# Seiko SKX007 Misaligned chapter ring - Creation Watches



## JSheffield (Jan 10, 2014)

Hey Guys, first time poster and long time lurker. I ordered my first automatic watch as a gift for myself after finishing college this December. I decided on a modest SKX007 from Creation Watches. I loved it but quickly noticed the chapter ring was out of alignment as well as the lume on the bezel. I have contacted Creation about an RMA and am a little concerned about how they will respond. I know they have serviced many people without a problem. It's just the few stories i've seen about the trouble, headache and resistance encountered when bringing up returns and quality issues. I am unemployed and on the hunt for a job so the added cost of return sucks but I can't deal with it out of alignment. What do you guys think? I will keep you posted on the return process.

Howdy from Texas
JSheffield


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## JSheffield (Jan 10, 2014)




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## ec633 (Jan 6, 2012)

The alignment at 12 0'clock looks ok but at 6 0'clock it's not. I'd ask for a new one IMO.


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## teatimecrumpet (Mar 14, 2013)

Yeah that looks off. Im a seiko guy through and through but i do notice qc problems like this and it kills me. Ive never purchased from an AD before so that might be it.

But you should def return because itll eat at you for sure. Whats shipping cost? You might be able to raise a stink and get shipping covered but ive heard others say sellers will agree and then bungle the whole refund process. 

The miaalignment happens all the time...welcome to the worst hobby ever!

Maybe someone can chime in on modifying to align? I think the ring clips on at pin holes? Not sure.


Sent from my HTCEVOV4G using Tapatalk


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## ErikS (May 21, 2009)

By "chapter ring" I'm assuming you mean bezel insert? The chapter ring is between the dial & the crystal..........I can't see it in the pictures. Bezel insert misalignment is kind of common, it happens. 

You can fix it but that may be beyond your ability or desire = return it. Fixing it involves removing the bezel, removing the insert from the bezel, attaching the bezel & then aligning bezel insert. This isn't complicated but it does require some effort & Creation should make it right.


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## Pawl_Buster (Mar 12, 2007)

Both the chapter ring and the bezel insert appear to be incorrectly printed. No amount of adjustment is going to line everything up!

I have to wonder if it is a real Seiko...

Send it back.


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## Chronopolis (Apr 8, 2009)

Pawl_Buster said:


> Both the chapter ring and the bezel insert appear to be *incorrectly printed*. No amount of adjustment is going to line everything up!
> 
> Send it back.


+1


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## Pawl_Buster (Mar 12, 2007)

ErikS said:


> By "chapter ring" I'm assuming you mean bezel insert? The chapter ring is between the dial & the crystal..........I can't see it in the pictures. Bezel insert misalignment is kind of common, it happens.
> 
> You can fix it but that may be beyond your ability or desire = return it. Fixing it involves removing the bezel, removing the insert from the bezel, attaching the bezel & then aligning bezel insert. This isn't complicated but it does require some effort & Creation should make it right.


He does mean 'chapter ring' which is not what Seiko calls it though. It's the ring around the edge of the dial that has the minute marks on it.
The chapter ring matches the bezel insert perfectly. Since they all line up at 12 o'clock, it is not possible to make any adjustments that would fix the problem since there is no adjustments that can move the chapter ring and bezel sideways. Simple rotation will not bring everything into alignment :-(


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## The Thrifty Nerd (Jan 24, 2013)

I think Creation should pay the return postage charges; obviously poor qc before it went out the door.


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## DM71 (Feb 6, 2009)

Chapter rings seem to be Seiko Achilles heel. My SKX007 as misaligned chapter ring, so does my SKX009, SKX399 and my Sumo. Seiko really have problems with that, even though none of my watch es are as bad as the one shown.

Soon, I'll open them up and see how they are installed and I will try to rectify that. For now, mine are minor and it's not really apparent, but I know they are not aligned.


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## Mark McK (Aug 18, 2007)

I just checked the Shogun on my wrist and the chapter ring is off at the 6 position but not at the 12 position. Wow, I love this watch and never really noted this. It looks minor to me so will leave it as is. It keeps excellent time and is pleasing otherwise.


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## PK73 (Sep 24, 2013)

mine looks good I guess


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## The Thrifty Nerd (Jan 24, 2013)

Looks good to me.



PK73 said:


> mine looks good I guess


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## teatimecrumpet (Mar 14, 2013)

Pawl_Buster said:


> He does mean 'chapter ring' which is not what Seiko calls it though. It's the ring around the edge of the dial that has the minute marks on it.
> The chapter ring matches the bezel insert perfectly. Since they all line up at 12 o'clock, it is not possible to make any adjustments that would fix the problem since there is no adjustments that can move the chapter ring and bezel sideways. Simple rotation will not bring everything into alignment :-(


I did mean chapter ring...and you're so right about the rotation not fixing it all. Just took another look at the OP's pics and aligning one would just throw the other more out of whack.

