Anyone else notice the bezel print misalignment on Dune GMT?

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Anyone else notice the bezel print misalignment on Dune GMT?

Post by AetherSprite »

The newly released Dune GMT is a lovely design and a very tempting purchase, if only it didn't have a small but egregious design flaw with the inner GMT bezel. Look at the position of the "18" relative to the 9:00 indice and the "17" and "19". You can see the 18 is not centered with anything, and is higher up than it should be.

I know exactly why this misalignment is present, and it's because the original Dune GMT LE with it's half black, half beige inner bezel has the same "misaligned" 18, but it's actually intentional on the original GMT. The color transition on the OG black and beige GMT occurs between the 1 and 8 in 18, and is so because of the numbers offset position. If the 18 were to be aligned with the dial, the color split would cut awkwardly through a small portion of the 8 in 18. It works well with this design, and thus creates a beautiful watch. I wish I got one when they were available.

With the new Dune GMT, it appears they didn't bother to align the 18 properly despite the inner bezel being a single color, and the reason for the offset no longer present. This is a bit of a shame, and with the Dune GMT being so expensive I would have expected better attention to detail. It's not so obvious that it ruins the watch, but it's a bit annoying, and something I wouldn't expect from CW. I haven't seen anyone comment on this, which surprises me as I saw it almost immediately when it launched.

Even with this flaw I can't stop myself from considering one. Dune GMT along with standard Dune and Sealander GMT are all on my list.
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Re: Anyone else notice the bezel print misalignment on Dune GMT?

Post by Bahnstormer_vRS »

^^^^ You're perfectly correct, but I'd consider it a conscious design / production decision rather than a misalignment (a description usually reserved for faults).

Still a nice watch though.

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Re: Anyone else notice the bezel print misalignment on Dune GMT?

Post by StrappedUp »

Bahnstormer_vRS wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2024 10:31 am ^^^^ You're perfectly correct, but I'd consider it a conscious design / production decision rather than a misalignment (a description usually reserved for faults).

Still a nice watch though.

Guy

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Definitely a conscious design decision on the original for reasons mentioned by the OP, but this is a fault/misalignment/balls-up however you want to word it on the new one.

Laughable tbh. Do they not review their designs before approving them? It would appear not as this is just the latest in a long line of mishaps. :thumbdown:
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Re: Anyone else notice the bezel print misalignment on Dune GMT?

Post by JAFO »

AetherSprite wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2024 2:31 am The newly released Dune GMT is a lovely design and a very tempting purchase, if only it didn't have a small but egregious design flaw with the inner GMT bezel. Look at the position of the "18" relative to the 9:00 indice and the "17" and "19". You can see the 18 is not centered with anything, and is higher up than it should be.

I know exactly why this misalignment is present, and it's because the original Dune GMT LE with it's half black, half beige inner bezel has the same "misaligned" 18, but it's actually intentional on the original GMT. The color transition on the OG black and beige GMT occurs between the 1 and 8 in 18, and is so because of the numbers offset position. If the 18 were to be aligned with the dial, the color split would cut awkwardly through a small portion of the 8 in 18. It works well with this design, and thus creates a beautiful watch. I wish I got one when they were available.

With the new Dune GMT, it appears they didn't bother to align the 18 properly despite the inner bezel being a single color, and the reason for the offset no longer present. This is a bit of a shame, and with the Dune GMT being so expensive I would have expected better attention to detail. It's not so obvious that it ruins the watch, but it's a bit annoying, and something I wouldn't expect from CW. I haven't seen anyone comment on this, which surprises me as I saw it almost immediately when it launched.

Even with this flaw I can't stop myself from considering one. Dune GMT along with standard Dune and Sealander GMT are all on my list.
I think picking up the likely reason for the issue reflects a commendable attention to detail on your own behalf. Well spotted. :D

Edit. I just went back more carefully to see exactly what you meant, and it really was a very subtle observation. :D
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Re: Anyone else notice the bezel print misalignment on Dune GMT?

Post by tikkathree »

StrappedUp wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2024 11:32 am
Bahnstormer_vRS wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2024 10:31 am ^^^^ You're perfectly correct, but I'd consider it a conscious design / production decision rather than a misalignment (a description usually reserved for faults).

Still a nice watch though.

Guy

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Definitely a conscious design decision on the original for reasons mentioned by the OP, but this is a fault/misalignment/balls-up however you want to word it on the new one.

Laughable tbh. Do they not review their designs before approving them? It would appear not as this is just the latest in a long line of mishaps. :thumbdown:
I think if the case had been bigger than 38mm I might have been more likely to have had a look before now. As in many things one man's quirkiness/foible is another man's er balls-up. Somewhere I have a CW watch with FLE on the caseback though the watch isn't: or is it t'other way round? :? :?
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Re: Anyone else notice the bezel print misalignment on Dune GMT?

Post by ajax87 »

My 2 observations for the OP:

1) Who knows why CW didn't align it correctly in this model - is it to save cost somehow? Or did they just not notice? I agree that it's a miss and in this application should be aligned correctly.

2) On this 38mm watch, you'll hardly notice. In fact, I had this watch in my hands and on my wrist a few weeks ago, and I didn't notice one bit! I love the watch, and hope you do still consider it.
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Re: Anyone else notice the bezel print misalignment on Dune GMT?

