My 2nd Seiko Homage Watch! :-O I think it's a keeper! >>>

[Thomas]

If you saw my post about my first Seiko homage watch, you may have noticed some alignment issues.

OMG! I bought a Seiko Homage watch?!

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Not horrible, but once seen impossible to ignore, and on a US$3400 (plus tax) Limited Edition, collector's item watch, unacceptable.  


Fortunately, the nice folks at the Miami Seiko Boutique (Joel, Joe Kirk and Theo) agreed with me and worked very hard to find a solution.


Seiko USA and Seiko Japan said that for now, no repair parts were available. And I wasn't going to let the "Butchers of Mahwah" touch my SLA017 in any case!!    


So a search for a replacement ensued, and (embarrassingly) a couple of weeks ago, this box arrived.      (Hey, I have other hobbies beside watches you know!)

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Ha! Catalogs for Grand Seikos and GPS Solar Astrons I don't really care about!    

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Now a Grand Seiko pen and notepad? I can dig it!     And a personalized thank note...

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Now we're getting to the "meat", the outer Seiko box!

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Looks like it is the right box. Hmmm... 1817. Not a big year... The beginning of the Erie canal. (Kind of a big deal for us in Ohio, but...) First "Showboat" paddle-wheeler launch on the Mississippi. Founding of the New York Stock Exchange. Coffee planted for the first time in Hawaii, on the Kona coast. Mississippi admitted as the 20th of the United States. The Sovereign coin introduced in England.(yawn...)

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Mmmmm... Tissue wrapped inner box... (Homer Simpson moaning sound)Ohhhhohoho...

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Authentic Chinese blue-dragon leather!  

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Hey! The box opened right up!     Geez do I get enough little books??

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Okay, now we are getting really close. My first one didn't have the mesh bag, maybe this watch was packaged for a market that has a lot of malaria!?  

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Mosquito netting removed! Hey, this one looks better aligned? (Also, I checked the bracelet and it does not "say" China. It may still be made in China, bur it doesn't say so under the clasp.)


Let's get a closer look at that alignment shall we?

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Very nice. Everything looks well aligned. Bezel, minute ring, applied hour markers, date in window, even the hands look well-centered!  

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Here is the 1965 style crown. Look how it aligns with the word Seiko lined up with the case!!

(Ha-ha, that's a little joke. You can position the crown when it is unscrewed, so it will be in any position you want when you screw it down!     )

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Here is the other side of the case. I like the sharp, squared-off, machined edges of the bezel.

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Awww look, it's "Kei" the happy Seiko dolphin, cavorting around my case-back!

What a lint-magnet the strap is. I'll have to try shooting it with my old vinyl-album de-ionizer, or try some armorall or something. (Or just put the strap away and get one of Uncle Seiko's tropic straps when they come out.)

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What a nice dial, eh? I love that "moon-burst" gray texture.

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Here is a very close look at the 6 o'clock part of the dial.

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And how about a close-up of the 3 o'clock, date-window area? I like the font of the date numerals!

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And another close-up look, this time at 12 o'clock part of the dial.

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And what Thomas "Motowatch" unboxing would be complete without a "blinky" lume shot???  

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Okay, that's it for this unboxing. I'm sure glad I got to trade in that poorly aligned example! If you get an offer to buy serial number 1643, I would think twice!    


Thanks for looking!


- Thomas

[tritto]

Congratulations on getting it sorted, Thomas. Great photos as well. Thanks for sharing them.

[Thomas]

Sept 22, 2017 14:33:51 GMT -8 tritto said:

Congratulations on getting it sorted, Thomas. Great photos as well. Thanks for sharing them.

Thank you Tristan, I think it is like great photos of your children, I enjoy them as much as anyone else! 


- Thomas

[Myles]

The misalignment would have bugged me, too. If it's not rude to ask, did they issue a full refund?

[HiBeat]

I am happy to see that they made you happy!

Joe Kirk really gives fantastic service. Joe is a top drawer guy.

Funny how my sla017 is very close in serial number to your first one, yet I have no issues with the dial whatsoever. I applaud the boutique and Seiko for doing what it took to make a high-end customer satisfied.

[ohsown]

Sept 22, 2017 17:44:40 GMT -8 HiBeat said:

I am happy to see that they made you happy!

Joe Kirk really gives fantastic service. Joe is a top drawer guy.

Funny how my sla017 is very close in serial number to your first one, yet I have no issues with the dial whatsoever. I applaud the boutique and Seiko for doing what it took to make a high-end customer satisfied.

High end and high volume .

Glad things worked out to your satisfaction Thomas. Great looking piece these.

[bertnet]

One more ! superb photos , so after replacement you want to wear one or not !
I do and I'm so happy with...👍

[pip]

Beautiful. I just spent far too long on the blinks shot trying to work out where the tiny lume plots were on the ‘before’ shot. Then I realised it’s a reflection of the lume on the nice shiny bezel... 😊

[leffemonster]

I dunno, maybe I'm blind. Or had too much Zubrowka. I've stared at that picture for ages but can't see what the problem is/was. Am I the only one here who can't see it? Anyone care to enlighten me? I'm sure, now I've typed this, that it's bleeding obvious but I just can't see it.

Edit: not enough Zubrowka. Just had a slug and looked again. I see it now - 6 o'clock marker out of alignment and off centre with the dial markings 

Well, if I'd wedged out that amount I'd sure as hell expect it to be perfect as well!

