zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

Hi all,

I wondered if anyone has heard of or indeed owns a Speedmaster Date or day-date that has minor scratches on the face? The reason why I ask is that I have had major major issues with the quality of work my day-date has received at the Eastleigh workshop,Hampshire UK.

To recap for those of you who do not know (and I apologize to those who do) I bought my first ever Omega in June from an AD. Soon after (2 days) I noticed that there was a defect on the sapphire crystal, namely a fleck of dirt on the underside. This was not seen at the time of purchase. (Note I live in Eaglescliffe, the watch was bought in London, around 300 miles away) I instantly contacted the AD, who said I could either return it to him, for forwarding to Eastleigh, or I could do it myself. Anyhow, after returning it to Eastleigh myself, almost 4 weeks later, it was returned with an upside down caseback, scratches on the rear of the case and bracelet and more dirt on the face of the watch.

After seeking advice from this forum, I sent it back with an explanatory letter. 2 weeks later it was returned to me, with most (not all) of the scratches removed from the back, the caseback on correctly, most of the scratches removed from the bracelet, but still with residual dust on the face, a HUGE sractch on the face, almost underlining the word Speedmaster (appears almost white on the silver background) and a mark on the bezel.

I returned the watch back to Eastleigh after speaking to the somewhat defensive and unhelpful customer service agent and after speaking to Bienne, Switzerland. I did suggest that if Eastleigh were happy with the watch then perhaps they send it to Bienne. I was told that it was in A1 condition prior to it leaving the workshop, and that the so-called scratch was a byproduct of the the "manufacturing process" and that it was not a "flaw or defect." What I find interesting is that I did not see it before because IT WAS NOT THERE!!! I scrutinized the face to see the INITIAL problem o nthe crystal...do they think that I would have missed a huge scratch, TWICE? The agent said it was part of the radial graining effect.

Has anyone got such a problem or issue with a radial grained face. I would have thought that this sort of issue would be picked up by QC, but on the face of it, Omega are charging more and more money for the same timepieces every year and by the way they treated John's AD, are looking for "Charlie's" (sorry, a UK slang term) to buy their flawed watches without the customer kicking up an issue cos they got enough money to buy new ones anyway.

I think Omega are trying to buy into the neauveau-riche market, where guys with big bucks buy watches like Omegas like they were candy. I bought mine from a respectful AD, who had the time to explain the ins and outs of the watch, the type of movement involved (and the name) and talked me through the setting of the watch. Across the road was a huge department store (in London), where when I enquired about the watch I got some spotty teenager talking out his ass, with loads of false information and utter crap. I knew he did not know ANYTHING about the watch (eg,Q: what's the water resist of the speedy day-date? A: Oh, it will be at least 200 metres, probably more!) If this is the sort of person Omega want to sell their watches, then they will soon regret their strive to make Omega more "upscale."

I'm sorry I have gone on a bit, but the whole "radial graining effect,maufacturing process" has got the wind up me.

Any views from the veterans out there?

Apologies and thanks for reading

Nafees