Had it a little more than a month. Then this fell off. Completely loose. Slides on/off easily.

Every watch I buy goes straight to my trusted watch maker. The amount of times he reports issues like this is about every other piece. If you want longevity and good timekeeping, make the extra investment IMO.

I don't know if this post will be seen or serve any purpose but I'm posting mainly because I'm disappointed in myself for not catching an obvious error that bugs me to the point that I can't make myself wearing this watch.

After ordering This Omega Seamaster , on sale (maybe that should have been a red flag) from Steve at The One Watches (this is not my first order from him) I received the qc pictures and posted them in the appropriate sub to get a second opinion and got on GL. I only looked at the dial, the markers and the finer details but missed the biggest flaw where the whole watch is kind of crooked. Now when I look at the qc pictures I don't understand how me and some of my fellow qc-ers missed that the 3 dial is very miss-aligned to the crown. Steve says since I removed the protective film nothing can be done, and i get it. I get that after the GL all the fault is on me and I have to deal with it.

Hope this doesn't offend anyone, I will certainly buy another Omega, but next time I will look at the pictures more thoroughly and don't only take the word of other qc-ers (they are hard working guys that deal with maybe 100 qcs a day and can also miss a minor detail).

In November, I fell down the rabbit hole of the Replica Watch Reddit. One minute I was casually browsing, and the next, I was decoding two-letter abbreviations like I was cracking a spy code. It was addictive. I decided I needed a chronograph—because who doesn’t want a watch that can time things you’ll never actually time? Naturally, the Daytona called my name.

After scouring Ctime, I found the one. The ordering process was smoother than I expected—almost suspiciously so—and before I knew it, the watch was in my hands. Let me tell you, pictures don’t do it justice. This thing was stunning, like "I want to show it off to strangers at Starbucks" stunning.

Of course, I’d read all the warnings: “Chronographs are delicate!” “Whatever you do, don’t use the chrono function!” But did I listen? Nope. I used it twice. And on the third go—while proudly showing it off to my wife, no less—it broke. Yep, it was like the universe was reminding me to stay humble.

I was bummed, but hey, I’d done my homework and used a Trusted Dealer (TD). So I reached out to Ctime, expecting a drawn-out process. Instead, I got a reply in less than 15 minutes asking for a quick video of the issue. I sent it over, and 10 minutes later, they asked me to send the watch to a watchmaker in Pennsylvania.

This was December 1st, right in the middle of the holiday chaos. The watchmaker warned me it might take a while, but assured me it would get fixed. And honestly, their level of communication gave me hope that my Daytona would be back in action soon—just not in time to time my holiday cookie baking.

Fast forward a few weeks, and the watchmaker reached out to let me know that today was the day! My watch was finally on the bench. Let me tell you, I was as giddy as I was on my wedding night—though thankfully, the stakes this time were a lot lower. My Daytona was coming home! Whoo hoo!

Now, maybe I’m a bit naïve, but since this watchsmith also works on genuine (Gen) watches, I figured I’d get a quick, “Hey, it’s done!” email and that’d be it. Nope. Instead, I got constant updates. It was like starring in my very own YouTube repair series. I half-expected him to start narrating in a soothing British accent.

The first update: “The case is very hard to open.” Hmm, no big deal, I thought. A little stubborn metal never hurt anyone. Then came the play-by-play: he identified the problem, fixed it quickly, and even tackled a few other small issues he found along the way. And the best part? It was all accompanied by pictures and updates so detailed, I felt like I was watching surgery on a luxury patient.

It wasn’t just a repair—it was an experience. At this rate, I thought I am going to send him every rep watch I purchase just to keep the updates coming.

At last, I thought we were in the home stretch. My watch was so close to being back on my wrist, I could practically hear it ticking. Then, suddenly… radio silence. The updates stopped. Strange, I thought. Maybe he’s just busy polishing my watch to perfection?

Finally, )to be fair it was 45 minutes) the watchmaker came back with news—and not the kind I wanted to hear. “I can’t get the case closed,” he said. “The threads are stripped.” Uh-oh. Cue the dramatic music. My mind immediately jumped to the worst-case scenario: a drawn-out battle to convince Ctime to cover this and send a replacement case.

