Final Update (warning long read) - Advice Needed - Small Imperfection on the C65 Trident Auto

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groovin
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Final Update (warning long read) - Advice Needed - Small Imperfection on the C65 Trident Auto

Post by groovin »

Hey all,

As some of you might have seen I have aquired a C65 Trident Auto from a fellow forum member.

I have the watch for a few days now and love the looks and the feel of the watch; it's perfect for me.

Now today I just discovered there is a small white spec that looks like either a small white microfiber or a small scratch to the right side of the 12 hour marker.

This is definately not on the outer side of the sapphire crystal and after looking at it from different angles and in different lightning I am pretty confident it is on the inside of the crystal.

Now comes the tricky part where your valuable advice can help me decide:

On the one hand I can be quite exagerated in keeping my watches in perfect condition and really pay attention with avoiding every possible scratch mark etc so now that I have seen this thing it's a mental thing and I always notice it.
On the other hand the watch is perfect it seems to keep time with an error of under 1sec+ and I am quite scared of the recent QC and CS stories we have all been witnessing here.

So send it in or keep it with the "war scar" from CW that is the big question?

Below some pictures with the marked spot (pictures 1 and 2 show the spot more clearly) (pictures 3 and 4 are meant to show that it's sometimes barely visible):

Thank you all for your input in advance.

All the best,

Andrei

Visible angles and lightning:
1.jpg
2.jpg
Not so visible examples:
3.jpg
4.jpg
Tudor Black Bay | C9 Moonphase | C65 Trident Auto | C9 5 Day Auto | Vulcain Aviator | C60 299 Signal Sqn | Seiko Turtle Blue Lagoon | Oris Aquis | Steinhart Ocean One Gnomon | Zelos Swordfish V2
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Re: Advice Needed - Small Imperfection on the C65 Trident Auto

Post by monkwearmouth »

Too big too ignore. If it was me I’d send it back


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Re: Advice Needed - Small Imperfection on the C65 Trident Auto

Post by H0rati0 »

Me too, it would bug me a much as it sounds like it will bug you - send it in.

A pity though.
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Re: Advice Needed - Small Imperfection on the C65 Trident Auto

Post by RichM »

That's a great purchase from a fellow forum member - I wish I'd seen it too!

I could probably live with it. For me, these things eventually become invisible and I don't notice them anymore.

If it bugs you though definitely look at getting it sorted.
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Re: Advice Needed - Small Imperfection on the C65 Trident Auto

Post by hsukirk »

Sounds like sending it back is a better idea. I would have personally .
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Re: Advice Needed - Small Imperfection on the C65 Trident Auto

Post by Bungle-ator »

That would drive me mad. There's a less noticeable imperfection on the dial of my c65 that I tried my best to ignore but it was irritating the life out of me. Certainly, whilst weighing up the cost it just shouldn't be there. I've only asked them to fix it after I dropped the watch and it stopped running and this may or may not be the reason is being repaired under warranty. I do however wish I'd returned it as soon as I noticed it.
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Re: Advice Needed - Small Imperfection on the C65 Trident Auto

Post by groovin »

Thank you for the input so far,

I have been looking at the watch now for the past day and the fact that the watch somehow wears quite small and because of the domed crystal glass it does hide away quite well. There are just few specific situations where it is visible and of course if you know it's there and get the watch really close to your eyes to inspect it.

But I agree that generally things like these should definitely get sorted. Just a bit scared of the time it would be away for service and not jinx the fact that it is running so well.

Would you happen to know if it would be an option as I documented the issue to have CW resolve it with a first service that might be needed for some reason at a later point in time (of course during the warranty period)?

Still a bit undecided but again thank you for all the input past and future!

Andrei
Tudor Black Bay | C9 Moonphase | C65 Trident Auto | C9 5 Day Auto | Vulcain Aviator | C60 299 Signal Sqn | Seiko Turtle Blue Lagoon | Oris Aquis | Steinhart Ocean One Gnomon | Zelos Swordfish V2
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Re: Advice Needed - Small Imperfection on the C65 Trident Auto

Post by groovin »

After discovering another issues with the 5 hour marker that has the lume filling going over the side of the marker as seen in the picture below I decided I surely need to send the watch in provided it would be replaced.