Just checked my SRP453 that was driving me nuts...all along I thought a rotation would be possible some day--Nope. Same problem as you can align one but not both.

The despair is settling in oh so heavily...


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## teatimecrumpet (Mar 14, 2013)

The Thrifty Nerd said:


> Looks good to me.


Might be the angle but the 30min marker looks off to the left like OP. But hard to tell


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## Auzivision (Dec 11, 2013)

THe Bezel and chapter ring appear to be in the correct position. To me it looks like the dial is shifter or crocked or manufactured poorly. As other have mentioned it looks good at the top, but off at the bottom. If the bottom of the dial could repositioned a half mm to the left, I think all would line up nicely. My vote would be to return for and exchange or refund and buy somewhere else.


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## DM71 (Feb 6, 2009)

On the pics, it seems like the dial is not straight. Like said in previous post, you can see that their is more space between the dot and the chapter ring on the lower left than the lower right. Might be a combination of badly aligned dial with chapter ring.


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## everose (Jan 15, 2010)

DM71 said:


> Chapter rings seem to be Seiko Achilles heel.......


Agreed!

From what i have seen around various WUS forums and elsewhere, Seiko does have an issue with the rehaut/chapter ring alignment and/or symmetry of several lower-mid end models. I have seen quite a number of people posting pics of their new pieces over the last year or two (or three) and some of them have noticed and mentioned an alignment issue but some have not mentioned it and i suspect possibly not noticed it. (Of the pieces i see i try to discount all the ones where there is reasonable doubt such as it may be the camera angle, parallax, etc, etc.

I note two main issues:
1) Simple misalignment where all the markers are equally out of alignment.
2) Those where some markers on the same dial are better aligned than others. (inconsistent symmetry)


I noticed many of the 50th Anniversary Seiko 5 models from last year were particularly badly affected. (and not just from pics, I saw many of them up-close at AD's.)

Check the inner 24hr markers AND the red triangle of the rehaut at 3 o,clock on this example. Note the 6 o'clock triangle seems better aligned than the 3 o'clock. This indicates the printing symmetry is inconsistent and so not correctable by a simple realignment. 

(Pics borrowed from a browse through the excellent Yeomans Blog and so many of the pics are of BN pieces taken at local AD's or purchased BN from AD's.)








































This Orient below may possibly be the angle.....but i doubt it.










Alpinist SARB017 (pic from WUS)










I have seen several Sumos, Shoguns and others with these issues, some only slightly out but some of them very noticeable.
Its the one reason which has prevented me from purchasing a Shogun sight unseen for 3 years now. For an approx $1k timepiece to have such noticeably poor rehaut alignment/symmetry is simply not acceptable for me, but of course, ymmv!

I have great admiration and respect for Seiko, not least for their value, reliability, durability and build quality. With such massive production volumes, of course you will get a certain % which slip through QC as with any volume Watch Co. And yes, those which are not 'brand new' could possibly have been tampered with......But lets be honest, in all probability that would be a very low % of those showing alignment issues. I really don't think there are resellers out there busy inadvertently (or intentionally) realigning/misaligning Seiko rehauts.
There is also the argument that the Internet highlights/magnifies small QC issues and a few people complaining gives the wrong impression of the scale of a problem. Yes, valid point, BUT several that i have seen are of pics by proud owners who don't mention their misalignment and i feel several if not all are probably unaware of it. 

So does that make it a non issue? For some people, probably, but for me, No.
Is this issue a minor one? Again perhaps for many people, yes its minor. However i don't think Seiko have meticulously nurtured a reputation for quality with vfm for over 100 years by allowing such QC issues to be ongoing and/or to be regarded as within acceptable tolerances. After all, there is an awful lot of competition out there!

Whilst i admire and respect Seiko hugely, I don't consider myself a mindless fan boy. Imho the misalignment/symmetry issue has been cropping up too often of late. 
So come on Seiko, please step-up, get a grip and get it sorted out for those of us who notice and care about it. I would not want to restrict myself to only buying Seiko's with rotating chapter rings. ;-) !


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## Maksim.7 (Apr 13, 2012)

I had the same experience with Creation Watches, and it took them two weeks to approve a return, and they required me to pay for postal charges. $25 down the drain. The customer service was horrible, and I realize that we are on different time zones, but taking 4 days to respond is ridiculous. My 6 hour marker was a few mm off, and looked horrible. The minute hand was also deformed at the tip. In-house QC should be stepped up a notch.