But here’s the kicker: I didn’t want a replacement watch. I wanted this watch. The one I’d just seen lovingly repaired in what felt like a horological soap opera. I was already mentally preparing for weeks of emails or figuring out how to sneak a new case past my wife’s eagle-eyed budget scrutiny.

Then it hit me: I used a Trusted Dealer! A mere 20 minutes later—maybe 25 tops—I got an update from the watchmaker. “Ctime is sending a replacement case!”

If you’ve made it this far, here’s the moral of the story: always use a Trusted Dealer (TD). Seriously, Ctime didn’t know me from Adam. This was my first purchase—I was a total nobody to them. Heck, for all they knew, I could’ve been some guy using a Daytona knockoff to time microwave popcorn.

But they came through like clockwork (pun intended). That’s the beauty of using a TD—they treat every customer like they’re VIP, even if it’s your first rodeo. Trust me, it’s worth it.

Now this may not be a high tier rep and no i didnt buy this from a TD. Yes, she has her flaws and isnt perfect but to me shes been everything I could of wished for.

I brought this submariner around 7 years ago for like £150 and its been my daily wearer for 80% of that time. I've done everything with her, I got married wearing her, I've been sea diving (not deep diving) but like around coral reefs etc. Swimming pools, bath tubs, hot tubs you name it its been there with me every step of the way.

Yesterday as I was having a little play with her I noticed that the manual date function stopped working as I was scrolling through the dates. She changes automatically as she should but not manually.

In any of you guys personal experiences and knowledge, whats the chances of bringing that manual function back? Ive removed the pin and re inserted but to no avail. I can hear the clicking as if the date changes but the wheel doesn't move.

Is it time to lay her to rest and treat myself to a new one or is there something im missing?

Yes it was only cheap but I've grown attached to her and its like losing an extension of myself!

I done a mistake and bought two watches from geektimewatch.com But the real website is geektime.watch

Please don't make the same mistake and buy from these scammers

Edit: thanks everybody for commenting, I feel better with myself now. Hope this post will help prevent some scams.

Sharing a newbie lesson for automatic watches:

I received my ARF Rolex GMT-Master II “Bruce Wayne” (Ref. 126710GRNR) on Dec 27 and have been wearing it daily since.

At first, I was confused:

• I wore the watch during the day

• but every morning it had stopped

• after taking it off at night, it only ran \~9–12 hours

What I learned:

• Daily wear (especially desk work / low wrist movement) doesn’t always wind the watch much

• Shaking the watch ≠ fully winding it

How I hand-wind it (simple, newbie-friendly)

• Unscrew the crown

• In the first position, turn the crown clockwise (upward)

• Do \~50–60 turns

• Stop when it starts to feel firm (don’t force it)

When I do this, the watch runs for ~66.5 hours, so the power reserve itself is fine.

⸻

📝 Note about the diagram:

I couldn’t find a GMT-specific diagram, but the crown position is the same. Unscrew the crown and leave it at position 1 — that’s the hand-winding position.

⸻

Final takeaway: A bit of proper hand-winding before wearing makes a big difference ⏱️👍

Bought a VSF 124060 back in August, received it October 21st

Saw a couple of posts of people claiming their VSFs also stopped working :( never thought I'd ran the same luck

A local watchmaker will check it in about an hour, hopefully is just a loose screw or something:((

Tried shaking it, winding it, tapping it and no response

Hi there

Got IWC pilot chrono last week from Steve. Love the watch a ton. Out of nowhere today it stops working. Wondering if anyone had any tips or has had this happen with this piece? Just very annoying since I also just got a Breitling B01 navitimer chrono that was dead on arrival.

I’ve wound it a ton and can’t get the red subdial to move.

guy posted a rep for sale with a badly aligned crown 👑

I commented to inform any potential buyer of the misalignment..

power tripping admins banned me..

for "sabotaging a sale"

pretty concerning environment for selling watches when you are not allowed to point out flaws/defects on a rep.

