Wrong Movements Installed in Unimatic U1?

[demer03]

Micros

Ayup

[Joeprez]

Haven't been able to watch the video... what is the issue here, a plastic holder for the movement?

The movement and holder are too small for the case, which appears to have been designed to accept a different movement. The whole assembly moves around inside the case when the crown is pulled.

Well shit, that's definitely not good. Least they could have done is a good holder for the movement. Because let's be honest, ton of mid to high end watch brands use way smaller movements on their cases than they should.

[toxicavenger]

I borrowed a first edition U1 and it didn't have this issue with movement play. I bet the company that assembled these watches had a mix up. I don't think this is uncommon at all though. I have a 1200T Doxa here that was suppose to come with a 2824-2, but it actually has a SW200 in it.

[toxicavenger]

Micros

Hey hey now. You know that the big guys do stupid shit also.

[1954Selmer]

That is a crying shame.. pure crap.

[Ryeguy]

Absolutely for sure. If this were my watch new from Unimatic, it would never have gotten to Jake. It would've been on its way back to Italy for a refund as soon as I saw the dial swim around in the case.

Given the watch is with Jake, I'm guessing the watch is no longer returnable. This is why I thought about the possibility for a fix. Figure $60 for the movement, plus $30 for the handset, plus maybe $200 for the service to swap things over. I'm not certain how much an Unimatic costs, but I think for about $300 you could make it kinda "right" (except for the dial dots used to mount the dial - those are kind of ghetto).

The Unimatic is $600 USD (more if you live in Europe and have to pay VAT), so $300 to “fix” what never should have been, now you’re $900 (or more) in for a pretty obscure microbrand.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Again, I 100% agree. This is a shit show of a situation that never should have occurred in the first place. At $600, this is a decent looking micro. At $900 I wouldn't even consider it.

I don't really follow Unimatic as a brand so I have no idea how long that specific model has been offered by them. The only reason (I would think) that Jake would have one sent to him to open and fix would be if it were beyond the 24 month warranty period and the owner had no other recourse other than to fix it themselves. (I guess a really cynical person could say the entire "sent to me to fix" story was just a ruse and the video is really just a marketing effort on the differences between a "good" micro manufacturer - Dagaz - and a "bad" one - Unimatic, but I have no evidence of this and am just being cynical even thinking it)

If I am already $600 in the hole with a watch I could not return, and could not sell in good conscious, I'm just saying I would probably bite the bullet and pay $300 to make it right rather than have a $600 paperweight.

[Ryeguy]

I borrowed a first edition U1 and it didn't have this issue with movement play. I bet the company that assembled these watches had a mix up. I don't think this is uncommon at all though. I have a 1200T Doxa here that was suppose to come with a 2824-2, but it actually has a SW200 in it.

This situation isn't that kind of mistake though. At least the 2824-2 and the SW200 are identical in dimension. The Seiko and the Miyota are not.

The Unimatic case Jake has is clearly manufactured for the Miyota 9015. It even has a groove machined into the ID of the case to accept the tab machined into the standard Miyota 9015 movement ring.

Unimatic, for some unknown reason, seems to have decided to swap from the 9015 to the 6r15 late in the production cycle, after the cases were machined.

It is hard to conclude any excuse other than it was too late to change the cases and they just simply tried to rig up a solution to make what they had kind of work.

It would be interesting to see if this was the situation with all the Unimatic models, or maybe Unimatic was able to change their case specifications mid-production.

It is all an academic discussion now, at least for me, as I'll not be buying one despite thinking they are a decent looking micro.

[logan2z]

Micros

Hey hey now. You know that the big guys do stupid shit also.

I'm willing to bet that none of the 'big guys' has ever shipped a watch with the wrong sized movement for the case and slapped a poorly fitting plastic spacer in to try and cover it up. Appalling.

[matt.wu]

This is potentially something that completely breaks the company. I assume most microbrands offering $600 watches operate on margins slim enough that they can't afford to refund all buyers their purchase price (or make a whole new run of correct watches and send them out free of charge). Probably more likely they fold and start a new company than pay this off, especially with how new the company is.