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## LeeMorgan (Jun 3, 2012)

Auzivision said:


> As other have mentioned it looks good at the top, but off at the bottom. If the bottom of the dial could repositioned a half mm to the left, I think all would line up nicely.


I tried with all my strengh to turn/stretch the dial to reposition it half mm on the bottom and leave it as is at 12.
Nothing to do!

I haven't unearthly powers. :-(

That could be the reason? :-d


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## MATT1076 (Jul 26, 2012)

Received my skx009 today from Creation watches and my chapter ring is off at 6, this would normally drive me nuts!! But I bought the watch do a mod so I'm not to worried. Its something that Seiko need to sort out .

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


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## Pawl_Buster (Mar 12, 2007)

There appear to be several issues going on here...









1. The movement is ever so slightly off center.
2. The dial is rotated.
3. The chapter ring is rotated.
4. The bezel is rotated and out of alignment.

1. Nothing can be done about the movement as it is fixed in place by the plastic movement ring. It's not really that far out anyway.
2. The dial has it's feet mounted in the plastic movement ring and as such is fixed in that position. Nothing can be done about this short of removing the dial feet and attaching the dial with sticky dots. Not something that should have to be done with a new watch.
3. There may be enough slop for the chapter ring to be rotated slightly but since the other items are out of alignment, this may not help.
4. The bezel insert is rotated. Unfortunately it is twisted much more at 6 o'clock than at 12 o'clock so it is not likely that any amount of rotation will every bring it into good alignment.

With all these examples and new ones showing up every day, it really looks like Seiko doesn't care and is making no attempts to refine the manufacturing processes.

I have yet to see a vintage 6309, 7002 or even an original 7s26 model that wasn't correct or adjustable.
Seiko QC has gone into the dumper at all levels except maybe the top tiers :-|

Sad to say but even the Chinese are doing a better job in this area most of the time and at all price levels.


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## JSheffield (Jan 10, 2014)

I talked to Jason, after much pressure he agreed to pay for the shipping back to me. I agreed to pay for the way there. I am afraid after seeing some of the things he shipped from this post that I might get another of the same quality. I might just try and get a refund and take my business to LongIslandWatch. It's what I now wish I would have done in the first place. After pages and pages of raving reviews of Creation I thought I was safe.


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## JSheffield (Jan 10, 2014)

JSheffield said:


> Hey Guys, first time poster and long time lurker. I ordered my first automatic watch as a gift for myself after finishing college this December. I decided on a modest SKX007 from Creation Watches. I loved it but quickly noticed the chapter ring was out of alignment as well as the lume on the bezel. I have contacted Creation about an RMA and am a little concerned about how they will respond. I know they have serviced many people without a problem. It's just the few stories i've seen about the trouble, headache and resistance encountered when bringing up returns and quality issues. I am unemployed and on the hunt for a job so the added cost of return sucks but I can't deal with it out of alignment. What do you guys think? I will keep you posted on the return process.
> 
> Howdy from Texas
> JSheffield


I was able to get a shot of the whole watch this time, I had problems with the img link last time.


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## JSheffield (Jan 10, 2014)

Maksim.7 said:


> I had the same experience with Creation Watches, and it took them two weeks to approve a return, and they required me to pay for postal charges. $25 down the drain. The customer service was horrible, and I realize that we are on different time zones, but taking 4 days to respond is ridiculous. My 6 hour marker was a few mm off, and looked horrible. The minute hand was also deformed at the tip. In-house QC should be stepped up a notch.


Did you happen to process the RMA as a refund or as an exchange?? I might just try and get a refund.


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## Maksim.7 (Apr 13, 2012)

JSheffield said:


> Did you happen to process the RMA as a refund or as an exchange?? I might just try and get a refund.


Initially wanted an exchange but opted for a refund after deciding to build a PMMM. I don't think I'll purchase from these guys anymore, and I'd go with a refund.


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## Maksim.7 (Apr 13, 2012)

BTW, mine came in just like yours, if not worse.


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## The Thrifty Nerd (Jan 24, 2013)

These kind of poor quality issues seem to be occurring more and more. Almost makes me want to just buy used from trusted forum members.


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## DM71 (Feb 6, 2009)

The Thrifty Nerd said:


> These kind of poor quality issues seem to be occurring more and more. Almost makes me want to just buy used from trusted forum members.


I have three for sale, all in perfect alignment. Want one? ; )


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## coogrrr94 (Dec 22, 2013)

Maksim.7 said:


> BTW, mine came in just like yours, if not worse.