5.jpg

After a pleasant chat with customer services and a confirmation that the watch would indeed be replaced and not serviced because that would take forever I will be sending the watch in next week and keeping my fingers crossed that the CS experience will continue to be as smooth as it has been so far and that watch will be replaced in due time.

Andrei
Tudor Black Bay | C9 Moonphase | C65 Trident Auto | C9 5 Day Auto | Vulcain Aviator | C60 299 Signal Sqn | Seiko Turtle Blue Lagoon | Oris Aquis | Steinhart Ocean One Gnomon | Zelos Swordfish V2
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Re: Advice Needed - Small Imperfection on the C65 Trident Auto

Post by MiniMpi »

A replacement is the correct course of action for sure.
I'm glad you have gotten this sorted out Andrei.
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Re: Advice Needed - Small Imperfection on the C65 Trident Auto

Post by MarkingTime »

Some people might consider your concerns trivial, but this is a not inexpensive luxury item and it should be flawless.

The flaws detailed, if seen on a pricier brand, such as Rolex or Omega, would have people wondering if the item were not a fake.
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Re: Advice Needed - Small Imperfection on the C65 Trident Auto

Post by groovin »

MarkingTime wrote: Mon Jul 15, 2019 10:31 pm Some people might consider your concerns trivial, but this is a not inexpensive luxury item and it should be flawless.

The flaws detailed, if seen on a pricier brand, such as Rolex or Omega, would have people wondering if the item weren't not a fake.
Yeah agree with you, I mean I don't know how easy in the manufacturing process it would be for something like this to happen and not get flagged but especially with the hour marker this should not pass any quality control if there is such a phase in place.

But so far I am happy this seems on the right path to being resolved. Tomorrow I am sending the watch in. Will keep you all updated on the remaining process.

Now if this will get resolved smoothly I am happy with the process and CW but sadly even though I enjoy alot of their products this and all the other stories we come across here play a decisive role in future purchase decisions especially on the higher cost spectrum of their products.
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Re: Advice Needed - Small Imperfection on the C65 Trident Auto

Post by groovin »

I wanted to stay silent about the way this story unfolded but in the end after seeing that the quality and CS issues persist I decided I would make this post to give you the promised update and try to tell the story as neutral and as fair as possible even though I went through all stages from immense frustration to somehow being content with the final resolution.

I will try to divide the Story into 3 parts for the ease of reading it.

Part 1 - Sent the watch back to CW due to the issues described above (spec under the crystal and hour marker with messy lume filling)

After CW received the watch I was told that the watch could not be replaced since it was originally bought as part of a sale and not with the full price. After I kindly explained that I was promised a replacement of the watch by CW CS staff on the phone otherwise I would not have returned the watch and would not want to wait for servicing we reached a "compromise" solution:

The watch would be cleaned of the loose spec inside the case/crystal and they would send it back to me without doing anything about the hour marker.
Throughout this process I must say that on the phone the staff was very kind and helpful but sometimes a bit confused so I had the felling I need to call them regarding each step of the process, always kindly ask to speak to the same person, always also send an email if further details like pictures were required and always made sure to make reference to the emails and check that the person I was speaking with had all the necessary input.

Part 2 - Receipt of the "serviced" watch

This is the point where frustration kicked in. I received the watch loose inside the case with the bracelet off being obviously bounced all over the place during shipping (2 flights + 2-3 truck rides through the UK Germany and Austria)

This is how the watch looked like:

IMG_20190725_154915.jpg


I then emailed CS and asked for my issue to be forwarded to the CS manager with the explanation of this ridiculous state I received the watch in and with a kind request to have the watch replaced or at least inspected again because this for me coupled with the fact that the first issue has not been fully resolved is unacceptable anymore.

This was before a long weekend mini holiday so we agreed that I would send the watch back on Tuesday the following week.

