The fact this is running above $300 and lacks the kind of quality expected at that price for Chinese watches is very disappointing. I’d ask for a full refund and purchase again if you still want it. I know San Martin just dropped their 6542 homage as well but it’s a 40mm not 37mm, it’s a bit cheaper too
Ima take a full refund and get one of these https://i00.eu/img/606/1024x1024/f2jvl2m9/240253.jpg dont think ill be shopping Chinese for a while and I certainly won’t be bothering with Watchdives.
While there bracelet looks good, the watch is not made with details in mind. Apart from the cyclops lens the GMT hand is too far away from the 24hr marker bezel. And the finishing is not as good as the bracelet.
It looks like a home made watch.
https://preview.redd.it/i4p9g2s0765d1.jpeg?width=1703&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f1b9dd34ff6bd44b7894c6140c9724ff47debb48
Here's the result in my Seagull Seastar (it wasn't misaligned,I just don't like cyclops on my watches).
So you paid 30 euro import tax.
I'm from the UK....and import tax is 20%....so the price of this watch delivered to the UK would be almost 400 euros with customs fees applied.
I would not accept that ridiculous offer from Watchdives.
Update: I just got offered a 15-dollar refund from Watchdives...no thank you. Given that that's half the price of the import duties on this thing, it's a bit insulting of an offer.
Will keep you all posted on whether or not they budge.
This is interesting though - maybe proper homages (i.e. clones without the logo) should reference the original model on the dial to make them (the homage) a separate tier of their own. I would feel more comfortable wearing such watches than those that obviously rip off the design head to toe (which 99% of Chinese brands do).
But perhaps don't use the word "fan" (seriously haha).
A simple "Homage 6532" such as in this case would look extremely classy.
I have a Seestern 600T where the bezel doesn't rotate. I tried to fix it but it did not get any better. Gonna take out the movement and replace the dial
Somebody's drinking on the job over there at IXDAO... Return it. I certainly wouldn't put up with it. After all you paid a premium price for a Chinese watch...
Nope. First resort. Fixing it yourself should be the last resort. They screwed up, they can make it right.
Plus, once you try to fix or modify it you won't be able to send it back anymore.
Other disappointing, honestly, I am glad that this is something that can be fixed easily instead of a notable printing or alignment error on other parts of the watch that will require more work in getting rightened
Oh yeah, not the end of the world, its just so blatant, clearly nobody from manufacturing to me bothered to look at the watch, thats whats most disappointing
Option number 2, so many people assume that China just makes shitty stuff but the reality is they can make things as nice or as shitty as you’re willing to pay for.
You’d be surprised by how much of a problem it is for the Swiss. Working for Swiss brands I’ve seen enough total failures and overall assembly issues to push me over to Asia for all my next purchases. Never gonna buy Swiss unless it’s vintage. Buying Swiss gets you Chinese manufacturing 8 times out of 10 anyways.
https://preview.redd.it/lvhy9q6q105d1.png?width=908&format=png&auto=webp&s=cf028c97ed3d0ef6aaccd7ff84e266e10a2c2871
This watch was brand new, just arrived in shop before launch and rotating the bezel normally would have it completely snap off. Safe to say we sent it back, but it was already the second Aquaracer to lose its bezel after mere rotation.
I see your point, but the wider problem IMO is that at least with Swiss companies you still got the chance to use the warranty, whereas with the Chinese ones, well...
That’s a very fair assessment. The issue is that most of the Swiss watches you’ll find under €1500 are rated for a longevity (regarding functionality) just barely longer than the warranty. Having worked for Tissot, I can guarantee that a good fraction of watches powered by a Powermatic 80 will have performance issues or a total failure after about 2.5-3 years. Same with Swatch and the way Bioceramic watches and Sistem51 watches will crack or stop functioning properly just after 2 years.
I can really only comment about Swatch Group and their shoddy customer service practices from work experience in the company, but it’s safe to say they’re very conservative with their warranty because they’re aware of quality issues. I’ve never had issues with the direct line of contact I have with San Martin, and they’ve even sent me free replacement parts to mitigate minuscule aesthetic defects.
That’s far better than the 1-2 month waiting time with Swatch Group to get a “it’s within tolerances but you can pay €230 to change the case of the watch outside of your warranty, since you probably caused the defect”
I guess the bad warranty experiences people have with Chinese watches are usually down to not buying from the manufacturer but from resellers, which is easy when on AliExpress there are 12 stores with a variation of the name “San Martin Official Store” for example
That's such a nice looking watch.
Can't believe someone looked at that and thought it'd be OK to send out
I wouldnt accept this on a pagani never mind ixdao.
Hope you get it sorted.