You guys are making me worried. I have an 009 sitting at home that was delivered Monday. I'm out of town so won't be seeing it until Thur or Fri. I hope I don't have any issues. Is it a Creation issue or Seiko issue? The threads I'm reading make it sound like Seiko.

On the refund vs. return issue. Would it be better to just sell the watch on ebay at a discount. Paid $180 maybe sell it for $150 or $160. From what I read on Creation's website they charge you to return it and deduct what they paid for shipping (if you received free shipping) from your refund. So you pay $180, then you pay $25 to $50 to send it back, then they deduct their original shipping cost (not sure how much they deduct). You could be out $50 to $80 with no watch.

Hopefully I won't have an issue, either way probably strictly Amazon from here on out. Maybe no Seiko's either?


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## ilitig8 (Oct 11, 2013)

I have had several Seikos in the last 8 or so years with the weird issue of being aligned at 12 but off at 6 on the chapter ring. All of these were in the $250-600 street price. They were never grossly off and I buy them as beaters so I never bothered to return them, especially after the third one (all from different sources) it became clear to me it was a Seiko issue. It hasn't deterred me from buying Seikos for my purposes but if the price went over $600 and/or it was more than very slightly off I would be much more upset. It seems Seiko HAS to be aware of this obviously wide spread issue (meaning quite a few styles since I have no idea of actual percentages) and could/would correct it.


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## ec633 (Jan 6, 2012)

Maksim.7 said:


> BTW, mine came in just like yours, if not worse.


 It all boils down to just the error in the dial printing & divisions. The day/date window at 3 is ok, alignment at 9 &12 is ok, but at 6 is off. It shows logically the dial printing error.


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## A MattR of Time (Feb 22, 2006)

One reason I only buy used off the forum from sellers that have pictures that show the alignment. Otherwise, I pass.

I love Seikos, but this needs remedied, FAST!!!


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## JSheffield (Jan 10, 2014)

DM71 said:


> I have three for sale, all in perfect alignment. Want one? ; )


I seriously would be interested. It would take a little time before I got the cash back from refunding this purchase. I would be in the market then. PM me a price if you have a 007.

Thanks


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## DM71 (Feb 6, 2009)

DM71 said:


> Chapter rings seem to be Seiko Achilles heel. *My SKX007 as misaligned chapter ring, so does my SKX009, SKX399 and my Sumo*. Seiko really have problems with that, even though none of my watch es are as bad as the one shown.
> 
> Soon, I'll open them up and see how they are installed and I will try to rectify that. For now, mine are minor and it's not really apparent, but I know they are not aligned.





DM71 said:


> I have three for sale, all in perfect alignment. Want one? ; )





JSheffield said:


> I seriously would be interested. It would take a little time before I got the cash back from refunding this purchase. I would be in the market then. PM me a price if you have a 007.
> 
> Thanks


Sorry bud, it was just a joke ; )


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## teatimecrumpet (Mar 14, 2013)

ilitig8 said:


> I have had several Seikos in the last 8 or so years with the weird issue of being aligned at 12 but off at 6 on the chapter ring. All of these were in the $250-600 street price. They were never grossly off and I buy them as beaters so I never bothered to return them, especially after the third one (all from different sources) it became clear to me it was a Seiko issue. It hasn't deterred me from buying Seikos for my purposes but if the price went over $600 and/or it was more than very slightly off I would be much more upset. It seems Seiko HAS to be aware of this obviously wide spread issue (meaning quite a few styles since I have no idea of actual percentages) and could/would correct it.


SEIKO really has to do something about it.


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## Pawl_Buster (Mar 12, 2007)

teatimecrumpet said:


> SEIKO really has to do something about it.


I wouldn't hold my breath...they waited 6 years to fix the design flawed balance spring/regulator in the 7s26B :-(


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## JSheffield (Jan 10, 2014)

So I sent the watch back registerd mail it set me back $27, I requested back a full refund amount contesting the deduction of the original shipping. It should take a while to get there on the slow boat. I will post once I hear back from Creation.


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## steinmann (Feb 11, 2012)

ec633 said:


> It all boils down to just the error in the dial printing & divisions. The day/date window at 3 is ok, alignment at 9 &12 is ok, but at 6 is off. It shows logically the dial printing error.


I think you are right. Mine came also with only the 6 o'clock print not in line. I mailed Jason and also Seiko Japan. I will post as soon as I will get a reply.


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## ErikS (May 21, 2009)

Pawl_Buster said:


> He does mean 'chapter ring' which is not what Seiko calls it though. It's the ring around the edge of the dial that has the minute marks on it.
> The chapter ring matches the bezel insert perfectly. Since they all line up at 12 o'clock, it is not possible to make any adjustments that would fix the problem since there is no adjustments that can move the chapter ring and bezel sideways. Simple rotation will not bring everything into alignment :-(


Thanks for the carification, had to look at it again......yeah not much can be done here, except a return.