During the weekend I was at the seaside and I was wearing the watch only at the beach but not in the water and after two days it started getting foggy inside the crystal. After confirming that this is indeed inside the crystal my only logical conclusion was that they messed up sealing it back up to standards during the service they performed.

Below the pictures of the foggy dial:

IMG_20190728_154805.jpg
IMG_20190728_154801.jpg


Part 3 - Final resolution:

I have then as discussed sent the watch back in with the mention of the seal issue because I wanted to make sure the watch would not land to some sale section and because to be honest I was hoping they could check who serviced it and see what the issue was.
I was then kindly told that the watch was inspected but they could not check the seal/"foggyness" issue because they could not replicate the environment I was in.
This was really weird as I thought that they would surely be able to test a watch in terms of water resistance and proper seals but well maybe they didn't want to bother with it because the would replace it anyway.

After several phone calls and logistical issues with the watch being originally purchased with a different account and them being able to send out an order replacement only with those original details which shows that the database management system for orders and clients has a really poor/old functionality I was finally in possession of a new replacement watch. I then gave it to my brother as the magic somehow was lost for me and I couldn't see myself wearing it anymore.

Conclusion of this long saga that would probably bore you to sleepy tears:

System seems to be a mess and I don't understand how mistakes like the loose watch or poor seals can happen one after the other. After all we are talking about luxury fine precision items that would make me think the standard of care and servicing should be way higher. And I am not talking about the quality of the product here, which when it is in working parameters I think is very good but as I have rightfully seen In some posts regarding the C60 Apex that puts the expectations and CW in a completely different bracket, there are more things required from a successful brand selling watches in that price bracket like customer support, strong warranty and watch care service offering etc.

I want to point out that the CS staff was on a personal human level very friendly and helpful and I often had the feeling that they are struggling with the system to an extent but despite the mistakes that happened tried to help me with the issues and managed to offer a swift solution that was on par with my expectations.

The only "negative feeling", if I can even describe it like that, I had about the interaction with CS, was that I had the impression I constantly need to "babysit" the situation by calling in asking if they got the emails asking for confirmation etc. This was done in a very kind and attentive tone by myself and I was treated with the same attitude.
Would it have been different if I hadn't put in the effort to always call and politely speak with the CS staff? I don't know since I did not try that approach but from what I have seen in other posts sadly I don't think so.

Hope this is somewhat useful as a reference for other forum members and if any constructive conclusions and improvements can be made by CS based on this well it would already be more than worth the long post.

BR

Andrei
Tudor Black Bay | C9 Moonphase | C65 Trident Auto | C9 5 Day Auto | Vulcain Aviator | C60 299 Signal Sqn | Seiko Turtle Blue Lagoon | Oris Aquis | Steinhart Ocean One Gnomon | Zelos Swordfish V2
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Re: Final Update (warning long read) - Advice Needed - Small Imperfection on the C65 Trident Auto

Post by DavecUK »

I am astounded......I was initially excited by the thought of owning a CW watch, but it seems there are so many problems around QC and customer service? Is this forum just an unrepresentative sample of owners, or is this far more widespread?
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Re: Final Update (warning long read) - Advice Needed - Small Imperfection on the C65 Trident Auto

Post by Essex Paul »

DavecUK wrote: Thu Aug 22, 2019 4:37 pm I am astounded......I was initially excited by the thought of owning a CW watch, but it seems there are so many problems around QC and customer service? Is this forum just an unrepresentative sample of owners, or is this far more widespread?
We can’t be the only ones Dave. Surely.
If it is only forum members I’d be astounded.
Not everyone is into social media or can be bothered to sign up to a forum. So I’m guessing there must be many more. On the CWFB forum too?
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Re: Final Update (warning long read) - Advice Needed - Small Imperfection on the C65 Trident Auto

Post by Essex Paul »

Just read the outcome. Truly shocking. But very believable.
Again I ask, Mike France, when DOES your changes start?
I’ve been told they already have and should give them time. Well, ain’t working is it?
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