AliExpress Day Date 41…hit and miss!!!

[sishac]

So I have always loved the 40/41mm platinum day date with the ice blue patterned dial. I tried one on in an AD while in Vegas a few years ago and fell in love despite the $70K price tag.

Over the years my love of watches has bloomed and while I still love the reps I have, my mid-life crisis a few years ago clearly centered on vintage genuine watches and the reps became few and far between.

From a modern watch standpoint I have a beautiful blue Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra with a “mystery” movement, as well as a Rolex Miguass LV that I still wear in rotation. But these watches were both bought at bargain-basement,, sub $200 price points years ago. The super reps were simply more than what I wanted to pay (mainly because it would be a stretch to pull off a platinum watch for me!!). I did see WBK had a nice ice blue day date, but to me the color seemed a bit off…I’m sure it wasn’t but I never pulled the trigger.

Then came AliExpress! I had purchased a few rubber “Omega” straps a while ago and was very happy with what I received, so I figured lets see what they have from a day date standpoint. On a whim I found a non-branded watch and asked if they had branded watches. I received a link and verified that it was what I wanted. The price was right…$66 (and I had $7 in coupons, so it was $62 shipped including taxes)) and I assumed it was a cheap Asian movement…but it would tell me if I could wear something like this. I ordered it and paid with PayPal. I got frequent updates and about 3 weeks later my watch arrived.

It arrived in a small box with nothing but my name and a return address. When I opened it up, I found some bubble wrap around the watch which was simply in a small ziplock bag. It looked great. When I shook it it didn’t start right away, which caused a bit of concern. So I unlocked the crown, pulled it out and started to wind it…it started to tick…so far so good. I then went and set the date and time…no issues…then I went to set time and everything went bad. The crown moved, the hands moved, but then they stopped.

And this is where I am now…I sent a message to the seller on AliExpress saying that the watch arrived but that it doesn’t work and I haven’t heard anything back yet (it was just earlier today so I will give it some time.). Apparently I can open up a dispute but given the watch was $62 I’m thinking that I would either take it to a local watch smith or buy a new movement on EBay for like $25 and have them swap it out.

My first thought is to simply take the back off and look at it to see if there is anything in the way of the hands. I can’t see anything from the outside, but maybe if I de-case the watch I can see something else.

Any suggestions….in any event, here are a few pictures…it is a nice looking watch and for $62, if I can get it running, it is a bit of a deal I think!!

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[KJ2020]

Take the back off. Look for loose parts or dirt, debris, hair, etc. in the balance hairspring. An air puffer is a very useful tool for this type of troubleshooting. If you can't find anything, you might as well just get a new movement. It's probably a DG2813, they are inexpensive. Post a pic of the movement if you want confirmation.

 

[sishac]

So I took the back off of the watch using some duct tape and here is the movement….I’m pretty sure it is the Asian 2813 that is about $20 on eBay.

I’m going to decease the movement and see if I don’t mess up the keyless works in the process…perhaps I can see if the hands are simply too tight…I don’t think so because the minute hand freely moves between the 11 and 34 minute markers, but then just stops. At this point the seconds aren’t even running.

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[sishac]

Here is a picture of the movement.

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[Tucker]

Yep. It's a 2813 with a plastic movement holder. It will be cheap to replace if you are intent on wearing the watch.

 

[sishac]

Here is the movement….pretty sure it is the cheap Asian movement, which is fine.


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[sishac]

Just an update…..I put through a dispute with AliExpress and after them telling me that there was nothing wrong with the watch (apparently I didn’t know how to set it)….I sent a video and they reconsidered and offered to settle for a 50% refund and I keep the watch. I accepted, and bought a new movement from eBay. It has a red “Sunday” day, but I’m hoping that the watchmaker can simply swap the day wheel from the original movement onto the new movement….

In any event, I would totally buy another one…I really thought that the quality of the watch in general was very good…ok the movement was bad, but that can be fixed.


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[sishac]

Just an update…..I put through a dispute with AliExpress and after them telling me that there was nothing wrong with the watch (apparently I didn’t know how to set it)….I sent a video and they reconsidered and offered to settle for a 50% refund and I keep the watch. I accepted, and bought a new movement from eBay. It has a red “Sunday” day, but I’m hoping that the watchmaker can simply swap the day wheel from the original movement onto the new movement….

In any event, I would totally buy another one…I really thought that the quality of the watch in general was very good…ok the movement was bad, but that can be fixed.


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