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## Kamil87 (Dec 14, 2006)

steinmann said:


> I mailed also Seiko Japan.


Very well done my friend.


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## steinmann (Feb 11, 2012)

Pawl_Buster said:


> they waited 6 years to fix the design flawed balance spring/regulator in the 7s26B :-(


Hi. Do you say that at the 7s26*C* this problem is solved?


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## Pawl_Buster (Mar 12, 2007)

steinmann said:


> Hi. Do you say that at the 7s26*C* this problem is solved?


Apparently so. Someone posted a picture of the regulator pins on the 7s26C and they appear to have been lengthened slightly thereby preventing the hairspring from looping over them...which was the problem with the 7s26B. The 7s26A never had this problem to start with as the balance system was different in most respects to the B and C versions.


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## Mr44 (Oct 25, 2012)

I have ordered two Seiko watches from Creation:

1. SKX007: perfect, except for what looks like very slight unevenness with the lume on the hour hand if you look very closely. Also, the bezel knurling is uneven (one row of bumps is much larger than the other row, which appears cut off) but I have seen numerous examples that look the same so I'm not sure that this is even a flaw.

2. SSC021 solar chrono: again perfect cosmetically but for the fact that the stopwatch hand "creeps" clockwise 1/5th of a second after I zero it and let it sit. I did the factory reset as described in the manual, then set it, and about five minutes later it had crept over to the right a tick. No amount of resetting has remedied the problem, and my eventual workaround was to simply set it 1/5 of a second to the left of center so that once it creeps over it sits perfectly at 12:00. I hardly use the chrono so this is a non-issue, but...

These two example taken together, along with other examples in this thread, really makes one wonder if Creation is selling factory seconds.

My SRP309 Orange Monster from dutyfreeislandshop.com is perfect in every way, and was much more inexpensive than Creation's price.


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## steinmann (Feb 11, 2012)

Dear WUS.
So, we now know for sure that this issue is not a single case, but a common problem. I think we also can state that the sellers are not too blamed, as they just forward what they get from the factory/dealers (?).
I also don't think that they sell factory seconds, because it is always the same claim: A not aligned printed face on the 007's. All the rest is ok. So for sure there's a problem at the production line specific with this issue.
It is true that they are relatively inexpensive watches, so we can not expect the level of finish of a Grand Seiko , on the other hand such an issue has no place on a Seiko piece, even if its a non - luxury.
I'm not sure if Seiko Japan is aware of these defects because as we know not every watch on the line suffers from this problem. So, the only thing we customers and fans of Seiko can do is warn politely about this phenomenon.
I sent them an email regarding this issue over here: https://service.seiko-watch.co.jp/form/default.asp
I'm sure that Seiko Japan will not ignore a flood of such e-mail claims.
What do you think?


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## Pawl_Buster (Mar 12, 2007)

steinmann said:


> Dear WUS.
> So, we now know for sure that this issue is not a single case, but a common problem. I think we also can state that the sellers are not too blamed, as they just forward what they get from the factory/dealers (?).
> I also don't think that they sell factory seconds, because it is always the same claim: A not aligned printed face on the 007's. All the rest is ok. So for sure there's a problem at the production line specific with this issue.
> It is true that they are relatively inexpensive watches, so we can not expect the level of finish of a Grand Seiko , on the other hand such an issue has no place on a Seiko piece, even if its a non - luxury.
> ...


Given Seiko's responses to other known issues, I wouldn't hold my breath for a fix any time soon. If they do make any adjustments it will likely be with the next generation and not the current one.
Heck, it took them 6 years to remedy the fault hairspring/regulator pin design of the 7s26B movement.

Additionally, I have studied a lot of these misalignments and have come to the conclusion that there is no printing problems on the dials, chapter rings or bezel inserts.
It comes down to the dial/movement being slightly off center or rotated compared to the bezel and chapter rings.

The problem comes about when the plastic movement holder ring is not perfect. The shape of this part is easily distorted in manufacturing as it is likely molded from hot plastics. There are often small casting pieces left over that can and do cause the movement to sit out of perfect position.
And since the dial is mounted directly in this plastic ring, it too will be out of alignment with the movement.

Since there is always a bit of slop between the movement ring and the case; screw down crowns will push the movement to the opposite side of the case. If you look at nearly all of the examples, you can see the 6 o'clock marker is pushed to the left compared to the other markings.

