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Would you wear hi-end watch with a fool error?

5K views 33 replies 13 participants last post by  delraywatch 
#1 ·
Hi everyone,

As we know, each watch, especially hi-end items which cost over 10k USD, have been carefully checked for every details before selling to customers and none of us pay a lot of money for a luxury watch just for its timing.
I create this topic to discuss about this and see how you and the manufacturer react if error identified.

The case study is like this:
You bought a hi-end watch from its boutique, it is surely authentic. However, at a charm event for important persons, everyone admires your nice gear and suddenly, a beautiful lady looks at you like you are from the Mar for a fool mistake of your item: Your watch has name Patek Philippo, not Patek Philippe

Other mistakes may be "SWISS MADF
" in stead of "SWISS MADE"

This is just general discussion but i believe it may occur with one of us at any time :)
 
#2 ·
Hi everyone,

As we know, each watch, especially hi-end items which cost over 10k USD, have been carefully checked for every details before selling to customers and none of us pay a lot of money for a luxury watch just for its timing.
I create this topic to discuss about this and see how you and the manufacturer react if error identified.

The case study is like this:
You bought a hi-end watch from its boutique, it is surely authentic. However, at a charm event for important persons, everyone admires your nice gear and suddenly, a beautiful lady looks at you like you are from the Mar for a fool mistake of your item: Your watch has name Patek Philippo, not Patek Philippe

Other mistakes may be "SWISS MADF
" in stead of "SWISS MADE"

This is just general discussion but i believe it may occur with one of us at any time :)
It was agreed, that my endeavours should be directed to persons and characters supernatural, or at least romantic, yet so as to transfer from our inward nature a human interest and a semblance of truth sufficient to procure for these shadows of imagination that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith.
-- Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Biographia Literaria

I'm not sure how to respond...Just for the sake of directly answering your title question: no, I wouldn't wear a watch (high-end or not) having a "fool's error."

Are you saying that, in the scenario you described, Patek Philippe (or some other high-end maker) allowed a watch out of their factory with a misspelling or other obvious (to anyone) flaw, and the retailer didn't notice it and the owner also didn't, at least not before the woman at the event noticed it, and the owner didn't, if s/he did notice the errors, realize it was an error?

The reason I don't know how to respond, beyond my basic answer of "no," is that the very question/scenario you've posed requires more "Taylor Coleridge" than I can muster; it's well beyond the realm of plausible and probable, being instead solidly in the land of "anything's possible."

All the best.

And make imaginary puissance;
Think when we talk of horses, that you see them
Printing their proud hoofs i' the receiving earth;
For 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings,
Carry them here and there; jumping o'er times,
Turning the accomplishment of many years
Into an hour-glass: for the which supply,
Admit me Chorus to this history;
Who prologue-like your humble patience pray,
Gently to hear, kindly to judge, our play.
-- The Bard, Henry V, Prologue
 
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#3 ·
Yes, totally agree with you, anything is possible. The PP in this scenario is just an example and i never seen it in life but the misspelling on luxury watch i have seen it my eyes. I think it is ok for vintage items with some tens year old but for modern days with laser engraving text, this miss take seems unacceptable.
You can imagine when wearing this watch and others want to see it in detail, how worry we are and people can see the mistake at anytime :)
 
#9 ·
there are many fake Chinese product they always copy famous brand that if we dont look carefully then can not find it out:
Panasoanic
Aiiwa
Sonv
Hongda

that is the reason we are paying alot and feel really bad if someone find the fool mistake and accuse us using a fake product
 
#10 ·
Some of us can barely get over the first scratch, so that would have to be a no.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Yes, a refund and compensation is a must, i think. People buy hi-end watch is for something much more than its core functions of a time machine and if they loose it for a fool reason by manufacturer then money seems not enough to compensate
 
#15 · (Edited)
Remember the Grand Seiko from, IIRC, Baselworld 2016, where the Seiko logo at the top was way out of whack? And remember how we carped heavily on that? "HOW COULD THEY DO THAT??" The counter was..."it's probably not a real production piece."

