IWC with misaligned day - back to dealer or an easy fix?
Discussion
My 2 weeks old Aquatimer has got itself in a twist and the day field is not straight, it changes ever day but is not correctly aligned with the window. The manual change via crown is not working either but the date is fine and can be adjusted.
Is this a common fault, will take it back to dealer to get fixed but wondered if I am missing something simple here
Is this a common fault, will take it back to dealer to get fixed but wondered if I am missing something simple here
Edited by Adam B on Sunday 4th September 18:23
My suggestion would be to:
Wait until approx 9am tomorrow.
Unscrew the crown and pull out to position two (time set)
Manually wind the watch on past midnight so that the date clicks over.
Carry on winding through another 24 hours so that the date clicks over again.
Perhaps try winding through another 24 hours again so that the date clicks over.
You might find that this 'resets' the date window so that it displays properly. If not, you may need to get it looked at.
For reference, the following for setting the time has always worked for me: Whenever I have to set any of my watches I wind them, then manually set the time, carrying over the midnight until about the 6am point. I then push the crown in one step and adjust the date to the day before (ie yesterday). I then pull the crown back out and wind on past midnight so that the date clicks over and carry on manually adjusting to the required time (after midday if required). This way I know that I will not interfere with the auto date changeover mechanism and that I 'know' where the watch is in terms of am/pm for time setting.
Wait until approx 9am tomorrow.
Unscrew the crown and pull out to position two (time set)
Manually wind the watch on past midnight so that the date clicks over.
Carry on winding through another 24 hours so that the date clicks over again.
Perhaps try winding through another 24 hours again so that the date clicks over.
You might find that this 'resets' the date window so that it displays properly. If not, you may need to get it looked at.
For reference, the following for setting the time has always worked for me: Whenever I have to set any of my watches I wind them, then manually set the time, carrying over the midnight until about the 6am point. I then push the crown in one step and adjust the date to the day before (ie yesterday). I then pull the crown back out and wind on past midnight so that the date clicks over and carry on manually adjusting to the required time (after midday if required). This way I know that I will not interfere with the auto date changeover mechanism and that I 'know' where the watch is in terms of am/pm for time setting.
Well the AD in bond street has come back to me, this piece of operator error is costing me £490.
RTFM I know but the AD did say the original retailer should have stressed the importance of not setting date at certain times, have emailed the seller to complain but not expecting much sympathy or financial contribution.
RTFM I know but the AD did say the original retailer should have stressed the importance of not setting date at certain times, have emailed the seller to complain but not expecting much sympathy or financial contribution.
Edited by Adam B on Sunday 18th September 11:56
Adam, sorry mate, but the instruction manual does also detail this. I made the same mistake myself.
You wouldn't buy a car and expect be told not to drive with the handbrake engaged, why would buying a watch be any different ?
I sympathise completely, my date changes at 10 am on my Pilot Chronology because I forgot about the time and hadn't bothered to read the instruction manual, it will be an expensive repair as well. You can have it done a lot cheaper as it's a well known movement, not in house IWC, however like you it'll go to IWC for service/repair.
You wouldn't buy a car and expect be told not to drive with the handbrake engaged, why would buying a watch be any different ?
I sympathise completely, my date changes at 10 am on my Pilot Chronology because I forgot about the time and hadn't bothered to read the instruction manual, it will be an expensive repair as well. You can have it done a lot cheaper as it's a well known movement, not in house IWC, however like you it'll go to IWC for service/repair.
Yes it was my fault, as I said above RTFM. But having never owned an auto watch with a date before I was not familiar with the dangers and read the FM only after setting the watch the first time.
However I don't agree with your analogy quite - it is more like buying a car where the handbrake works fine, but blows your engine up if you use it on a hill unless you press a switch as well. It might be in the manual but you'd expect to be warned about it by the dealer.
However I don't agree with your analogy quite - it is more like buying a car where the handbrake works fine, but blows your engine up if you use it on a hill unless you press a switch as well. It might be in the manual but you'd expect to be warned about it by the dealer.
QRATHORE said:
Oh no I am in the same boat IWC Aquatimer .. changed the date during the wrong hours. I'm just off to Basel to see what the damage will be. I don't suppose it will be cheap, nothing is in Switzerland.
Speak to this guy: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...Variomatic might be able to do it a lot cheaper.
I'm due to send my IWC Pilot Chrono to Joe for a service; his costs are under half an AD and the quality / speed of the repair if previous experience is anything to go by is second to none.
Joe's informed me over email of a slight health blip over Christmas which has meant he's now playing catchup. So I'm going to hold off for a month or so.
Joe's informed me over email of a slight health blip over Christmas which has meant he's now playing catchup. So I'm going to hold off for a month or so.
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