Since the movement is being nudged over from the 4 o'clock position, it is the bottom of the movement/dial that gets out of register; as if the whole works is gimballed off the 12 o'clock position.

I don't know what the official fix would be but if I had one of these watches and there was an alignment problem, my first instinct would to be to shore up the left side of the movement ring so that the crown cannot push it out of position.

Sadly, we have to live with this situation since Seiko cost reduced parts and assembly procedures when they went from the 6309-729x to the 7002-700x and then to the 7s26-002x models.


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## JSheffield (Jan 10, 2014)

I waited to update until I made a decision on what I wanted to do. Creation Watches took back the watch I RMA'ed. I took a hit on shipping to hong kong and didn't get my full purchase amount refunded. The hidden way they get you is Creation deducts an undisclosed amount of the refund for compensation of the free shipping you receive complimentary at purchase. Regardless, I'm not bitter and might make another purchase with them again. Even though if something goes wrong the return policy kinda sucks and can be a hassle. I contacted Long Island Watch and Marc personally corresponded with me after hours one evening which I thought was impressive. He agreed to do his best to check the dial before shipment. I made an order last night for another SKX007 and expect to possibly get it sometime this week.


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## Greek (Dec 7, 2010)

Could it be that the K-models are more often affected by this issue than the J-models?


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## journeyforce (Apr 20, 2013)

Sucks about Creation Watches and the refund thing but I think you will be OK with Long Island Watch. Marc seems like a very nice and knowledgeable person. I was looking at a SKX007 and contacted him and he responded quickly and professionally. While I ultimately did not buy the SKX007 because I wound up buying a USA market SKX173(I always wanted one of those) I was very impressed with LIW and can see myself buying something from them soon

Good luck with your new watch


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## liwang22 (Sep 13, 2012)

I love Seiko divers and my 6309-7049 is perfectly aligned as Pawlbuster alluded to. What's been states here has kept me away from lower end models I want to love. Kind of a bummer


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## taurnilf (Sep 30, 2013)

I think the misaligned chapter rings started when the 4R36/7S26C were used or shortly before that. This is not just an issue with cheaper models. I recently saw a MM300 on display having the same problem.


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## teatimecrumpet (Mar 14, 2013)

I've seen this with a bunch of my seikos "lower end" i suppose. Read that the sbbn015s have the same problem. Dont think its a vendor problem and more of a seiko problem.

Sent from my HTCEVOV4G using Tapatalk


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## balzebub (May 30, 2010)

The rotating bezel of my SBBN023 wasn't aligned properly either, it was off by a wee bit. I think it's a Seiko problem with their process or QC. Good thing was when i sent the watch back for a re-case, it came back properly aligned to the dot now. I don't think it's a problem restricted only to their watches with 7S/4R/6R movements? 

I don't really blame Creation watches though, i mean we pay a lower price when buying from them and also run the additional risk of not being able to check the watch in person before purchasing. I guess we get what we paid for? If they were very stringent in their QC checks, they will be rejecting a fair number of the watches they will normally send out and being mostly gray market, i doubt they can return them to Seiko?


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## Evanssprky (May 14, 2012)

Just received an 007k2 from Creation as a team present for a colleague who's emigrating to New Zealand. Chapter ring is perfectly aligned, bezel pip is also perfectly aligned apart from the small amount of play I've found on the several skx's I've had in my paws. 
Luck of the draw I suspect.


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## liwang22 (Sep 13, 2012)

Disappointed to report that an SKX171 I got from JomaShop has the chapter ring alignment issue at 6 o'clock. I'm modding it so should I just order a sterile chapter ring from Jake? I don't mind not having minute markers.


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## DM71 (Feb 6, 2009)

liwang22 said:


> Disappointed to report that an SKX171 I got from JomaShop has the chapter ring alignment issue at 6 o'clock. I'm modding it so should I just order a sterile chapter ring from Jake? I don't mind not having minute markers.


Yes, that's a disappointment.

Last weekend I had some free time and decided to open one of my SKX to see if I could correct the problem. Here's what I found out.

The Chapter ring on mine are not the problem, the dials are. The chapter ring is sandwich between the crystal and the case and uses a key at 12 O'clock to position it correctly. When I look at the 12h marker on the chapter ring, it was printed exactly in the middle of the key which is exactly at 12. It seems that the dial feet or printing is slightly off. I think they only way to fix this would be to take off the dial, remove the feet and then use dial dots to hold it in position. I'm not sure I want to do that, so I will probably live with the small misalignment.

I don't know if others experienced the same trying to correct the problem?


