Cracked dial

[JacksonStone]

I recently purchased a pre-owned PAM 051 from a well-established pre-owned dealer. The dealer offers its own 1-year warranty, and also has its own in-house watchmaker. I have had the watch less than two weeks, and have only worn it three times since receiving it. The third time I wore it, I noticed an imperfection on the dial that only shows up when the light hits it a certain way. In many lighting situations, it is fairly unnoticeable, which is why I did not see it right away. However, it is also the kind of blemish that, once you know it's there, you see it every time you look at the watch.

Under a loupe, I can see the imperfection is actually a hairline crack in the dial, resulting in a slight upward buckling of the dial surface in that area. The crack starts at a lume dot, and runs straight through several minute hash marks. My loupe has a measuring square, and I have measured the crack to be approximately 4mm in length. The dial itself is only 34mm in diameter (the case is 40mm), so the length of the crack is more than 10% the diameter of the dial.

I'm definitely going to contact the seller tomorrow. My suspicion is this is not something that can be repaired, absent a dial replacement. Since the dealer is an independent, and the model has been discontinued, I suspect they won't be able to replace it. If that's the case, I may end up having to ask for a refund.

I'm curious if anyone else has seen something like this, has an idea of what can cause it, and whether or not it can be repaired. I'm also curious if this is something you would put up with for the sake of keeping an otherwise very nice watch that is no longer in production. I don't feel that way myself, but I'm open to other perspectives.

[Cru Jones]

If they can't source a replacent dial, it looks like they'll have to refund. Hope it all goes smoothly for you.

[thsiao]

Sorry to hear about that... first time I see a cracked dial like that.

[Statos]

I hope they can find a replacement for you. Thats weird that the dial is cracked.

[fullcourt]

as the others said, hope they can fix it for you if not a refund is in order

gl

[KBM]

That's unfortunate. Keep us posted and hoping for a good outcome!

[JacksonStone]

Thanks for all the replies. Watch has been returned and refund issued, although not without some haggling and haranguing on my part, which made for a less-than-ideal experience. Hence the delay in my reply. But all's well that ends well, assuming the check arrives as promised.

[Ruud Van Driver]

I think you did the right thing. Something like that would have bugged the living daylights out of me.

I’d love to know how that dial got cracked though. Seriously, how on earth would you crack the dial without damaging the rest of the watch? Bizarre.

[Statos]

Maybe it got cracked during a service and was not reported.

[JacksonStone]

Originally Posted by Ruud Van Driver

I’d love to know how that dial got cracked though. Seriously, how on earth would you crack the dial without damaging the rest of the watch? Bizarre.

Originally Posted by Statos

Maybe it got cracked during a service and was not reported.

Quite possibly. There is a bit more to the story, but since my initial post was already long, I didn't want to make it longer. When the watch first arrived, I took it in to a local watchmaker who noted that the movement's amplitude was low and needed service. I returned it to the seller, and their watchmaker did a service. Up to that point, I hadn't worn the watch, but I did look at it a number of times and didn't notice the damage. It was only after receiving the watch back from service that I began wearing it, and then noticed the crack. Since the damage doesn't jump out at you, it's possible it was there from the beginning and I just hadn't seen it. But it's also possible their watchmaker damaged the dial during service. It was a 12-year-old watch, and had no available service history, so it's hard to know if it had been serviced before. But given the nature of the damage, I can only assume it occurred at a time when the movement and dial were out of the case. I can't think of a way it could have happened when cased up.

The seller and I didn't discuss what caused the damage, but they immediately acknowledged that it wasn't repairable, and that a dial replacement wasn't practical. They took responsibility, accepted the return and issued a refund.

[Ruud Van Driver]

Originally Posted by JacksonStone

Quite possibly. There is a bit more to the story, but since my initial post was already long, I didn't want to make it longer. When the watch first arrived, I took it in to a local watchmaker who noted that the movement's amplitude was low and needed service. I returned it to the seller, and their watchmaker did a service. Up to that point, I hadn't worn the watch, but I did look at it a number of times and didn't notice the damage. It was only after receiving the watch back from service that I began wearing it, and then noticed the crack. Since the damage doesn't jump out at you, it's possible it was there from the beginning and I just hadn't seen it. But it's also possible their watchmaker damaged the dial during service. It was a 12-year-old watch, and had no available service history, so it's hard to know if it had been serviced before. But given the nature of the damage, I can only assume it occurred at a time when the movement and dial were out of the case. I can't think of a way it could have happened when cased up.

The seller and I didn't discuss what caused the damage, but they immediately acknowledged that it wasn't repairable, and that a dial replacement wasn't practical. They took responsibility, accepted the return and issued a refund.

At least they did the right thing and took the watch back.

Don’t give up on the brand though. As much as I love my Rolex, Panerai produce some awesome pieces. Go hunting again and keep us posted

[brandrea]

I'm curious as to why they couldn't source a replacement dial.... was that not an option ?

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk

[JacksonStone]

Originally Posted by brandrea

I'm curious as to why they couldn't source a replacement dial.... was that not an option ?

I don't fully know. They're not an authorized Panerai dealer. In fact, they're not an AD of any brand. They specialize in sales of pre-owned luxury brands, and carry some pretty high-end, high-price pieces. In other words, they're not hacks, but simply ordering the dial probably wasn't an option. As for sourcing it through other means, that might have been something they could have tried, but with uncertain results. The associate I was dealing with implied as much when he said the amount of time a dial replacement would take might make it an option I wouldn't want to consider. After everything I'd already been through with the watch, I took it as a sign I wasn't meant to have it and decided to go through with the return.