RE: CWard Quality Control Issues?

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Time_Warden
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RE: CWard Quality Control Issues?

Post by Time_Warden »

Good Day CWard fans,

I have a general question which stems from owning two watches from CW... Do people typically see a lot of issues with the CW Watches and their Quality Control? I have a C60 Trident Pro Mk3 and a C65 Trident Vintage Diver (Manual Wind), and both watches are experiencing issues with their movements. Now, the C60 was barely worn a dozen times before the movement altogether stopped (I'd had it for 65-days before this happened- I put it on one morning, was going about my day, and it stopped moving around noon that day; couldn't get the watch to start again). I have sent this into CW for service and repair since the movement is supposed to be covered for 60-Months. I am still waiting to hear from CW regarding the problem with this watch.

Now my C65 is giving me trouble with winding and power reserve. When I wind the watch, the crown will unwind (counterclockwise) a full two rotations at a very high speed, as if the spring was full. I've waited for the power reserve to run empty and then begin to wind the watch, however it only takes a few turns (3-10) before the resistance is significant and the crown begins to unwind vigorously. This only started the other day, and so I have been winding it gently now but I only get about 5-10 hours of power reserve before the watch stops. It is also worth noting that I no longer feel the usual click or hear the ratchet sound when I wind the watch, and I feel more resistance than usual as I wind it... I have owned this watch for about 6-Months. I have never had a manual wind watch all the sudden change feel like this.

Do people notice a lot of Quality Control issues with CW and their movements? The C65 has been my daily driver and while it's still running, this is quite worrisome since the winding and movement seems to have an issue now. Can anyone comment regarding these two watches and the issues I'm having? If the watch was over wound, would it stop completely? What could cause the crown/winding mechanism to spin quickly and vigorously in the opposite direction of winding?

Appreciate any help and input - Cheers folks!
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Viognier
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Re: RE: CWard Quality Control Issues?

Post by Viognier »

Hello and welcome to the forum! Do encourage you to spend some time here and experience the brand.

I'll speak for myself having owned over 31 CW watches. I've never had an issue with any of them and that's over a period of purchases across 8 years of buying .

My two currently are a C60 MK3 and C65 Trident Diver....so identical to yours and both have been flawless on all accounts.

So my reply is, no, there is not a CW quality control issue. Is it possible that you've had poor luck and have two movements that need to go back under warranty. It also happens to Rolex, Tudor, Omega, Tag, Seiko, Bremont etc....

It happens and it's frustrating like a warranty claim on any item we've purchased.

Even occurs in wine...6% of all bottles with cork closures statistically are off with cork taint (aka corked).

Bottomline is CW's warranty is there for you on both of these movement difficulties!
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StrapMeister
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Re: RE: CWard Quality Control Issues?

Post by StrapMeister »

I've owned probably 15+ CWs over the years.
The only issues that I've had were with a couple of C60 Trident Pro Mk2's and a Mk3 with what's known as the spinning rotor syndrome.
All 3 were returned and fixed under warranty.
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Re: RE: CWard Quality Control Issues?

Post by JAFO »

I think it's just bad luck. A few years ago I fancied a carriage clock. A few weeks after I bought it from a prestige jeweller in the city, while I was winding it, something snapped and the winding key unwound violently, hitting my finger very hard. It put me off, and I got a refund. I wish I had got a replacement in retrospect, as it was surely just one of those things.
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Re: RE: CWard Quality Control Issues?

Post by IkariShinji »

The C65 Trident Vintage Diver is my only CW watch and it also suddenly had issues with the manual winding after only 5 months of use...
After a few turns of the crown I suddenly heard a snapping sound. The watch actually ran backwards for a few seconds after that and is now standing still. The crown seems to slip through, there is no “ticking” sound of any kind and no feeling of a connection to the mainspring. When shaking the watch, a loose part can be heard bouncing on the inside.

The watch was not over-wound, I can assure that. I was just a few turns of the crown in on my daily winding routine. When the snapping sound occurred, there was no manual resistance of any kind to the turning of the crown, this happened out of nowhere. The watch is now back in Maidenhead for repair. Have not heard about the status, yet.

Of course, two incidents don't quite establish a statistical trend, but maybe CW received a bad batch of the hand-wound Selitta movements?
Anyway, sixty-month movement guarantee to the rescue!
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Re: RE: CWard Quality Control Issues?

Post by Kip »

JAFO wrote: Thu Jan 07, 2021 9:18 pm I think it's just bad luck. A few years ago I fancied a carriage clock. A few weeks after I bought it from a prestige jeweller in the city, while I was winding it, something snapped and the winding key unwound violently, hitting my finger very hard.
That would likely be the mainspring breaking or a click spring that caused this type of reaction. Consider a bruise to be a fortunate result.

Sometimes crap just happens.
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Re: RE: CWard Quality Control Issues?

Post by gannet »

I've got four, no issues with any of them
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Re: RE: CWard Quality Control Issues?

Post by 0uatiOW »

I’ve bought 8 CW’s. 1 was returned because it wasn’t winding properly. 1 went back for repair twice, with 2 different faults. A third went back for winding issues, and then again for timekeeping issues.

The 2 which were repaired are fine now. My feeling on the matter is that automatic watches are delicate and sometimes problems occur. It’s the nature of the beast. When you have 200 parts, many delicate, many moving, many tiny, some all 3, sometimes you get a lemon. Although CW took longer than ideal to make good, they did resolve the issues in the end.
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WalterSMonaco
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Re: RE: CWard Quality Control Issues?

Post by WalterSMonaco »

I’ve owned 2 for a year. C60 gmt hour hand wouldn’t line up with hour markers after 10 months. CW is repairing under warranty. I have an SH21 that hasn’t had any issues and that was NN purchase.
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Time_Warden
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Re: RE: CWard Quality Control Issues?

Post by Time_Warden »

Thank you everyone for the prompt responses!

I am relieved to hear that many of you own several of their watches, as I do think they are great watches.

My C65 Diver stopped working properly this morning as well. When I gave it a wind (one rotation) it un-wound at least 6 full turns, and then the second hand started moving backwards (if only time worked like that!)... I will be starting the service process with CW for my second watch and I will update everyone on how that goes; hopefully it does not take long...

Thanks again everyone!
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Re: RE: CWard Quality Control Issues?

Post by JAFO »

Aside from their in-house movements, would CW (or any watch maker come to that) buy in Selitta movements fully assembled and complete. Would they come with the CW decorated rotor, or would CW have to change the rotor. If all CW do is add the hands, the dial, and case them up, then failing movements is as likely down to Selitta as it is to CW.

Is the manufacture/assembly process something like this or different?
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Re: RE: CWard Quality Control Issues?

Post by Time_Warden »

JAFO wrote: Fri Jan 08, 2021 3:17 pm Aside from their in-house movements, would CW (or any watch maker come to that) buy in Selitta movements fully assembled and complete. Would they come with the CW decorated rotor, or would CW have to change the rotor. If all CW do is add the hands, the dial, and case them up, then failing movements is as likely down to Selitta as it is to CW.

Is the manufacture/assembly process something like this or different?
To be honest I'm not sure - I do think they must do SOME inhouse work on the movements after they receive them, as they do perform their own repairs, but it's possible there is a difference between their repairs and their new watches.
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