Post by AetherSprite »

ajax87 wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2024 1:45 pm My 2 observations for the OP:

1) Who knows why CW didn't align it correctly in this model - is it to save cost somehow? Or did they just not notice? I agree that it's a miss and in this application should be aligned correctly.

2) On this 38mm watch, you'll hardly notice. In fact, I had this watch in my hands and on my wrist a few weeks ago, and I didn't notice one bit! I love the watch, and hope you do still consider it.
I agree it was probably either a conscious decision to save a little $$$, or they somehow missed it in the design process. If cost was the issue, I would rather pay a little more for it with a properly aligned 18. Either way it's a little embarrassing IMO.

Say this wasn't a universal issue with the new Dune GMT, and I received one with a misplaced 18 as shown in pictures. I would immediately suspect a QC error and send it back for another. That's fundamentally what bothers me, it looks like a mistake.

I'm still considering it, it's such a great design. Plus I'm leaning towards the Dune's designs over the Sealander, and the only way to get the nicer SW330 is with the GMT.
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Re: Anyone else notice the bezel print misalignment on Dune GMT?

Post by JAFO »

Bahnstormer_vRS wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2024 10:31 am ^^^^ You're perfectly correct, but I'd consider it a conscious design / production decision rather than a misalignment (a description usually reserved for faults).

Still a nice watch though.

Guy

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Sorry to be critical, but it's possible to see it more as an unconscious (rather than conscious) design/production error.
Just a "use the same as last time", without appreciating/recalling that last time was actually a "special".

There's a bit of the 4 stages of competence going on, and CW keep reaching a final stage of "unconscious incompetence" (rather than "unconscious competence") more frequently than you would expect. Maybe it's a result of juggling too many balls simultaneously - BC normal production, BC special variations, one offs for AMW, 12 production, Halo production, tomorrow's new release, etc etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_stages_of_competence

Except after the final "unconscious competence" you can revert to a variety of "unconscious incompetence" where you assume you know how to do things without thinking, and then start making mistakes because you actually miss details.

[edit - I edited the above slightly after@tikkathree quoted it. When I re-read the wiki article I saw it stopped at unconscious competence, as did all the other references to the model I checked. They all seemed to miss the possibility of becoming blase, and allowing errors to creep in. ]
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Re: Anyone else notice the bezel print misalignment on Dune GMT?

Post by tikkathree »

JAFO wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2024 4:33 pm

There's a bit of the 4 stages of competence going on, and CW keep reaching the final stage of "unconscious incompetence" more frequently than you would expect. Maybe it's a result of juggling too many balls simultaneously - BC normal production, BC special variations, one offs for AMW, 12 production, Halo production, tomorrow's new release, etc etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_stages_of_competence

Except the fifth stage after the "unconscious competence" can be back to a variety of "unconscious incompetence" where you assume you know how to do things without thinking, and then start making mistakes because you actually miss details.
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Re: Anyone else notice the bezel print misalignment on Dune GMT?

Post by exHowfener »

CW keep reaching the final stage of "unconscious incompetence"
Whilst I broadly agree with your post, "Unconscious incompetence" is actually the first stage. Conscious competence is the final stage.
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Re: Anyone else notice the bezel print misalignment on Dune GMT?

Post by JAFO »

exHowfener wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2024 4:54 pm
CW keep reaching the final stage of "unconscious incompetence"
Whilst I broadly agree with your post, "Unconscious incompetence" is actually the first stage. Conscious competence is the final stage.
Yes, but I meant that you need to guard against incompetence creeping back in, if you will. Maybe I just learned it incompetently.:D
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Re: Anyone else notice the bezel print misalignment on Dune GMT?

Post by rkovars »

JAFO wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2024 4:33 pm Sorry to be critical, but it's possible to see it more as an unconscious (rather than conscious) design/production error.
Just a "use the same as last time", without appreciating/recalling that last time was actually a "special".
I have no doubt it was this. Changing the alignment of the print on the inner ring would cost nothing.

It had to be a product of 'start with this design from before' and no one ever saw/remembered that detail about the 18 alignment.

I also agree with @ajax87 that it would be tough to see without a loupe but it is undoubtedly one of those things that once you see it you can't unsee it.

I have to say though, I have one of the Super Compressors with the left justified text (which is far more obvious than the 18 alignment) and it has never bothered me after nearly 4 years of ownership (yeesh 4 years already :shock: where did the time go).

It does seem that there isn't anyone who is up all night sweating the smallest of details in a design. A director of product or something similar.
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Re: Anyone else notice the bezel print misalignment on Dune GMT?

Post by nbg »

rkovars wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2024 6:28 pm It does seem that there isn't anyone who is up all night sweating the smallest of details in a design. A director or product or something similar.
Ah a new role for the FLE design team! :lol:

Our day rate would be reasonable. Perhaps. :)

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Re: Anyone else notice the bezel print misalignment on Dune GMT?

Post by rkovars »

nbg wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2024 6:37 pm
rkovars wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2024 6:28 pm It does seem that there isn't anyone who is up all night sweating the smallest of details in a design. A director or product or something similar.
Ah a new role for the FLE design team! :lol:

Our day rate would be reasonable. Perhaps. :)

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Anyone else notice the bezel print misalignment on Dune GMT?

Post by MistaFroggyG »

I’ve had this watch for a month and haven’t noticed that (and doubt I ever would have) until now
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