If they were charging $1500 or $2800 like some other micros, maybe it'd be a different story .

That was a great video by Jake. It just needed to be like 1/3 of the length. Lots of words. Lots of repetitive words.

[logan2z]

That was a great video by Jake. It just needed to be like 1/3 of the length. Lots of words. Lots of repetitive words.

+1. I nearly turned it off after watching him nervously fidget with the watch head for the first two minutes. Glad I stuck it out.

[demer03]

(Whispers) I’d never heard of them....

[Graeme]

That is shocking!! It's things like that that give micros a bad name !

Regards Graeme

[toxicavenger]

I borrowed a first edition U1 and it didn't have this issue with movement play. I bet the company that assembled these watches had a mix up. I don't think this is uncommon at all though. I have a 1200T Doxa here that was suppose to come with a 2824-2, but it actually has a SW200 in it.

This situation isn't that kind of mistake though. At least the 2824-2 and the SW200 are identical in dimension. The Seiko and the Miyota are not.

I understand they are the same dimensions, but they definitely aren't of the same caliber.

I bet Unimatic wasn't privy to this swap info.

I'm willing to bet that none of the 'big guys' has ever shipped a watch with the wrong sized movement for the case and slapped a poorly fitting plastic spacer in to try and cover it up. Appalling.

The Panerai "Under the Bridge" model was bullshit. The unfinished $50 movement being marketed as something else.

And we already talked about the Polaris issue.

My point is stupid shit happens regardless of the size of the company.

[toxicavenger]

Micros

Ayup

Mike, Doxa and Kobold are still micros.

That was a great video by Jake. It just needed to be like 1/3 of the length. Lots of words. Lots of repetitive words.

I am learning how to do video's and I completely suck at it. His video almost bored me to tears.

[toxicavenger]

I would totally hate to be in Unimatics shoes for sure. I hope they have a good pr guy.

[sierra11b]

Never heard of the brand. I thought there was only U1 before this video.

[logan2z]

I borrowed a first edition U1 and it didn't have this issue with movement play. I bet the company that assembled these watches had a mix up. I don't think this is uncommon at all though. I have a 1200T Doxa here that was suppose to come with a 2824-2, but it actually has a SW200 in it.

This situation isn't that kind of mistake though. At least the 2824-2 and the SW200 are identical in dimension. The Seiko and the Miyota are not.

I understand they are the same dimensions, but they definitely aren't of the same caliber.

I bet Unimatic wasn't privy to this swap info.

I'm willing to bet that none of the 'big guys' has ever shipped a watch with the wrong sized movement for the case and slapped a poorly fitting plastic spacer in to try and cover it up. Appalling.

The Panerai "Under the Bridge" model was bullshit. The unfinished $50 movement being marketed as something else.

I knew you were going to bring that up. At least the poorly finished movement fit the case

Edit: You've been listening to too much RHCP, it was the Brooklyn Bridge

[demer03]

Micros

Ayup

Mike, Doxa and Kobold are still micros.

That was a great video by Jake. It just needed to be like 1/3 of the length. Lots of words. Lots of repetitive words.

I am learning how to do video's and I completely suck at it. His video almost bored me to tears.

Kobold, yes....and although I like what they were...that is a perfect example of why.

Doxa is not. Owned by Jenny and built by their OEM division. The separate marketing company in the states that convinced them to bring the line back “could” be seen as such, but the company itself is not a micro.

If you like em, knock yourself out...but what you like and like what you buy and all that. Me, no interest in general. A few like Graham and Todd who custom create products I hold in a different respect, but most are regurgitated designs with an Asian movement.

Meh

[toxicavenger]

I borrowed a first edition U1 and it didn't have this issue with movement play. I bet the company that assembled these watches had a mix up. I don't think this is uncommon at all though. I have a 1200T Doxa here that was suppose to come with a 2824-2, but it actually has a SW200 in it.