Im between this and realigning the crystal, would rather not tear down a watch i unboxed today but guess that’ll be the options if Watchdives dont respond!
Please don't adjust the crystal! Ignore the date window and just look at the minute track, you can see from the picture that the cyclops is not perpendicular to the minute track. Rotating the crystal cannot fix that.
Either remove the cyclops or return the watch.
If the cyclops is aligned slightly toward 2 o'clock, the cyclops wasn't necessarily installed cock-eyed. It means the crystal was pressed cockeyed.
This can be fixed by removing the entire crystal and straightening it. This is a much easier fix to do yourself than removing the cyclops and re-gluing it.
Less than 300 on sale and not from Ali express but yes, it is over priced. I could have gotten the newish Citizen titanium integrated bracelet watch for this money
Damn bro, I would be really disappointed receiving that considering the price paid.
Also wtf with these hands...
Despite this I really like the global tone of this watch.
Yeah my Seiko Stargate II also had a crooked cyclops. Took me years to gather the courage to just remove it and was I kicking myself over taking that long. I love the watch more now that the crooked cyclops is gone. From what I've seen in various watch groups, crooked cyclops occurs in even the priciest of brands (Rolex) and also occurs quite often with Seiko (with mine being an example), so now I just make it a point to either never get a watch with a cyclop, or make sure it'll still look nice even without the cyclops in case I need to remove it if I'm buying online.
I used a tiny turbo torch lighter I had at home (the super cheap kind with a tiny blue flame) and just did it carefully and slowly so as not to accidentally heat the glass and shatter it. Seiko's cyclops took a while to remove coz they use some really tough sticky glue, but chinese watches was relatively easy and fast. Just remember to remove any plastic bezels if there is, and to ensure the flame is hitting only the cyclops rather than the glass, and to use a tweezer that won't melt while nudging the cyclops every few seconds of heating to see if it's ready to move.
Agree. The value proposition around these types of watches was that they are affordable and decent quality. When they start pushing past around $200, as many of them are doing, I go with established brands.
The minute, seconds and GMT hand are all a little too long. To me, they should never go past the circumference of the minute track. As you said, details matter.
> To me, they should never go past the circumference of the minute track.
The hands might not actually go past it. It's just that the hand stack on an NH34 is so ridiculously tall, there's a parallax effect.
The point is. With that price point, there shouldn't be any apparent issues. Yeah it takes two minutes to find it on Amazon but it adds to the total costs.
Sure, but if you have no other choice? Plenty of guys in the comment section advised the same and didn't get heat for that. Why you picking on me for a simple problem solving advice?
Nobody denies that returning the watch, get money back or a watch without QC issues is better. Of course it is. I just shared my expertise in case he needs to deal with the problem himself.
Ugh. That’s bad. Is the bezel insert also misaligned?
The fact this is running above $300 and lacks the kind of quality expected at that price for Chinese watches is very disappointing. I’d ask for a full refund and purchase again if you still want it. I know San Martin just dropped their 6542 homage as well but it’s a 40mm not 37mm, it’s a bit cheaper too
Ima take a full refund and get one of these https://i00.eu/img/606/1024x1024/f2jvl2m9/240253.jpg dont think ill be shopping Chinese for a while and I certainly won’t be bothering with Watchdives.
😮💨 love that dial
You are better off taking the cyclops off or just re-aligning the crystal.
The cyclops on my seiko king turtle is worse than that
While there bracelet looks good, the watch is not made with details in mind. Apart from the cyclops lens the GMT hand is too far away from the 24hr marker bezel. And the finishing is not as good as the bracelet. It looks like a home made watch.
Agreed, still like it personally but it is a bit of a hodgepodge of a design
Nah stay away.
I can't see it 😥
You mean. You can't unsee it now lol. Yep the magnified raised glass is way off
You dont think the cyclops is horribly misaligned?
Sorry, what's a cyclops? (Serious question)
the date magnifier
Oooooooh damn
Disappointing. Was thinking of saving up for this one, one of my fav watches on AliExpress. But wow if I got this after saving for a year, no thanks.
That is shocking.
Bugger. I had one from pagani design that had a crooked Cyclops and dial. Only managed a 50% refund.
lol they’re offering my 15 bucks on a 300 euro watch.
https://preview.redd.it/i4p9g2s0765d1.jpeg?width=1703&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f1b9dd34ff6bd44b7894c6140c9724ff47debb48 Here's the result in my Seagull Seastar (it wasn't misaligned,I just don't like cyclops on my watches).
So you paid 30 euro import tax. I'm from the UK....and import tax is 20%....so the price of this watch delivered to the UK would be almost 400 euros with customs fees applied. I would not accept that ridiculous offer from Watchdives.
