Tudor Black Bay Shield ZF arrived from Puretime, found flaw on dial hidden by hands. Advice sought...

[PerfectThyme 0]

Hello!

I've ended up here after going looking for the Customer Service section on RWI. Yesterday I collected a parcel which contained a Tudor Black Bay Shield ZF from Puretime. Watch looked OK in low light (it was dark when package was opened), but as soon as I looked at it under light I noticed a mark on the dial next to the 5 o'clock hour marker. This is quite frustrating, as all of the QC photos concealed the flaw by having the minute hand at 5 o'clock. I have no idea if this was intentional, or just plain bad luck.

I think that is against house rules to post the original QC photos, but i have linked below an (admittedly, not great) photo of the flaw. I have of course emailed Puretime, but no reply received just yet, and I realize it can be a bit of a waiting game with them. In the meantime, I wondered if anyone had any thoughts about what i can reasonably expect.  Despite the flaw being hidden in QC, I expect that I will not be able to get them to pay for return, but they have got to be obliged to replace or repair the watch free of charge, right? 

https://imgur.com/a/JrTFz

Edited December 28, 2017 by PerfectThyme

[black263 228]

They're criminals so there is no obligation at all.  However, it's stretching coincidence to accidentally cover the only flaw on the dial when taking QC pics.  See what they say, but if they won't play with you , this is one for your mods.  

 

[Jibuti 958]

yup, fookin criminals... I think they did it deliberately....

[PerfectThyme 0]

Thanks for replying. Yes, I tend to agree that it seems to be a bit of a stretch with regard to the placement of the minute hand, though was not what I expected from a TD. It seems a bit daft on there part, as I expect anyone in my position would be also be doing the same thing, and it just causes both them and me unnecessary expense and hassle. I've though about just keeping hold of it, but even my girlfriend noticed the flaw - that's never a good sign...

[GenTLe 1,509]

It seems only some dust from the pic. Pretty easy to take the movement out and blow it away...

[RUSH2112 11]

It seems like there are a lot of complaints about puretime from the rwi refugees.

[black263 228]

3 minutes ago, RUSH2112 said:

It seems like there are a lot of complaints about puretime from the rwi refugees.

Maybe thats why we've been told that they won't be accepted here as a TD.

[andyboy 5]

Looks like it is a speck of lume.

Could have fallen off at any time.  If you have a local rep friendly watchsmith, then that would be the easiest solution rather then shipping back to China.

[Raddave 18]

is it lume or dust ?

its not a blemish on the dial is it , kind of hard to tell from your pic....

 

if its not a dial blemish , id fix it myself ..

 

[SliceMaster 281]

28 minutes ago, RUSH2112 said:

It seems like there are a lot of complaints about puretime from the rwi refugees.

Not only Puretime they seem to be whining about everything so ship em back to RWI

so they can continue with all that genenstein frankestein and wankenstein that they use to describe there watches for sale its boring to see all that shit over there IMO!!!!!!!

 

[PerfectThyme 0]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I've linked another photo below, still not great, but probably better than the first. If anyone can interpret from my shoddy photography whether it is a fleck of dust / lume as opposed to a dial flaw, I could maybe attempt to remove it myself if push came to shove.

I can't help but thinking though -  if it was something that simple, surely Puretime QC could have removed it prior to shipping? (and not conveniently covered it with the minute hand....)

Updated link:

https://imgur.com/a/JrTFz

[PerfectThyme 0]

Andyboy - I'm quite new to rep watches, so don't know of any rep-friendly watchsmiths. I am based in the UK though - would you know anybody I could use? I've got access to DHL through work, so would be nice and simple.

 

[Wriggles 12]

16 minutes ago, PerfectThyme said:

Thanks for the replies everyone. I've linked another photo below, still not great, but probably better than the first. If anyone can interpret from my shoddy photography whether it is a fleck of dust / lume as opposed to a dial flaw, I could maybe attempt to remove it myself if push came to shove.

I can't help but thinking though -  if it was something that simple, surely Puretime QC could have removed it prior to shipping? (and not conveniently covered it with the minute hand....)

Updated link:

https://imgur.com/a/JrTFz

If it's a spot of lume it could have come off at any time, probably in shipping, these are reps and they aren't always as well assembled as they could be, though they're also not as shoddy as some would make you think.

