chs & ihs) even though they only had 1 rep. I checked the controls for the poll, but did not see anything that forced people to cast votes for each of the 3 sections, so I added the Null option so people could cast a vote (if forced to) in the other column that would then be ignored.

Although none of the totals properly add up, I think we can draw a couple of conclusions from the tally thus far.

1. Of the 27 chs watches out there, roughly half (14) of them are still running without problems.
   
2. Of the 35 ihs watches, rougly half (17) are still running without problems.
   

So both movements are suffering an approximately 50% failure rate. It is probably still a bit too early to be meaningful, but I think it is also worth noting that we started receiving the chs watches about 2-3 weeks before we started receiving the ihs watches. So the chs watches have been in use for twice as long as the ihs.

The conclusion I draw from all this is that there does not seem to be any evidence that the chs movements are any less reliable than the ihs movements, since both seem to have similar failure rates. I think it is also safe to say that the problems are inherent in the movements and/or GMT gearing & not directly related to the order of hands on the stack. That is, if given the choice, you might as well opt for the chs version since you stand about the same chance of breakdowns either way.

OK, the guy with a PhD in statistics in me agrees with you. The guy with $388 burning a hole in his pocket says "50% failure rate.. you gotta be kidding..." why not just buy the asian vesion and a cheap 2893-2 and do the swap...

[drop]

50% failure / issue rate!?! Holy smokes... almost incredulous.

[hiker01]

Swiss IHS

Ordered from Josh $323

Ordered eraly June received Late June

I love this watch! It is my second rep, first is a Explorer II Swiss ordered from Andrew 6-7 monts ago. Everyting works fine and looks good. I would like to take the back offf to see if I really did get an ETA movement but I do not have the tools. Band is still shinny after being worn everyday and no problems with the GMT hand.

I would have the watch lumed, but The Zigmeister told me that he will not work on this watch due to the high failure rate Overall I am a very happy customer and reccomend buying this GMT.

P

To get the back off can I take the watch to a jewler?

or you could go to ofrei.com and get some tools like the rubber ball case opener...haven't failed me yet!

[Guest carlsbadrolex]

OK, the guy with a PhD in statistics in me agrees with you. The guy with $388 burning a hole in his pocket says "50% failure rate.. you gotta be kidding..." why not just buy the asian vesion and a cheap 2893-2 and do the swap...

Please let us know where you can get a cheap 2893-2... If they are less than $300, I will take 4.

[ta8088]

OK, the guy with a PhD in statistics in me agrees with you. The guy with $388 burning a hole in his pocket says "50% failure rate.. you gotta be kidding..." why not just buy the asian vesion and a cheap 2893-2 and do the swap...

Exactly where do you find cheap 2893-2's these days?? I picked up a Steinhart Ocean-1 with a 2893-2 in it a few months ago and it was $320 on the bay and that was a pretty decent deal as I've seen them for $100 or 200 more. Not sure if anyone even sells new in the package 2893-2 mvts anymore.

[jnkay]

I find that on both my Asian and "Swiss" versions, the watch will just stop for a period of 5 to 10 minutes, then start going again on its own. It's very random. It usually happens at night. Sometimes not. It's happens on some days and not at all on others. Needless to say, I'm always checking it against my cell phone clock or pc clock to make sure it is correct. Maybe its a dirty and dry movement. The wierd thing is, it keeps great time in between stopages. Anyone else having this problem?

[tenacious_b]

Happy to report that my swiss IHS has been running with no issues for I guess about 10 days now since I got it and I found a clever way to fix the uneven crystal and already posted on the subject, though forgot to add pictures. I will try to remember tonight.

[freddy333]

I find that on both my Asian and "Swiss" versions, the watch will just stop for a period of 5 to 10 minutes, then start going again on its own. It's very random. It usually happens at night. Sometimes not. It's happens on some days and not at all on others. Needless to say, I'm always checking it against my cell phone clock or pc clock to make sure it is correct. Maybe its a dirty and dry movement. The wierd thing is, it keeps great time in between stopages. Anyone else having this problem?

Either a movement in need of general servicing or a mainspring that is not fully charged. Have you tried manually winding it 40 turns yet? If not, try that & see how it runs for the next 40 or so hours. If it runs without stopping, then that was the problem. If it stops again during that time, you need to have it serviced.

My 4 week old chs is still beautiful & continues to meet COSC specs

[robj]

Don't think a 2892-2 has a GMT complication which are available and inexpensive ( the 2836 won't fit ) the 2893 as I recall has the GMT complication and they are hard to find and expensive for a Sub a 2892 would be a great alternative but don't know if it suits a GMT

[jnkay]

I'm going to have the "swiss" movement serviced and the asian replaced with a genuine eta. I will attempt to find a 2893-2 thru my watchmaker, or possibly bite the bullet and get a used ocean-1 gmt. It's annyoing enough when the GMT hand stops (mine stopped a couple times but never lagged), but its REALLY annoying to constantly second-guess whether the watch is telling the right time.

Edited July 10, 2008 by jnkay

[jnkay]

Update: my Asian GMT is D-E -A -D. Never had a rep movement die on me before this one.

[perry563]

Got my CHS version back from Andrew and its running well. Aside from the crystal still being uneven its close to 100%. Can someone confirm what exactly IS the correct hand stack..mine is (from dial) hour hand, GMT hand, minute hand, second hand....correct?

[vlydog]

My 4 week old chs is still beautiful & continues to meet COSC specs

Nicely done freddy!

Beautiful composition.

[freddy333]

Can someone confirm what exactly IS the correct hand stack..mine is (from dial) hour hand, GMT hand, minute hand, second hand....correct?

[AllergyDoc]

+1 second over the past month. Will run 5-8 seconds slow one week, 5-8 seconds fast the next, but overall +1 second over a month.

My best timekeeper ever. Spends most of it's time on a good winder.