This situation isn't that kind of mistake though. At least the 2824-2 and the SW200 are identical in dimension. The Seiko and the Miyota are not.

I understand they are the same dimensions, but they definitely aren't of the same caliber.

I bet Unimatic wasn't privy to this swap info.

I'm willing to bet that none of the 'big guys' has ever shipped a watch with the wrong sized movement for the case and slapped a poorly fitting plastic spacer in to try and cover it up. Appalling.

The Panerai "Under the Bridge" model was bullshit. The unfinished $50 movement being marketed as something else.

I knew you were going to bring that up. At least the poorly finished movement fit the case

Edit: You've been listening to too much RHCP, it was the Brooklyn Bridge

I called it under the bridge because that is them trying to screw their customers, under the bridge. viewtopic.php?f=2&t=46053&p=909960&hili ... ge#p909960

But correct me if I am wrong, so watch cases are designed to fit the movement? I thought the movement ring is what makes the movement fit the case? I personally haven't designed a watch so I might be wrong in that thought process also.

Jake talked about the dial not fitting the movement also in this video. I didn't see that. All he showed me was the watch has the wrong info on the caseback and the movement ring was wrong, that is what let the watch move around in the case. This was the same thing that Crepas did also.

I know on some 6306's and 6309's the movement had play in the case also. So when you went to adjust the time it would move the chapter ring. It was crazy also. We had a hell of a time figuring that one out.

[toxicavenger]

Doxa is not. Owned by Jenny and built by their OEM division. The separate marketing company in the states that convinced them to bring the line back “could” be seen as such, but the company itself is not a micro.

If you like em, knock yourself out...but what you like and like what you buy and all that. Me, no interest in general. A few like Graham and Todd who custom create products I hold in a different respect, but most are regurgitated designs with an Asian movement.

Meh

Mike, asian movements are all in all kinds of watches, regardless if the company is a microbrand or not. Heck it seems a lot of microbrands in the last few years use SW200 and STP11's. Those are considered Swiss movements. If you think the big guys don't regurgitate designs then you aren't looking. I love most of the regurgitation they are doing.

The Doxa thing again. Just like when Rick said he didn't own Aquadive/Jenny/Isofrane.

[demer03]

I know. I’m just not a fan of Asian. I’ll grant you that companies have issues, but you have to acknowledge the bigger ones have a whole lot more infrastructure and control.

...and rick is the US and not Jenny. My point still stands that it’s not a “micro”. Look how many come and go. I want to know somethings going to be around. Look how spectacularly Kobold has spun out and how many of these guys have come and gone.

Nah, my Omega will likely always have a place to take it (at least in my lifetime).

[toxicavenger]

I know. I’m just not a fan of Asian. I’ll grant you that companies have issues, but you have to acknowledge the bigger ones have a whole lot more infrastructure and control.

...and rick is the US and not Jenny. My point still stands that it’s not a “micro”. Look how many come and go. I want to know somethings going to be around. Look how spectacularly Kobold has spun out and how many of these guys have come and gone.

Nah, my Omega will likely always have a place to take it (at least in my lifetime).

Bigger companies definitely have more infrastructure and control, but this didn't happen over night. And they made mistakes along the way for sure. Hell Rolex still makes mistakes on designs they have barely changed in 30 years.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh Rick.................funny story

The longevity of a company has no bearings on it being a microbrand. Bernhardt has been around longer than most.

Omega might have to order parts from Asia when you take it in. True story

[demer03]

Hey, put your money where you like. I’ve seen enough of these shill and shit shows to be turned off. Not all, I’ll grant you.

It is a real possibility most of these will come and go. Zixen is the latest, no?

[toxicavenger]

Hey, put your money where you like. I’ve seen enough of these shill and shit shows to be turned off.

Mike, no comment.

[Steve O.]

Damn. That's interesting.
I haven't had any issues with the 3 models I have had (still have 1)
Makes me curious about having a look inside though.

I will interested to see what (if anything) Unimatic has to say about this..

No issues with mine either. All very interesting.