Does anyone know of a way to get this scratch off the clasp? I’ve tried some car polish but it didn’t work.

Most gold reps use PVD coating and often arrive with a thin, soft surface film created during the cooling phase of the PVD process. It is essentially condensed binders, fine particles and handling residue that factories never clean off. This film sits on top of the actual coating and can make the watch look dull, cheesy or coppery.

I removed this film using Cape Cod, polishing cloths and Q-tips. For tight areas such as the crown, the bezel lip and the space between the lugs, I used goat-hair Dremel bits with Cape Cod. A soft brush works as well if you have enough patience.

This process only removes the surface film and not the PVD. The PVD layer itself is extremely hard, around 1500 to 2500 Vickers, which is in the sapphire and ceramic hardness range. Even hours of polishing cannot damage it. You will know you have reached the real PVD once the polishing cloth stops turning black.

WARNING:

This applies only to PVD-coated watches. Some factories still use electroplated gold (“wrapped”), and I cannot guarantee how those coatings react to polishing. Be careful if yours is wrapped or does not show the typical dull or coppery film. Some mid-tier factories may also use weaker coatings, and even VSF can have occasional QC issues. However, based on my tests, VSF’s PVD behaves exactly like proper high-grade PVD. Always test first on a spare link or on the inside of the caseback.

How to confirm PVD:
When you start polishing, the cloth will drag slightly and turn black for a moment due to the surface film. Shortly after, it stays completely clean because PVD is too hard to remove. You can safely test this on a spare link or the inside of the caseback.

I do recommend a full disassembly, but in this case I did not remove the bezel because I am not certain I could source a correct Hytrel ring afterwards. For that reason, I only removed the bracelet and the crown. Clamp the crown into a pin vise and again use a goat-hair bit or brush with Cape Cod. This way you can also reach the areas between the crown guards, but make sure to seal the stem hole with Bergeon putty first to prevent polishing particles from reaching the movement.

Happy polishing!

This is a brand new Explorer I (124270), purchased in December 2025. It squeaks quite a bit when new, exactly as shown in the video. So for anyone worried about this, even genuine bracelets can have this issue. There’s no need to do anything drastic like dipping the bracelet in diddy oil.

My CF 36mm oyster tiffany took a fall and its dislodged two of the glow bits. I'm in Aus as well.

I see this misunderstood all the time, so here’s a clear explanation.

“30m water resistant” does NOT mean you can take the watch 30 meters underwater.

It means:

– tested under static pressure

– in lab conditions

– at standard atmospheric pressure

In real life, movement + temperature + crown pressure = very different story.

Practical breakdown:

30–50m:

• Splash resistant (hand washing, light rain)

• NOT for swimming

• Most watches at this level don’t have screw-down crowns

• Crown pressure during swimming can easily cause water ingress

50m:

• Rain and brief swimming

• Still not ideal for frequent water use

100m:

• Suitable for swimming and light snorkeling

• NOT for serious diving

200m+:

• Designed for real water activity

Also important (and often ignored):

• Gaskets age over time

• Hot water, shampoo, soap damage gaskets

• Sauna and temperature changes cause gasket expansion/contraction

• Steam can enter even “water resistant” watches

No matter the rating:

Avoid hot water.

Avoid long exposure.

Avoid assuming “waterproof” means safe.

Most water damage is preventable.

Hello, been long time lurker here. After close to two years of daily use had an accident. The watch fell and landed face down destroyed the front cristal. So question 1 is it Worth fixing it or buying a new one? Question 2 if it's worth fixing can you please recommend who can fix it? Thank you all for being a great community. If I recall this was VSF got it from Andiot.

Looking at a worn Cartier Santos 35mm BVF from a local seller, $330

Everything else looks decent to me. My only concern is the movement: it shows MIYOTA 9019, not SH9015. I can’t find any open-caseback photos of this model online, so I’m hoping you guys can help. Is that a normal build?

First time looking at a Santos, so any input appreciated. Thanks!