[Thomas]

Sept 22, 2017 16:04:46 GMT -8 Myles said:

If it's not rude to ask, did they issue a full refund?

Nope, I did not get one penny back, no refund whatsoever!


Miami Seiko Boutique did send me a free FedEx mailer though, to return the defective watch, then then shipped me the replacement watch at no cost, so it worked out! 


- Thomas

[Thomas]

Sept 23, 2017 13:27:18 GMT -8 leffemonster said:

Edit: not enough Zubrowka. Just had a slug and looked again. I see it now - 6 o'clock marker out of alignment and off center with the dial markings 

Hail leffe!


Hmm, Żubrówka eh? I am a big consumer of Svedka, but maybe I need to try some "Bison Grass Vodka"!


Yes, if you go back to the original post you can see all the hour markers are slightly "advanced", that is to say placed a bit clockwise or ahead of the dial markers. The 6 o'clock marker is the worst of them all.


Thankfully the folks at Miami Seiko Boutique completely agreed with me. When I talked to Joe Kirk he made it sound like the damned "Butchers of Mahwah" at Seiko New Jersey were trying to bring up the topic of "within specifications" but he would have no part in that!


I still have to give my final approval, There are some marks I saw in the pictures, around the crown and case-back I want to check again, but I think having waited so long, I probably will have to accept this one, which is okay with me.


- Thomas


P.S. That grayed out text was poorly worded, implying I would be examining the watch under magnification and complaining if I found the slightest flaw, which isn't fair. The nice folks at Miami Seiko Boutique did what they good to help me and I am grateful. Plus I did re-examine the watch using a magnifying hood, and it's "perfect", those marks I saw must have been condensation from my hot little fingers or something!

[HiBeat]

To be honest, not to ruffle feathers, but it is beautiful and perfection under a loupe is not a customer satisfaction parameter.

Even Rolex won't allow magnification errors.

[Thomas]

Sept 24, 2017 13:02:24 GMT -8 HiBeat said:

To be honest, not to ruffle feathers, but it is beautiful and perfection under a loupe is not a customer satisfaction parameter.

That's okay, I would understand that, but on the first example the amount of misalignment was easily seen with the naked eye.


You can see it even in the "not close" pictures:





Once I noticed it, it was going to drive me crazy!


- Thomas

[HiBeat]

Sept 24, 2017 13:42:30 GMT -8 Thomas said:

Sept 24, 2017 13:02:24 GMT -8 HiBeat said:

To be honest, not to ruffle feathers, but it is beautiful and perfection under a loupe is not a customer satisfaction parameter.

That's okay, I would understand that, but on the first example the amount of misalignment was easily seen with the naked eye.


You can see it even in the "not close" pictures:
Once I noticed it, it was going to drive me crazy!
- Thomas

Oh yes I totally get the first one had an issue for sure. So glad Joe Kirk took care of you.

I was just saying on watch #2 it appears beautiful to the naked eye, so pouring over it with magnification probably doesn't warrant a return and replacement scenario. I got the vibe you were inspecting all over it under magnification:
"I still have to give my final approval, there are some marks I saw in the pictures, around the crown and case-back I want to check again."

[Thomas]

Sept 24, 2017 14:39:33 GMT -8 HiBeat said:

I was just saying on watch #2 it appears beautiful to the naked eye, so pouring over it with magnification probably doesn't warrant a return and replacement scenario. I got the vibe you were inspecting all over it under magnification:

Ahh, okay I get you now, and again I agree with you. If your watch has some flaw that can only be seen under high magnification, that's just how it goes. These are made by robots or humans using machines; cutters, grinders, polishing wheels and so forth. You cannot expect perfection.


My photos were the first time I got to look at the watch, and I saw some marks on the case-back that might have been scratches or greasy fingerprints (I have only touched the watch with gloves on), and marks near the crown that may have been condensation or perhaps some weird rough finish.


So I wanted to look at those areas again before I sent the folks at the Boutique an email saying everything was perfect. I will accept this example no matter what I see, I think the nice folks at the Miami Boutique have done what they could to help me, but felt like I wanted them to know if there were scratches on the back. I see I shouldn't have said that I was withholding "final approval", I should have phrased my feelings in a different way.


Thank you for the clarification Jon, I hope the audience understands my original wording was "out of line". 


- Thomas

[Thomas]

And for the record I just re-examined the watch, using a magnifying hood, and it is "perfect"! I don't know what those marks I saw were, but there aren't there now. I'll send the "happy dance" email to Miami Seiko Boutique now.


The case is so highly polished that even with gloves on I can get condensation when my hot little fingers are caressing it! Perhaps that is what I saw.


I'm even going to go back to that post and strikeout those poorly worded comments with an explanation, in case someone reads that post without looking down here.


- Thomas

[69ChevelleSS]

Beautiful watch Thomas . . . congrats and enjoy it!

HAHAHAHA . . . . loved the "butchers of Mahwah" comment.  I live close enough that I can drive there but they've changed things up a bit there.  No more walk -ins and I think they got rid of that guy named David who used to man the front counter and do some repairs.

I'd still NEVER let them touch another of my watches after they ripped out the alarm on my 7T32 after a battery change and not being able to figure out how to reset it!  I'd rather wait two years for a watch to be repaired by any of the trusted watch makers on this board!!!!