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## hooked1 (Jul 6, 2014)

I know this is an old thread, but I was wondering how much Creation Watches deducted from your refund for the original shipping cost to you? Roughly, how much does it typically cost to mail a watch from the USA to some dealer in Hong Kong or the Philippians?


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## CJordan (Aug 20, 2014)

hooked1 said:


> I know this is an old thread, but I was wondering how much Creation Watches deducted from your refund for the original shipping cost to you? Roughly, how much does it typically cost to mail a watch from the USA to some dealer in Hong Kong or the Philippians?


I had misalignment issues from Creationwatches as well. I emailed them and although they work pretty damn slowly and do not properly answer your emailed questions, they agreed to refund the watch at full price.
I had read about them trying to deduct their shipping beforehand so I mentioned that I wanted the full amount back since I was being a "nice guy" by paying for shipping back to them and also since they mention "free shipping." Although their ebay auction listing said they would deduct shipping charges, I told them that technically my shipping was free, as could be documented by my ebay purchase. I hate sneakiness. Regardless, I had to pay for shipping back to them, but they did refund me fully, again, although it did take a relatively long time.

They are not a _horrible _vendor, but they are slow and they really should pay for shipping back to them as well in cases where an item is "defective." If not impossible, I think vendors should check watches to make sure, and then ship them out, esp when they know that they are getting returns for such similar cases.

To conclude, I will not deal with them again. There are much efficient and more "caring" dealers around. Also, I simply found another skx00x dealer locally, but this time I went to them to physically pick out my watch. Mind you almost all of them had slight misalignment issues, so I picked the best one out of 4 choices.


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## Tovarisch (Jan 19, 2014)

Exact same problem with my SKX007 from CreationWatches, though my SKX009 that I also bought from CW two months ago is fine.









I'm not going to complain to them about it, I paid half of what I would have paid at my local shop, which would have given me the privilege to check the watch before buying it. I guess this is one of the perks of luxury items (perfect quality control), but still, it's&#8230; frustrating.


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## hoss (Nov 1, 2014)

The bad alignment really very noticeable. I would send it back for a full refund. If the feet on the dials on these watches are placed in the improper locations, then this explains why the dials are all misaligned. I bet you that there's a huge batch of watches with the improperly placed dial feet on the back of the watch dial.


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## Tovarisch (Jan 19, 2014)

hoss said:


> The bad alignment really very noticeable. I would send it back for a full refund.


CreationWatches happened to send me an e-mail the day I posted here, asking if I was satisfied with my purchase. So I told them about the misalignment and sent them a picture of it, and they immediately offered me to ship it back to them for a replacement.

They shipped the replacement watch within 2 working days after they received the defective one, and I was delivered today. The alignment is still not perfect, but it's noticeably better:









All in all, I'm very happy with the way CW dealt with my issue. I'm a little underwhelmed by Seiko's quality control, but I guess I got what I paid for.


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## brybell (Aug 22, 2013)

I literally just got my 007 and 1st was surprised by the fake box (bought it from eBay), and then the overally crappiness feel of the jubilee band (compared to the monster band), and then I noticed the chapter ring was off, however the bezel is aligned perfectly how it should be.

Found this thread to still be alive so I was happy, some of the posts eased my mind! It looks like mine is off all the way around, so if I ever open it up it should be able to be aligned perfectly by just rotating it. Mine is similar to the pic you just posted, so I gues I am kind of lucky.


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## benlg (Mar 5, 2015)

CJordan said:


> I had misalignment issues from Creationwatches as well. I emailed them and although they work pretty damn slowly and do not properly answer your emailed questions, they agreed to refund the watch at full price.
> I had read about them trying to deduct their shipping beforehand so I mentioned that I wanted the full amount back since I was being a "nice guy" by paying for shipping back to them and also since they mention "free shipping." Although their ebay auction listing said they would deduct shipping charges, I told them that technically my shipping was free, as could be documented by my ebay purchase. I hate sneakiness. Regardless, I had to pay for shipping back to them, but they did refund me fully, again, although it did take a relatively long time.
> 
> They are not a _horrible _vendor, but they are slow and they really should pay for shipping back to them as well in cases where an item is "defective." If not impossible, I think vendors should check watches to make sure, and then ship them out, esp when they know that they are getting returns for such similar cases.
> ...


Thanks for the info. I am new here and glad I decided to browse this section of the forum. I specifically bought the J model for Made in Japan, $100 more than the rakuten K model deal. I have similar problem as well as the bezel is slightly off at 12 o clock. Def will be sending it back.


