UNIONmagazine wrote: ↑Fri Sep 27, 2019 5:27 pm I'd like to buy British again, if only for the emotional attachment.

Well, if you are open to second hand there are a couple of decent buys on eBay at the moment (I’m watching both but probably won’t be indulging as it’s only just over a week since my last buy). If you are after a diver there’s a Farer aqua compressor silver dial. If you are just after a good, honest English watch then there’s a Pinion Axis steel case. If I had already sold a couple of mine that are set aside for sale at the moment I’d be going for them both.

^^^TC has a nice yellow Mako he might sell you!

Amor Vincit Omnia wrote: ↑Fri Sep 27, 2019 6:54 pm ^^^TC has a nice yellow Mako he might sell you!

No, TC doesn’t

TigerChris wrote: ↑Fri Sep 27, 2019 6:38 pm

UNIONmagazine wrote: ↑Fri Sep 27, 2019 5:27 pm I'd like to buy British again, if only for the emotional attachment.

Well, if you are open to second hand there are a couple of decent buys on eBay at the moment (I’m watching both but probably won’t be indulging as it’s only just over a week since my last buy). If you are after a diver there’s a Farer aqua compressor silver dial. If you are just after a good, honest English watch then there’s a Pinion Axis steel case. If I had already sold a couple of mine that are set aside for sale at the moment I’d be going for them both.

Thanks for the heads up. I've been looking at Farer watches. Very nice. I'm not sure I'm after a used watch but nonetheless they do look good.

That's balls that up. I was considering in purchasing one of these next week.

With my experience with customer service recently and now this, I'll stay well away from CW from on.
Save a bit more for a Tudor

I had the exact same thing happening with my C65 Vintage GMT, first exposure to water and then mist /fogging on the inside of the chrystal...
My watch was about two months old and the issue occured after a short swim, no diving.
Sent it back and got an e-mail saying it would be a warranty repair. My watch was delivered a couple of days ago, after 6-7 weeks. I’m currently travelling so I won’t get my hands on it till this weekend. Hopefully there is some documentation with it so I can see what the fault was and what they’ve done to fix it.
...but, I was also charged about £50 in taxes / fees to have my watch released by dhl... I gotta look into that when I get home...

HaaBratt wrote: ↑Sat Oct 05, 2019 5:35 am I had the exact same thing happening with my C65 Vintage GMT, first exposure to water and then mist /fogging on the inside of the chrystal...
My watch was about two months old and the issue occured after a short swim, no diving.
Sent it back and got an e-mail saying it would be a warranty repair. My watch was delivered a couple of days ago, after 6-7 weeks. I’m currently travelling so I won’t get my hands on it till this weekend. Hopefully there is some documentation with it so I can see what the fault was and what they’ve done to fix it.
...but, I was also charged about £50 in taxes / fees to have my watch released by dhl... I gotta look into that when I get home...

At 2 months old I'd want it replaced with a new one. The original was obviously faulty when you bought it and under Consumer law you can rescind the deal

I am getting the feeling that these new watches are not, and I am just speculating, individually pressure tested. If so, the newly repaired may be a better bet than the new.

I've been away in Italy for a week so apologies for the radio silence.

My issue with CW regarding my C65 GMT was eventually settled amicably and I recieved a full refund. Both Adrian and Mike went the extra mile and shared some kind words that restored my faith in CW's customer service. It very much looked like I was a victim of the system but once my case was escalated we seemed to be able to reach an agreement failry quickly.

I have bought a couple of low cost watches to replace the GMT in the short term. A Cincinnati Field Watch (on pre-order) and a Seiko 5 (both not British I know). I was looking at buying another CW Diver but the recent comment by @haabratt has made me wonder. His story is remarkably similar to mine. Maybe I should stick to a screw down crown model like the C60 to avoid another deja vu.

And yes @peterh , your comment about watch collecting might have been more accurate than I was willing to admit.