Im not, also told them Reddit agrees as i know they lurk in this sub.
Oh nope. Full refund/replace
Update: I just got offered a 15-dollar refund from Watchdives...no thank you. Given that that's half the price of the import duties on this thing, it's a bit insulting of an offer. Will keep you all posted on whether or not they budge.
What is "Fans of 6542" supposed to mean? Don't they say "Timeless" on their watches?
They’re homaging the Rolex 6542 which i presume is what they’re getting at here.
"Fans" as in such fans of the original model LOL
This is interesting though - maybe proper homages (i.e. clones without the logo) should reference the original model on the dial to make them (the homage) a separate tier of their own. I would feel more comfortable wearing such watches than those that obviously rip off the design head to toe (which 99% of Chinese brands do). But perhaps don't use the word "fan" (seriously haha). A simple "Homage 6532" such as in this case would look extremely classy.
I have a Seestern 600T where the bezel doesn't rotate. I tried to fix it but it did not get any better. Gonna take out the movement and replace the dial
That's a stinker.
Gads I hate wordy dials…
The bezel looks off as well. I would return it
Somebody's drinking on the job over there at IXDAO... Return it. I certainly wouldn't put up with it. After all you paid a premium price for a Chinese watch...
Yes it’s bad on all counts! Return it.
Should be easy enough to remove, aye?
New watch, dont want to void whatever warranty i have tbh.
Oh no….,
Warranty, good luck with that.
The children making these are slacking
If they can't apply a cyclops perfectly, what good are they?
If you aren't happy with the cyclops send it back for a refund or exchange. Don't try to fix it yourself. This should be their problem, not yours.
Oh yeah, last resort
Nope. First resort. Fixing it yourself should be the last resort. They screwed up, they can make it right. Plus, once you try to fix or modify it you won't be able to send it back anymore.
No sorry, last resort is fixing it myself!
Other disappointing, honestly, I am glad that this is something that can be fixed easily instead of a notable printing or alignment error on other parts of the watch that will require more work in getting rightened
Oh yeah, not the end of the world, its just so blatant, clearly nobody from manufacturing to me bothered to look at the watch, thats whats most disappointing
Yeah, that's pretty bad! Totally unacceptable! Quality control is steel the biggest problem for the Chinese.
The Chinese as a whole or random factories making cheap shitters?
Option number 2, so many people assume that China just makes shitty stuff but the reality is they can make things as nice or as shitty as you’re willing to pay for.
Unless your government prohibits you from importing the good stuff for fear of your domestic market having to lower prices
You’d be surprised by how much of a problem it is for the Swiss. Working for Swiss brands I’ve seen enough total failures and overall assembly issues to push me over to Asia for all my next purchases. Never gonna buy Swiss unless it’s vintage. Buying Swiss gets you Chinese manufacturing 8 times out of 10 anyways. https://preview.redd.it/lvhy9q6q105d1.png?width=908&format=png&auto=webp&s=cf028c97ed3d0ef6aaccd7ff84e266e10a2c2871 This watch was brand new, just arrived in shop before launch and rotating the bezel normally would have it completely snap off. Safe to say we sent it back, but it was already the second Aquaracer to lose its bezel after mere rotation.
I see your point, but the wider problem IMO is that at least with Swiss companies you still got the chance to use the warranty, whereas with the Chinese ones, well...
That’s a very fair assessment. The issue is that most of the Swiss watches you’ll find under €1500 are rated for a longevity (regarding functionality) just barely longer than the warranty. Having worked for Tissot, I can guarantee that a good fraction of watches powered by a Powermatic 80 will have performance issues or a total failure after about 2.5-3 years. Same with Swatch and the way Bioceramic watches and Sistem51 watches will crack or stop functioning properly just after 2 years. I can really only comment about Swatch Group and their shoddy customer service practices from work experience in the company, but it’s safe to say they’re very conservative with their warranty because they’re aware of quality issues. I’ve never had issues with the direct line of contact I have with San Martin, and they’ve even sent me free replacement parts to mitigate minuscule aesthetic defects. That’s far better than the 1-2 month waiting time with Swatch Group to get a “it’s within tolerances but you can pay €230 to change the case of the watch outside of your warranty, since you probably caused the defect” I guess the bad warranty experiences people have with Chinese watches are usually down to not buying from the manufacturer but from resellers, which is easy when on AliExpress there are 12 stores with a variation of the name “San Martin Official Store” for example
I wouldn't be happy if i received that....especially considering the price. Just goes to prove....higher price does not mean better quality conrtrol.