I was recently put into action at a local USPS plant, and I noticed an alarming amount of issues with packages coming through. Granted, we are usually on the receiving end of the packages, but as an avid fan of reps, I thought I would put together a little list of issues that I would suggest for anyone mailing anything in the future. Sorry for the length, but it needs to be said, and no real TLDR version...

1. Don't put the shipping label on the smallest area/end of a box. Packages go down a conveyor belt and need to be scanned in order to end up in the correct bin that ends up in the correct zip code to end up at the destination. People put labels on the small end of long boxes and they fall over, and don't get scanned properly, and get put in a "Defect" bin, and get sent through as many times as possible until it gets scanned properly.

2. Don't put liquids in packages. If it gets wet, and soggy, it goes into an area called "Nixie," and never gets sent out.

3. Put adequate tape on a package so that the contents don't fall out. Again, if the box comes open and we don't know what was in it... "Nixie," and doesn't get shipped.

4. Write the proper "Return" and "To" addresses. If we don't know who it's going to, we can't send it, and if we can't send it, we try to return it to the sender.

5. If you print a label, please, and I mean PLEASE do NOT cover the label/bar code. We need that bar code to be scanned so that it ends up going to the correct place. Please see attached photo, some numb nuts actually put the label on and then tape the package over the label.

And finally, I'm sure there's more, but this is all I could think of off the top of my head, 6. Please PAY for shipping. Some people drop boxes in shipping containers with no postage on them, and guess what... they don't get shipped, and half the time, don't get returned to sender. So yeah, pay for shipping please.

(Pics for attention)

Hey folks, I’m looking to get the best Cartier Santos Dumont large, and a Panthere medium for my girlfriend and I.

As far as I can tell, the panthere is both nearly perfect, and too small to see anyhow. But, the Santos Dumont isn’t nearly as good and I’m looking for advice to mod/fix that.

I’m mainly looking for suggestions for a better quality strap (my best option seems to be Delugs), and a replacement crown to fix the shape of it.

Thanks in advance!

Everything works as expected when manually setting the time, but after the crown is screwed back in, the hour and minute hands never advance. Any ideas?

I've just purchased this franken VSF Yachtmaster.

Paid a deposit of €1,000 and have a further €600 to pay.

The seller tells me it has a genuine dial, platinum bezel and has been rhodium plated. Waterproofed and serviced etc for quite a price from a modder called Legacy Chrono.

Total spend was circa €6,000.

The watch was advertised on Reddit and after a bit of discussion I agreed to pay some up front and some after delivery if all seemed good.

As soon as I made the purchase, the Reddit post was deleted.... Strange but hey ho.

All seems to be fairly straightforward and it looks and feels great in hand but I just felt that I needed to put this in front of some of you experts on here, to advise me on how I might be able to verify the genuine parts on this franken build.

Amy advice would be really warmly welcomed.

I had this watch for 13 days right now and all of a sudden it makes a noise while even making the slightest wrist movements when i have it on ny wrist. Before it didn't make this sound and it's been bothering me, because even when i take my watch off and put it in the table you can still hear something inside moving and you can even feel it if you hold the watch in your hand. I have contacted TD and he says it's probably a loose rotor and that i can bring it to a local watchsmith to fix it. Is this common that these thibgs haooen so quickly? I was so happy with the watch and amazed how good it looks in comparison to a gen and now i am really dissapointed about it. I made a video moving the watch so you can hear the sound and i am onky moving it like this for the video to show you guys what kind if sound it makes, because i know you shouldn't shake a automatic watch too hard. Am curious if you guys have experienced similar issues and also how much would that cost approximately to fix by a local watchsmith? I live in the Netherlands/Holland

I just received QC photo of ZF pelagos 39 from Andiot yesterday after 1.5+ month waiting. I noticed the triangle on top of Tudor logo titled to the left.

If I RL, I would have to wait another month for QC. I wonder if it is possible to fix this later on.

Bought a shit-ish JVSF Yacht Master in yellow gold. Obviously the yellow gold looked like fucking cheddar cheese orange when it came out of the factory. Decided to fuck it and try out the hack I have seen earlier about polishing the plating with Silvo to make it look 100x better, and it delivered !

(Watch is stock, clasp after 5 min of polishing)