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## evilphoton (Feb 4, 2015)

this is so frustrating to see!! Apple has had loose mute switches on the 6/s/+ since the 6 came out. give yours a wiggle (sorry...). an $800 phone with a switch that isn't as tight as a $.49 light switch from home depot. 

anyway, I was looking through the sellers on Amazon (not just 007s, any Seiko diver) and several of the chapter ring/dial alignment on their model photos are off. some are twisted, some are just printed wrong (like others have mentioned, align at noon, off at 6 or 9). the shots that are at a slight angle are tougher to tell but a few are off at 9. don't even look at the ebay ones. i would have thought a circle with dots would be pretty easy to pull off considering all the accuracy and precision required of the movement (

has anyone had experience with different sellers? like a Seiko dealer? I'm wondering if all these watches we're coming across are actually "rejects" that seiko wouldn't sell directly? i don't understand how such a, to me, glaring error could remain in production this long. 

meanwhile, I'm waiting for my 007


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## mistercoffee1 (Apr 22, 2015)

It's not the printing of the dial or the printing of the chapter ring that's off.
I've modded a few.
Some have loose chapter rings due to the feet being too small for the notch, so they float around a little. They can shift left to right, and a little up and down. Enough to make the 60-minute, 45-minute, and 30-minute indices on the dial look off.
But it's not the dial that is misprinted. And remember, the hands are always at the center of the dial and they don't really shift around within the dial.

In the end, learn to live with it for what it is. For $150 to $175, I'm ok with a slightly misaligned chapter ring, as long as it doesn't shift more that 1 minute's worth.
.


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## watchspecialists (Feb 22, 2013)

Dear Customer,

We sincerely regret for the inconvenience, Please send watch back to us for Repair and we will service it for you.


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## rutolander (Feb 9, 2015)

The Thrifty Nerd said:


> I think Creation should pay the return postage charges; obviously poor qc before it went out the door.


In my experience you have no chance.
My 007 was loosing 12 min per hr and they made it so difficult that in the end I gave up and fixed it myself cost me £35 but worked out cheaper than return postage.
I for one will never deal with them again thats for sure


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## igorsfc (May 24, 2015)

I received mine yesterday, bought from Creation Watches. It's also misaligned at 6 o'clock. It arrived badly packed, in a type of generic wallet, 20 days after the promised one. This is because they promise and charge for the shipment via DHL but send via normal shipment from Singapore post office. Worst service I've ever had. Too bad.










Due to difficulties reported, I do not intend to return or exchange mine. But here is my experience with them.


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## LArch (May 4, 2017)

igorsfc said:


> I received mine yesterday, bought from Creation Watches. It's also misaligned at 6 o'clock. It arrived badly packed, in a type of generic wallet, 20 days after the promised one. This is because they promise and charge for the shipment via DHL but send via normal shipment from Singapore post office. Worst service I've ever had. Too bad.
> 
> Due to difficulties reported, I do not intend to return or exchange mine. But here is my experience with them.


Compare yours to what I got from LIW today, you should feel you had a lucky draw.


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## igorsfc (May 24, 2015)

LArch said:


> Compare yours to what I got from LIW today, you should feel you had a lucky draw.


Images?

Enviado de meu SM-G930F usando Tapatalk


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## LArch (May 4, 2017)

igorsfc said:


> Images?
> 
> Enviado de meu SM-G930F usando Tapatalk


See my another post.


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## Time Seller (Feb 3, 2017)

igorsfc said:


> Images?





LArch said:


> See my another post.


Totally useless reply. :roll:
There are no images posted by you in this thread.
A link or picture would have helped.


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## C77 (Jan 29, 2018)

Hi guys I just received a 007K from ChronosPride and it's alignment is perfect.

Do you think it's random QC and assembly error or fake watches?


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## watchspecialists (Feb 22, 2013)

The warranty is by the manufacturer for 1 year. You have to send it to the manufacturer repair center listed in the warranty card. If the repair center is not close to you, you can post the watch to them. Please call the repair center for details or you can take the watch to local watchmaker.

























[/QUOTE]


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## C77 (Jan 29, 2018)

Even the example catalogue images on Creations website show misaligned SKX007 lol...not a good sign


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## Cobia (Nov 24, 2013)

Alignment is not the sellers doing or fault, its Seikos, it has nothing to do with creation, even the seiko boutique has the same alignment issues.
Its very unfair people blaming the sellers.


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## wojtek54321 (Aug 7, 2021)

Hi, i also got a SKX007 from CreationWatches. I've made a few pictures just after getting the watch.

Today i noticed that the chapter ring was misaligned af, but then i looked at the photos and it was perfect when i got it 🧐. So... if you want to fix your misaligned chapter ring in your SKX007, just give it a few light pops with your finger from one side or another, untill you get your chapter ring in the perfect position 😂 Thank me later 😂


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