What would you do?

[147GTA]

Hi,
A few weeks back my wife bought me a lovely Christopher Ward C700 Grande Rapide but I need a bit of advice.

I really liked the watch but I had a major issue with it in that the hand on the bottom sub dial did not line up with the chronograph second and minute hand above. My OCD hated how it was not in line with the other two above it so I sent it back after being told by one of their technicians that it should be perfectly aligned.

Surprisingly I then got an email from them stating they had inspected it and that it falls within their tolerances and when I called them they admitted they're all like that and that I might have spoken to a new member of staff who got it wrong.

They have offered a full refund so I can't complain but is this really acceptable on an expensive watch and my OCD is the issue here or do Christopher Ward need to rethink their tolerances?

I really liked the watch but don't know what to do...

[Riff Raff]

Take the refund. Every time you look at the dial, the not lined up-ness will grate.

FWIW, I'm exactly the same, not only with hands, but also with things like bezel inserts.

[CardShark]

Riff Raff said:

Take the refund. Every time you look at the dial, the not lined up-ness will grate.

This

Shame, but if there's nothing that can be done to correct the "fault" at least a full refund has been offered.

[andy tims]

Take the refund

[NDA]

Can you exchange it for one where the hands do line up?

[147GTA]

NDA said:

Can you exchange it for one where the hands do line up?

I have no idea how many they keep in stock but when I suggested this they didn't seem to have any that had the hands all lined up, in fact they suggested that maybe I should exchange it for a different style and I got the feeling they weren't at all interested in dealing with the issue by fixing it or replacing the watch with one where it was perfect, strange really considering it is their most expensive watch.

[AlexC1981]

If you really like the watch and don't want to get rid of it, surely this is a simple fix if you can get access to the dial? Give the hand a nudge with a cocktail stick until it's aligned properly. A watchmaker might charge 50 maybe to fix it.

I'm not convinced by the tolerances explanation. My Russian and Chinese mechanical chronographs don't suffer with this!

[nitsypee]

If I were you I'd mention this on the Christopher Ward forum - you should get plenty of helpful advice.

http://www.christopherwardforum.com/

[Stitch26]

I bought a new ceramic Rolex Sub last year and rejected the first two watches they had for me. On the first one the cyclops wasn't straight and the 12 marker on th bezel didn't line up on either the first or second watch.

In the end I sent a letter to Rolex HQ explaining how dissapointed i was. They responded apologising and had a Sub sent dircetly to the dealer that they'd inspected before it was sent. I was slated on a Rolex forum for daring to suggest it wasn't acceptable but do what you think is best as it's your money and purchase.

If it bothers yow it will continue to do so. I'd take a refund and try and source one that is perfect (if you still want the same model).

147GTA said:

Hi,
A few weeks back my wife bought me a lovely Christopher Ward C700 Grande Rapide but I need a bit of advice.

I really liked the watch but I had a major issue with it in that the hand on the bottom sub dial did not line up with the chronograph second and minute hand above. My OCD hated how it was not in line with the other two above it so I sent it back after being told by one of their technicians that it should be perfectly aligned.

Surprisingly I then got an email from them stating they had inspected it and that it falls within their tolerances and when I called them they admitted they're all like that and that I might have spoken to a new member of staff who got it wrong.

They have offered a full refund so I can't complain but is this really acceptable on an expensive watch and my OCD is the issue here or do Christopher Ward need to rethink their tolerances?

I really liked the watch but don't know what to do...

Edited by Stitch26 on Monday 19th March 14:42

[147GTA]

I spoke to them again today and apparently they checked 15 watches and they were all the same. I was surprised though to be told the technician dealing with my watch is off for a week though and no one else could deal with the matter unless I wanted a refund.

AlexC1981 said:

If you really like the watch and don't want to get rid of it, surely this is a simple fix if you can get access to the dial? Give the hand a nudge with a cocktail stick until it's aligned properly. A watchmaker might charge 50 maybe to fix it.

I'm not convinced by the tolerances explanation. My Russian and Chinese mechanical chronographs don't suffer with this!

I'm sure it could be fixed but I wouldn't want to mess with it as it comes with a 5 year warranty.

They do appear to be telling the truth as this Tissot with the same movement suffers from the same problem.

Edited by 147GTA on Monday 19th March 19:19

[147GTA]

nitsypee said:

If I were you I'd mention this on the Christopher Ward forum - you should get plenty of helpful advice.

http://www.christopherwardforum.com/

Thanks I'll give it a go, though I'm not holding my breath after today's conversation.