Is OP's scenario barely plausible? I suppose so, but it would be *stunning* if it got out of the factory. Especially an ultra-elite brand like VC or PP.

Would I keep it? Not a snowball's chance, I think. It has *zero* resale value without complete provenance from the factory. Not the retailer...the factory. These kinds of errors are *instant* triggers to say FAKE! Anyone who sees it, is not going to believe you. They'll think, gee, I thought he was something, but he's wearing a fake PP. What a <fill in preferred derogation here>.

And if it was proven? Honestly, I would not be surprised if the factory replaced it and gave you a significant refund. This would be a huge embarassment for them, and counter to any anti-fraud efforts...which they all have. They don't want this story to float around any longer than necessary.
 
#17 ·
Zenith one is a head-scratcher.
JLC - not sure if applicable as it was a rendering.
GS - not Basel, but Watchtime 2015 event. I was the one who had fun with it. Their explanation was that it was a display prototype and not for sale to consumers.

But I suspect these are very very very rate occurrences, and the whole question is a non-issue. Anyone paying the $ for high-end watches would return\replace in case of a real defect.

Analog watch Watch Watch accessory Fashion accessory Strap
 
#19 ·
Zenith one is a head-scratcher.
JLC - not sure if applicable as it was a rendering.
GS - not Basel, but Watchtime 2015 event. I was the one who had fun with it. Their explanation was that it was a display prototype and not for sale to consumers.

But I suspect these are very very very rate occurrences, and the whole question is a non-issue. Anyone paying the $ for high-end watches would return\replace in case of a real defect.

View attachment 12362111
Now i wondering how could they have made this product, especially, this is the single demo item to show their power. I am sure even give people money but no one dare to wear this product.
The case happened since 2015 but you still keep it till today and may keep it for many years more, this is the truth that people will remember the mistake forever and try to spread it out and the manufacturer will loose a lot if not handling the case properly.
 
#18 ·
Yes, that's the one I was talking about.

And yes, I agree, anything like this is likely very rare, even in a pre-production display sample. The risk this will happen in a production piece? Much lower. Volume would probably play a big role, tho; not just in the notion that 100,000 watches per year vs. 2,000 per year gives 50x more chances, but also that an ultra-elite brand and/or VERY low production piece, is going to be inspected more closely. Inspection is mind-numbing, no matter what's being inspected. And industrial scale production also dissociates the individual from the product. With a Smith, Dufour, or KV...you would never, ever see something like that Zenith. But KV's production is 20-50 watches per year; pretty sure Smith's is lower. Dufour's is similar or a bit higher. They're 100% hands-on.
 
#20 ·
Yes, that's the one I was talking about.

And yes, I agree, anything like this is likely very rare, even in a pre-production display sample. The risk this will happen in a production piece? Much lower. Volume would probably play a big role, tho; not just in the notion that 100,000 watches per year vs. 2,000 per year gives 50x more chances, but also that an ultra-elite brand and/or VERY low production piece, is going to be inspected more closely. Inspection is mind-numbing, no matter what's being inspected. And industrial scale production also dissociates the individual from the product. With a Smith, Dufour, or KV...you would never, ever see something like that Zenith. But KV's production is 20-50 watches per year; pretty sure Smith's is lower. Dufour's is similar or a bit higher. They're 100% hands-on.
Do you mean Zenith's error rate is quite high?
 
#25 ·
It seems that some collectors (of *cough* Rolex) feel that misprints and defects in the durability of certain materials are actually quite desirable. I can understand it to a certain extent when it produces interesting dial colours. I don't think that I'd pursue one though, even if it was for Zenith or another brand that I was a big fan of.

https://www.bobswatches.com/rolex-blog/rolex-info/desirable-imperfections.html
 
#27 ·
On a family road trip in the 70's someone sold my father a ladies watch at a gas station for $20.
My dad bought it on a whim knowing it was junk. When my Mother looked at it she noticed it said "Bolivia", not Bulova.
And it rattled like a toy : )
 
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#32 ·
No, and I would report the boutique or the shop selling the faulty item to the manufacturer because it is not normal to have such flaws especially with high end brands.
 
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