[Watchguy54]

Hey guys, I recently just purchased my first watch! It is a TAG Heuer Formula 1. I have noticed that the second hand is not perfectly aligned with the markers. From about 30-60 seconds it hits (about the size of of the tip of the second hand) above the marker. From about 1-30 seconds it hits quite a bit ahead of the marker--sometimes even striking in between the markers or even a bit further.

I took the watch to my local jeweler today and they made it sound like it was fairly normal for this to happen. They basically said that it will still keep perfect time, and that it wasn't that big of a deal.

This watch was a HUGE purchase for me. I can't remember the last time I spent this much money on anything, actually, so it really upset me that something might not be quite right with it. I wanted to see what you guys think about this matter. I apologize if this is a silly question, but I would really appreciate it if you guys could give me your opinion and experience with this matter. You guys rock :gold



I do have one more question, and it probably wouldn't be the best idea to start a new thread, so I will ask it now. The watch is a "date" watch. It just displays the date and not the day. Months vary from 28-31 days, so my question is...what happens when I am in a 28 day month or a 30 day month? How could the watch possibly know to change the date to "1" after "28". I mean, I wouldn't think that you have to manually change the date at the end of every month to the beginning of the next month, or maybe I am wrong.


I hate to keep asking questions, but I do have one more. I was searching through these forums and I came upon a post talking about how to make sure you never "cross-thread" the crown when screwing it down, because it could damage or break the crown! My watch has a screw down crown and I have no first-hand experience whatsoever with watches or screwing down the crown. What is this "cross-threading" thing? Is there a proper way to unscrew and screw the crown? I really have no clue. I am afraid to even unscrew the crown anymore because I am afraid I will do something wrong and might end up hurting the watch. If anyone could explain this to me, that would be great. note: There is a TAG Heuer symbol on the crown. I am wondering if I have to align that symbol somehow or do something like that. Like I said, I really don't have a clue.

 

[Joukowski]

Please ask away that's what this forum of friendly people are for. I'm by far a watch expert, but I'll try my best to answer your questions:

1. Second hand not hitting the markers.
This seems to be a fairly normal occurance in some Swiss quartz movements & I've seen it with Omega as well as Tags. I don't know why this is the case. All my $100 swatches line up perfectly and so do all quartz Seikos and Citizens i've come across. There is a tolerance standard about alignment which I assume has been satisfied, but others here more knowledgeable will be able to provide some concrete info.

2. Date
The date wheel is numbered 1 to 31. if the month has 28 or 30 days, you'll need adjust the date.

3. Cross-threading
This is when the meshing threads of the crown and the watch gets crossed and cut each other & is very unlikely to happen in modern watch designs. If you're worried make a 1/2 turn of the crown in the uncrew direction before screwing the crown in to what is know as "finger tight." This pressure keeps a gasket adequately compressed between the crown & watch and keeps out water. The Crown symbol does not necessarily align.

 

[Phrooq]

It still amazes me that companies such as Tag, Omega, and Breitling offer Quartz watches with mis-aligned second hands. Sure, they do keep perfect time, but the mis-alignment is a sad reflection on their level of quality control.

At least with mechanical watches you tend not to see this problem, as their hands move at 6 or 8 beats per second (hence the term "sweeping second hand")

If I was you I'd complain like hell until the problem is fixed or the watch changed. Or, just get an automatic version instead and be content that you are wearing a piece of engineering excellence on your wrist instead of a battery operated version that's probably no more mechanically sophisticated than a $10 watch. Why pay hundreds for something that isn't good value for money.

I do have quite a strong opinion on the automatic vs quartz debate and don't mean any offence, so please feel free to ignore me if neccessary.

 

[Joukowski]

as Phrooq says, i'm also surprised by the incidence of misaligned hands on on the upper market Swiss brands. from a discussion with an AD a while back it's their opinion that most customers don't mind or notice and if they did they mostly come in to buy automatic watches. I think it's a terrible let down for watch a such price but it seemed to acceptably normal to those manufacturers.