That said, it is a bit of a coincidence that it was exactly where the hand was in QC, but as Puretime are not and will never be a TD here we can't really say more (except the implied bit where they will never be a TD here.....)

There is a UK repairer in the TD list if you take a look, not sure he does anything more than movement work but you can check

 

[deju 1,878]

Buy a basic tool kit and caseback opener! 

Pop the back off,remove the stem and use a air blower to remove it. 

Dont use your own breath! 

Youll get satisfaction from doing it yourself plus it’s a nice easy job to cut your teeth with 

[andyboy 5]

As wriggles has said ^^

 

Although I would wait and see what Puretime say, because if you ship it off to a watchsmith without their say so and there is an issue then Puretime might wash their hands of it.

 

If it`s a speck of lume you need to be careful. If it has fallen off the back of the hands then it will likely just blow off, but if it is a spill from the application process it may have stuck to the dial and removing it may leave a mark on the dial.

[splke 4,387]

1 hour ago, GenTLe said:

It seems only some dust from the pic. Pretty easy to take the movement out and blow it away...

no it isn't ! not if you have never done that before !

send it off to someone who can do this pal it will cost you some but it is a lot less than how much damage you could do if you try it yourself and fuck it up ( I have fucked up quite a few)

[PerfectThyme 0]

To be honest, I think you are probably right there splke - if it was a cheapy I might be tempted, but I'm not the most delicate handed! Maybe as a last resort...

As per the advice here, I will wait for Puretime to come back to me to begin with. They have seemed quite professional so far, albeit a little slow. If I struggle I will raise a ticket / contact the mods on RWI, and take it from there.

As an aside - I have examined the face again in bright sunlight, and the mark seems too bright / reflective to be lume - it looks metallic. Perhaps a tiny bit of loose metal shaving from the hands, which don't have the most refined finish (though nothing major).

[loewenzahn 0]

Logic says, well my logic, that it would have been a bad idea to ship the watch being aware of the spot - knowing that you'd discover it more sooner than later. And complain, of course. And claim to ship it back and so on, the whole higledy-pigledy. They would have won nothing in the end, better for them to clean the watch before shipping.

[nuk 4]

1 hour ago, GenTLe said:

It seems only some dust from the pic. Pretty easy to take the movement out and blow it away...

I must say that this is a very risky statement without knowing your audience...

[GenTLe 1,509]

1 hour ago, nuk said:

I must say that this is a very risky statement without knowing your audience...

Well, yeah, you're right... I've seen people able to destroy a movement just trying to remove the rotor :(

[maron 0]

4 hours ago, PerfectThyme said:

Andyboy - I'm quite new to rep watches, so don't know of any rep-friendly watchsmiths. I am based in the UK though - would you know anybody I could use? I've got access to DHL through work, so would be nice and simple.

 

send it to ado213 and have him sort it out for you. he could also inspect the movement and water proof it for you

[HorFan 483]

To be honest, I think you are probably right there splke - if it was a cheapy I might be tempted, but I'm not the most delicate handed! Maybe as a last resort...
As per the advice here, I will wait for Puretime to come back to me to begin with. They have seemed quite professional so far, albeit a little slow. If I struggle I will raise a ticket / contact the mods on RWI, and take it from there.
As an aside - I have examined the face again in bright sunlight, and the mark seems too bright / reflective to be lume - it looks metallic. Perhaps a tiny bit of loose metal shaving from the hands, which don't have the most refined finish (though nothing major).

If it's lume, it will glow in the dark. Just saying...

[2fake4u 0]

that spec of dust?  these things arent assembled in clean environments...

[Natas78 30]

4 hours ago, SliceMaster said:

Not only Puretime they seem to be whining about everything so ship em back to RWI

so they can continue with all that genenstein frankestein and wankenstein that they use to describe there watches for sale its boring to see all that shit over there IMO!!!!!!!

 

To each their own, some people like this terminology, some don't. Don't judge a whole forum based on this mate

[GenTLe 1,509]

23 minutes ago, HorFan said:

If it's lume, it will glow in the dark. Just saying...

^^^^ THIS!