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reforminded
17
May 18, 2016
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I joined Massdrop just for this watch. I have been lusting over it for a long long time and the price was the best I have seen for a new one. I eagerly awaited my arrival, and despite the dismally slow shipping (I live 1.5 hours from the NJ warehouse and it took 6 days to get to me) I was thrilled to open the box and carefully unfurl the watch I have desired for years. Sadly, this turned out to be a good from far, far from good experience. While the watch looks spectacular in certain light, my date wheel is slightly misaligned so the bottoms of the numbers are cut off. When the minute hand is on the hour, the hour hand does not line up with the right indices. I am shocked by this, as I own two other SARBs which align perfectly. The strap feels like cheap vinyl, and the deployment is a joke at best, and barely functional in reality. I can only conclude this watch is either a knockoff or a factory second. Given the public opinion of this watch is so high, I cannot fathom how I, and so many others on Massdrop, seem to have received "anomalies". This is not the product I have researched and seen countless pictures of online as I have drooled over it for years. This is either a fake or a QC reject, and due to Massdrop's return policy and the fact that the warranty is no good outside Japan, I am stuck with a $370 lemon. Thanks for my first and last drop. Extremely disappointed.
LforLust
14
May 18, 2016
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reformindedcare to share the images with us? As if we have tons of low quality produced, there's something to be done. Moreover, mine is being shipped back to Massdrop and I'm still waiting on the following outcome of it...
IanAnderson
2590
May 18, 2016
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reformindedBe sure to contact our support team with any issues!
AlexPk
7197
Community
May 19, 2016
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He only directed them to contact Support which you had already done.
As for the issue at hand, I talked with our watch buyer extensively and had him reach out to watchmakers in the community for their input and technical explanations as well.
Everyone we've talked to agrees that for an entry level watch like this there is an acceptable tolerance of 2-3 minutes in gear slack. That does not mean every watch has that issue, but that it's accepted as within specifications even if it shows a 2-3 minute variance. Much like a display manufacturer considers a certain number of dead pixels acceptable for their monitors.
That's the short of it, but below is the basics of the technical explanation I received.
There's always a small amount of slack in the wheel trains that drive the hands. That slack means there's a small amount of movement that occurs in the wheels before the hands actually start to move. Usually this is limited to about 2 or maybe 3 minutes worth of variance indicated on the dial with entry level watches and more in the 30 second range for a more expensive watch. Seikos are are generally high value, mass produced, entry level price point watches so the tolerances are looser.
As it stands there seems to be a huge disconnect between expectations and reality. I understand being upset about paying a decent sum of money for something and then receiving it in a state that you think is less than perfect, but there needs to be a reasonable expectation set. This is a watch that is machine made and then assembled en masse to offer an excellent level of quality and style at the price point. However, to expect the same precision as a watch which costs $1000 or $2000 is only setting yourself up for disappointment.
Here you can see a collection of watches we have around the office and abroad with varying levels of the same issue: http://imgur.com/a/4dqK3
If you have any further issues I encourage you to contact CS and ask that you please keep your tone respectful in the discussion.
Thank you
As for the issue at hand, I talked with our watch buyer extensively and had him reach out to watchmakers in the community for their input and technical explanations as well.
Everyone we've talked to agrees that for an entry level watch like this there is an acceptable tolerance of 2-3 minutes in gear slack. That does not mean every watch has that issue, but that it's accepted as within specifications even if it shows a 2-3 minute variance. Much like a display manufacturer considers a certain number of dead pixels acceptable for their monitors.
That's the short of it, but below is the basics of the technical explanation I received.
There's always a small amount of slack in the wheel trains that drive the hands. That slack means there's a small amount of movement that occurs in the wheels before the hands actually start to move. Usually this is limited to about 2 or maybe 3 minutes worth of variance indicated on the dial with entry level watches and more in the 30 second range for a more expensive watch. Seikos are are generally high value, mass produced, entry level price point watches so the tolerances are looser.
As it stands there seems to be a huge disconnect between expectations and reality. I understand being upset about paying a decent sum of money for something and then receiving it in a state that you think is less than perfect, but there needs to be a reasonable expectation set. This is a watch that is machine made and then assembled en masse to offer an excellent level of quality and style at the price point. However, to expect the same precision as a watch which costs $1000 or $2000 is only setting yourself up for disappointment.
Here you can see a collection of watches we have around the office and abroad with varying levels of the same issue: http://imgur.com/a/4dqK3
If you have any further issues I encourage you to contact CS and ask that you please keep your tone respectful in the discussion.
Thank you
it-man
720
Aug 6, 2016
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reformindedThank you for sharing, helps others. Please share pictures
it-man
720
Aug 6, 2016
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reformindedI shall not be buying this based on your comments. Thanks for the heads up. Kickstarter response was also another reason
AlexCD
1
Aug 6, 2016
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reformindedEven the watch shown at the photos have the problem with the date wheel...
Haff
28
Aug 6, 2016
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reformindedThe hands not lining up is a common issue with Seikos at this price point. I have the Alpinist and Cocktail time and they both do this. It's a slight difference of alignment, nothing crazy. I bought both watches from seiyajapan.com. Seiya said he would have them fixed under warranty also. This is why I am starting to not mind paying extra over Massdrop. Better customer service elsewhere.
UsernameWasTaken
124
Aug 7, 2016
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AlexCDThat is just a weird Massdrop tradition :) They always take photos of watches set to time before midnight when the date starts to change.
Jtchinoy
10
Aug 9, 2016
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UsernameWasTakenAll proper product photography for watches should have the hands at those angles for symmetry and to display the brand of the watch.
UsernameWasTaken
124
Aug 9, 2016
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JtchinoyTrue, but unless it's a GMT watch, they can do the exact same hand position in AM instead of PM with no misaligned date window...
On the other hand such photos show that the date starts to change sooner (some watches flip that almost instantly close to midnight, some take hours to move it gradually) - not that it even matters... Also if the date window is still, you cannot be sure whether the date changes later or the watch is photographed set to AM, so I think taking photos in AM is just better for aesthetics and prevents misunderstandings like above.
On the other hand such photos show that the date starts to change sooner (some watches flip that almost instantly close to midnight, some take hours to move it gradually) - not that it even matters... Also if the date window is still, you cannot be sure whether the date changes later or the watch is photographed set to AM, so I think taking photos in AM is just better for aesthetics and prevents misunderstandings like above.
Jtchinoy
10
Aug 9, 2016
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UsernameWasTakenExcellent point. Not sure why they wouldn't take it in AM.
On a side note, I picked up this watch on Amazon Japan, since having it ship to America and back makes no sense. It does indeed start changing dates come 10pm, although the bottom of the number just touches the edge until about 10:30pm.
On a side note, I picked up this watch on Amazon Japan, since having it ship to America and back makes no sense. It does indeed start changing dates come 10pm, although the bottom of the number just touches the edge until about 10:30pm.
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