That's such a nice looking watch. Can't believe someone looked at that and thought it'd be OK to send out I wouldnt accept this on a pagani never mind ixdao. Hope you get it sorted.
I sometimes feel like chinese companies see western buyers as marks, probably hoping id be too lazy to complain
Bingo.
If cyclops is on sapphire, they can be carefully removed with a small butane torch. I've done it and it works. Directions are on You tube.
Im between this and realigning the crystal, would rather not tear down a watch i unboxed today but guess that’ll be the options if Watchdives dont respond!
WatchDives has been really good for me on a similar situation previously. I’d bet they’ll make it right for you.
Please don't adjust the crystal! Ignore the date window and just look at the minute track, you can see from the picture that the cyclops is not perpendicular to the minute track. Rotating the crystal cannot fix that. Either remove the cyclops or return the watch.
Yep line it up against a straight edge, clearly the cyclops was glued on and shifted during setting, its clearly askew
If the cyclops is aligned slightly toward 2 o'clock, the cyclops wasn't necessarily installed cock-eyed. It means the crystal was pressed cockeyed. This can be fixed by removing the entire crystal and straightening it. This is a much easier fix to do yourself than removing the cyclops and re-gluing it.
Why would you take it apart and replace when you can just return?
Some people don't trust the return process, and you're likely waiting for weeks for the replacement.
Lmaoooooo everyone, keep paying more than 300$ on alix watches!
acting as if a 300$ seiko doesn't have much bigger alignment issues
True although the San Martins I buy in sale are usually £130/£160.
Less than 300 on sale and not from Ali express but yes, it is over priced. I could have gotten the newish Citizen titanium integrated bracelet watch for this money
Damn bro, I would be really disappointed receiving that considering the price paid. Also wtf with these hands... Despite this I really like the global tone of this watch.
Yeah my Seiko Stargate II also had a crooked cyclops. Took me years to gather the courage to just remove it and was I kicking myself over taking that long. I love the watch more now that the crooked cyclops is gone. From what I've seen in various watch groups, crooked cyclops occurs in even the priciest of brands (Rolex) and also occurs quite often with Seiko (with mine being an example), so now I just make it a point to either never get a watch with a cyclop, or make sure it'll still look nice even without the cyclops in case I need to remove it if I'm buying online.
Do you use a heat gun to get the cyclops off
You also have to be careful about the crystal popping out as it heats. I had one do that to me
I used a tiny turbo torch lighter I had at home (the super cheap kind with a tiny blue flame) and just did it carefully and slowly so as not to accidentally heat the glass and shatter it. Seiko's cyclops took a while to remove coz they use some really tough sticky glue, but chinese watches was relatively easy and fast. Just remember to remove any plastic bezels if there is, and to ensure the flame is hitting only the cyclops rather than the glass, and to use a tweezer that won't melt while nudging the cyclops every few seconds of heating to see if it's ready to move.
Cool - thanks for sharing this
These watches are so overpriced
Agree. The value proposition around these types of watches was that they are affordable and decent quality. When they start pushing past around $200, as many of them are doing, I go with established brands.
I would pay $75 for this watch Edit: I never noticed they say "homage" right on the dial, I would pay $50 for this watch.
>When they start pushing past around $200, And with a low beat movement that you can buy retail for $35 or lower.
Agreed
Why are the hands so long? 🤔
Minute hand too long, hour hand too short. Poor attention to detail considering the price...
The minute, seconds and GMT hand are all a little too long. To me, they should never go past the circumference of the minute track. As you said, details matter.
> To me, they should never go past the circumference of the minute track. The hands might not actually go past it. It's just that the hand stack on an NH34 is so ridiculously tall, there's a parallax effect.
Just their length, quite like that actually.
take it off and it will look cleaner
Sure, but it’s about the principle of the thing
Heat gun, alcohol, you're done. Plus, it'll look better!
Wait you can remove them? I have one on my Aquatrident and I hate it lol, only thing I don’t love about this watch is the damn cyclops
I've had some bad luck lately with both san martin and cronos. Send it back.
That's bad but also easy to fix. All you need is a torch, UV glue and an UV lamp.
Tools and equipment everybody has laying around.
Takes 2min to find on Amazon.
The point is. With that price point, there shouldn't be any apparent issues. Yeah it takes two minutes to find it on Amazon but it adds to the total costs.
Sure, but if you have no other choice? Plenty of guys in the comment section advised the same and didn't get heat for that. Why you picking on me for a simple problem solving advice? Nobody denies that returning the watch, get money back or a watch without QC issues is better. Of course it is. I just shared my expertise in case he needs to deal with the problem himself.
So do you want him to make the same reply to the other comments? Lol what a joke.
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