During the past year I have ordered four watches. These are my experiences:
1. ARF DateJust - After 3 months the winding mechanism broke causing the rotor to spin while winding the watch. Sent back for repair.
2. ZF Bathyscaphe - Not working properly on arrival. The rotor did not move by gravity. You had to shake the watch to make it spin. This caused the watch to stop even when worn. Additionally the decorator plate had greasy fingerprints all over it which was not visible in the QC pics. Sent back for repair.
3. ZF Portuguese 7 days - Not working properly on arrival. A screw in the decorator plate was loose and obstructed the rotor from turning. This caused the watch to stop even when worn. I managed to open the watch and tighten the screw myself.
4. GF Master Ultra Thin Moon - Not working properly on arrival. Strange power train problem. Even when fully wound the watch stopped after about 20 minutes on a table. If you gave the rotor a spin or two the watch ran for 20 more minutes. It was working as log as it was worn, I guess because the rotor was moving constantly. Sent back for repair.
Now to the millon dollar question: Is this level of quality to be expected from the chinese manufacturers or have I been extreamly unlucky with my watches?
All watches were ordered from top rated TD's. I personally think quality problems 2 to 4 should have been caught by the TD's quality control. It seems that all they do is to snap a few photos.
1. ARF DateJust - After 3 months the winding mechanism broke causing the rotor to spin while winding the watch. Sent back for repair.
2. ZF Bathyscaphe - Not working properly on arrival. The rotor did not move by gravity. You had to shake the watch to make it spin. This caused the watch to stop even when worn. Additionally the decorator plate had greasy fingerprints all over it which was not visible in the QC pics. Sent back for repair.
3. ZF Portuguese 7 days - Not working properly on arrival. A screw in the decorator plate was loose and obstructed the rotor from turning. This caused the watch to stop even when worn. I managed to open the watch and tighten the screw myself.
4. GF Master Ultra Thin Moon - Not working properly on arrival. Strange power train problem. Even when fully wound the watch stopped after about 20 minutes on a table. If you gave the rotor a spin or two the watch ran for 20 more minutes. It was working as log as it was worn, I guess because the rotor was moving constantly. Sent back for repair.
Now to the millon dollar question: Is this level of quality to be expected from the chinese manufacturers or have I been extreamly unlucky with my watches?
All watches were ordered from top rated TD's. I personally think quality problems 2 to 4 should have been caught by the TD's quality control. It seems that all they do is to snap a few photos.