Apologies if this has been covered before, I did manage to find a few threads from a while ago.

My wife just bought me a new C5 quartz for our anniversary.
My first question was 'did you get the 15% discount', she didn't, so that wasn't the best start.
Then I opened it and saw that the second hand doesn't line up with the markers, she was deflated that I wasn't impressed. The watch is lovely apart from that.

Mostly the second hand lands bang in the middle of the markers, although if I tip the watch it seems to move a bit.

For me it spoils the watch, but I'm not sure if I'm being picky, especially as I feel a bit bad for my wife by sending it back.

The wife has a quartz Omega which is bang on the markers, as is my Pulsar.

Am I right to return the C5?

Some people don't seem to mind this aberration or not even notice,but it would annoy me and if, as I suspect, it would irritate you then I would certainly return it. You could ask for a refund and then reorder using the discount code.

Robin

This is something common with quartz watches and is one of the reasons I won't buy them any more as being a perfectionist it's the type of thing that drives me crazy!

I even had a Patek Philippe in the other day with exact same issue and like it would me, it irritated the owner.

Funny enough I don't remember the company but I think it could have been Cartier, I noticed an advert for one of their watches and even there I could see the second hand wasn't perfectly aligned, quartz model. In an advert!!!

I'd try not to worry about it, easier said than done if you're a person that notices such details which most do not. Good chance if you send it back the replacement will be just the same.

Yup, this is true of my quartz C5 Mk II as well. It sometimes lines up, and sometimes doesn't.

Took me a while but I got over the fact. It's a lovely watch otherwise. If you can get over this issue, you should enjoy the watch.


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Strangely this is far more common in Swiss quartz than Japanese quartz and Rhonda are bigger culprits than eta I find even though they are more expensive movements and have more jewels than the Japanese

Thanks for the replies.

If it's something that probably won't be fixed with a replacement, I'll just live with it.
I guess I expected more because of all the hype about high quality at low prices, but maybe you do just get what you pay for.

I'll give CWL HQ a call to find out.

hughesyn wrote:Thanks for the replies.

If it's something that probably won't be fixed with a replacement, I'll just live with it.
I guess I expected more because of all the hype about high quality at low prices, but maybe you do just get what you pay for.

I'll give CWL HQ a call to find out.

#

Follow your own instincts. In a watch that aspires to quality the second hand will land on the markers. They will send you a replacement that complies.

Robin

My only Swiss Quartz is a Tissot and it lands on the marks perfectly. I would expect the same from a more expensive C5 and ask for an exchange. Especially as it seems to bother you from the first minute you got it.

Konketsu wrote:... I would expect the same from a more expensive C5 and ask for an exchange. Especially as it seems to bother you from the first minute you got it.

I agree entirely and for info this is what CW say about the C5 quartz "As with the Mark I, the quartz version of this CW classic is a masterpiece of understated English design combined with Swiss watchmaking excellence at a truly remarkable cost. Red text my emphasis of course. What you describe would drive me insane. It doesn't meet your expectations so send the thing back and make sure its replacement meets the hype. It's the only way CW will learn to get things right.

I agree completely - A lovely watch with a second hand that falls dead centre of the markers, so perfectly in middle I thought it was meant to be like that!

just put a battery in a seiko that's 30 years old and seconds hand lines up perfectly with the markers. until i read this post I had never seen a quartz watch do anything different, It would drive me crackers as well. I will be interested to find the outcome of this and whether this is normal for quartz watches.

It's not normal for quartz watches. I too have a few old quartz watches and the seconds hand lines up with the markers. In fact the only quartz i own on which the hands don't line up properly is a C60 Kingfisher. I forgive that watch it's imperfections because i like it so much and I'll never tire of the lovely blue dial, but really it's not good enough and CW need to do better. These attention to detail issues let the brand down and they cannot be difficult to get right.

I have a Braun MSF watch. On that, the second hand lines up perfectly with the marker at 12.
However, as it foes round the dial, it goes out of synch, as if it struggling with gravity and there's some slack in the gear train.
I've tried looking at it upside down, but that's not the reason!

It would drive me to distraction! Send it back Asap....

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If you are not happy then send it back. That is what the 60 day no quibble guarantee is for.

Having said that I never really look at whether the hands hit the markers or not on my watches. I guess I am not that OCD. I think that markers are there as a guide. There are watches with just hands on a plain dial and it is perfectly possible to read the time on them. I have never seen any watch manufacture claim that the seconds hand will hit every marker.