Grand Seiko held my watch for 5 months; said misaligned seconds hand is "within spec"

[In-N-Out]

I acquired the tentagraph from a grey dealer back in December 2023 (Brand New with stickers).

I promptly noticed the seconds hand not being aligned at 12 o'clock and made a thread about it.

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=927931

After dropping it off at GS in Beverly Hills to get it fixed, they told me it will be sent to Japan and it would take 8-12 weeks. I've been on contact with them biweekly to see what the status was after the 12 week period, and then finally last week (nearly 5 months later), they told me they got the watch back but they didn't fire the alignment.

pics in that thread above.

Apparently GS said this is "within spec"

quite a laughable response and I guess they are taking a page out of the Tesla playbook lol

anyway, im not sure what the next step should be. to me, this is a huge defect on a $14k retail watch (I paid slightly less than that).

How hard should I press on this issue. I'm not happy about this and im shocked GS wouldn't stand by their product

[Fleetlord]

Push the boutique manager very hard. It’s the worst part of dealing with GS. They are very defensive about their defects and won’t bother fixing them.

I think that’s why they haven’t bothered to expand service in the US to match their sales channel growth, they really don’t think they have problems…lol

It’s too much WIS stress dealing with watches that can’t be fixed domestically. Takes too long, poor communication…etc

Good luck

[brandrea]

Those are press fit hands aren’t they? I can’t understand why they wouldn’t realign them

[Lol-x]

That's an horrendous response from Grand Seiko
They don't seem to realise that this kind of thing significantly damages their brand and undermines consumer confidence in spending huge sums of money on a watch.

[Andad]

Hodinkee posted an article on the Tentagraph last year.

The pix show a misaligned stopwatch hand.

This must be a common fault?


https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/gr...raph-live-pics

[1William]

Sorry to hear. Hope you can get it worked out. Please keep us posted.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by Andad

Hodinkee posted an article on the Tentagraph last year.

The pix show a misaligned stopwatch hand.

This must be a common fault?


https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/gr...raph-live-pics

At least I guess you’ll never be late

[Giovannibravo]

Interesting. I didn't know GS has bad customer service when it comes to servicing your watches. Hopefully this gets sorted out.

[DonLee]

Originally Posted by Andad

Hodinkee posted an article on the Tentagraph last year.

The pix show a misaligned stopwatch hand.

This must be a common fault?


https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/gr...raph-live-pics

that could be just from not shooting the pic straight on.

[Gebbeth]

If that is within spec, then GS specs are out of whack. That misalignment would bug the hell out of me.

I had a long, tortuous, saga with GS service and my Night Birch. Was running 17 spd fast out of the box. Sent it back to the AD, who verified that the watch was off, and sent the watch to GS in New Jersey, only for them to send it to Japan for adjustment.

It took nearly 6 months to get it back. Constant calling to the AD to check on status, no dice.

When I got it back, still fast, although less so. It was still around +14spd fast. They very nicely put in a card about watch magnetism, basically a passive aggressive way of saying that it was my fault (I guess).

After trying to live with it running that fast, I sent it back, but this time directly to GS service center in New Jersey. Them getting back to me got delayed because they were in the process of relocating their HQ.

Anyway, got the watch back, this time after a month and a half or so. Still fast, but manageably fast.

Apart from what I think is an issue with their dual impulse escapement design, causing it to run fast (I believe there are several threads on this subject, as well as other sources), I would confirm that GS is pretty spotty when it comes to servicing their watches. They do seem defensive and eager to blame the customer for things.

Your picture and the Hodinkee picture are eerily similar, which leads me to believe there is something about the movement that doesn't keep it straight at the 12. Maybe this happens upon usage of the chrono....like the gears don't align correctly.

But I assume GS will say "No, not my problem. Everything seems fine to me."

[Fleetlord]

They drank from the sales increase stream and they are all about growth growth growth and not too interested in support.

They believe their own marketing puff about perfection...I mean why would they need to be bothered with warranty service? Their products are perfect and if you do find something, that's within spec.

I still have GS (got one coming in today) but they are really a PITA to deal with.

[RW16610]

I'm so sorry to hear this and see how seemingly difficult it is dealing with this brand. I hope this is somehow sorted out for you soon.