For that reason I will condense it somewhat, highlighting the key parts in this last instalment.
So the movements went back, that is where we left off from the last post.
They also claimed they were not over oiled, but rather the finish shows it up. Other watch brands have managed bead blasted without showing oil on the bridges, because they do not put oil on the bridges! Besides the point really, when there are damaged screws and scratches.
OK, so this went on, and then they demanded that next time they delivered, that they would visit Thomas Prescher, and he could accept the movements in front of them (I assume they were going to give him at least an hour!) and he would have to pay them CASH!
I have never heard of such a thing, nor had a company insult me in such way, and of course insult Thomas. This was the point when I decided to involve the Festina Group, which owns Mhvj, as well as Soprod and a lot of others. To their credit, they got involved very quickly, and tried to sort it out. At least they started that way, with best intentions.
They offered in the end, a perlage finish with circular stripes on bridges and rotor, on 20, and on 4 of them perlage with Geneva stripes, which I could not work out.
OK, I said lets get it done, and please let a watch maker put them together this time.
Months went by, and they said there was a delay.
To keep it short, Thomas Prescher decided to pull out. I will not print his reasons here, but given the 2.5 years that had gone by at this stage, and the way they had conducted themselves, and the issues, it is only surprising he stayed in as long as he did. I made new case backs to suit, as I was sure they were coming any day.
I found some information through a contact, that Mhvj had an issue with the date change, and had for some time. Next time I spoke with the Festina contact, I tried his honesty, and asked ''why the delay?'' and to his credit, he told the truth.
Many months go by, and they finally arrived.
The finish looked good, no excess oil, no damaged screws. I am lead to believe that Soprod actually put them together. Maybe they should have given Soprod the job 3 years earlier!
Anyway, I did my checks before giving them to the watchmaker. The date change seemed clunky on some, smooth on others. Overall, I was happy to pass them over for checking.
He asked me to sit with him the next day, and we went through the six that I asked him to assemble first. A date change at 12:00, 12:01, 12:10, 11:57, next was 11:58, 12:04, 12:00,12:01 , so that was two watches. He showed on one more, and that almost made a fool of him, 12,12,12,12:04 so I had seen enough, and sent them back. Now I decided at this point, without Thomas Prescher, there really was no point, and I let Mhvj out of the commitment.
Mhvj will never tell me anything of course, but looking at the whole story, some comments from Festina, such as '' they should not have taken the order'' , the size change in the movement, the date issue, leads me to believe they sold me a movement they did not really have, as it was still in development. It would appear, that it still is. I know I was the first customer, I also know that no one else has these movements. I can only imagine the trouble if a company ordered 500 or more!
So I kept one movement, and have fitted it to a watch that is now in the back of the safe, one day maybe in the Aegir museum. I did of course take the movement that behaved the best.
I do not plan to sell it, as I can not warranty the movement, but as far as I am aware, it is the only watch that uses the Cal 2005, and if they keep going the way they are going, it will remain that way.