HaaBratt wrote: ↑Sat Oct 05, 2019 5:35 am I had the exact same thing happening with my C65 Vintage GMT, first exposure to water and then mist /fogging on the inside of the chrystal...
My watch was about two months old and the issue occured after a short swim, no diving.
Sent it back and got an e-mail saying it would be a warranty repair. My watch was delivered a couple of days ago, after 6-7 weeks. I’m currently travelling so I won’t get my hands on it till this weekend. Hopefully there is some documentation with it so I can see what the fault was and what they’ve done to fix it.
...but, I was also charged about £50 in taxes / fees to have my watch released by dhl... I gotta look into that when I get home...

So exactly the same issue that I suffered from with a C65 GMT in, what sounds like, very similar circumstances.

So... got my hands on my guarantee reapaired C65 Vintage GMT. No papers in the box saying what has been done, but a signed QC sticker on the protective plastic on the watch.
Everything looks good and enjoy having it back on my wrist!

Just had a thought about this issue.

There is a very good chance that if the watch isn't worn properly, the back of the watch and therefore the crown also, will be resting on the back of the hand and bending the hand back at the wrist will push against the crown and that is all it would take to disturb a non screw-down crown seal.

The OP mentioned the crown sticking out would make the watch uncomfortable to wear, this could only happen if the watch was worn below the wrist bone.

MarkingTime wrote: ↑Wed Nov 13, 2019 6:42 pm Just had a thought about this issue.

There is a very good chance that if the watch isn't worn properly, the back of the watch and therefore the crown also, will be resting on the back of the hand and bending the hand back at the wrist will push against the crown and that is all it would take to disturb a non screw-down crown seal.

The OP mentioned the crown sticking out would make the watch uncomfortable to wear, this could only happen if the watch was worn below the wrist bone.

I'm just thinking out loud here but before I "discovered" watches my only everyday watch was a Seiko 7T34 Flightmaster chrono with four pushers and a non-screwed crown. I took that watch everywhere: swimming in the sea and in pools, diving in, swimming along the bottom, wet sailboat racing including full on pitchpoles. I didn't know there was a big deal about screwdown crowns mostly because I'd never heard of them. Still got that watch, it still runs.

tikkathree wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2019 6:24 pm

MarkingTime wrote: ↑Wed Nov 13, 2019 6:42 pm Just had a thought about this issue.

There is a very good chance that if the watch isn't worn properly, the back of the watch and therefore the crown also, will be resting on the back of the hand and bending the hand back at the wrist will push against the crown and that is all it would take to disturb a non screw-down crown seal.

The OP mentioned the crown sticking out would make the watch uncomfortable to wear, this could only happen if the watch was worn below the wrist bone.

I'm just thinking out loud here but before I "discovered" watches my only everyday watch was a Seiko 7T34 Flightmaster chrono with four pushers and a non-screwed crown. I took that watch everywhere: swimming in the sea and in pools, diving in, swimming along the bottom, wet sailboat racing including full on pitchpoles. I didn't know there was a big deal about screwdown crowns mostly because I'd never heard of them. Still got that watch, it still runs.

Maybe you don't wear your watch with the crown in contact with the back of your hand, or the crown on the Seiko is not as exposed as the C65, maybe the Seiko has a better designed sealing of the stem?
Either way, water ingress will only occur if the seals are disturbed somehow and if the watch passes a static pressure test, then external forces must be involved to cause the leak.

Ah, it looks like I may have made a mistake in just ordering the C65 automatic. Don't get me wrong, as its only 150m rated and doesn't have a screw down crown, I was never going to take it diving, I have proper dive watches for that, but I did want a robust every day watch that looked good and could take a few knocks if necessary and I could go swimming with or even leave on in the shower.

I have several watches, most of which I wear on a regular basis, but wanted to add a casual daily watch that I didn't have to worry about and could take on holiday with me, go snorkeling or swimming in the sea / pool. Now I am worried it will be flooded the first time I take it in the water.

Does anyone have any GOOD experiences of taking the C65 automatic into the sea? Could it be just a few bad apples or are they all pretty much unfit for purpose?