Caution on this eBay Kobold

[toxicavenger]

Hey, it's hand crafted Sherpa goodness....

(Trying here, fellas)

Try again. No excuse for this...even from a Chinese made Doxa

Look at the sig, baby....pure Swiss history.

I don't think he said that directly to you. You are just use to the banter I think.

It's just fun to bitch-slap the kid once and a while

Besides, that's been long debunked, but dipshits (others, not you) keep perpetuating it....including putting it in their signatures.

hey I thought I was one of the head "dipshits"

[zepp21]

Hey, it's hand crafted Sherpa goodness....

(Trying here, fellas)

Try again. No excuse for this...even from a Chinese made Doxa

Look at the sig, baby....pure Swiss history.

I don't think he said that directly to you. You are just use to the banter I think.

It's just fun to bitch-slap the kid once and a while

Besides, that's been long debunked, but dipshits (others, not you) keep perpetuating it....including putting it in their signatures.

Hey Gramps, can you put your teeth in and say it again? Couldn't understand ya.

[demer03]

And no Terry....there is one thing busting each others balls like you do, but it's another for some of these haters who vehemently spout BS for some unknown reason....keyboard Ninja's I suspect. They think they are some kind of moral "watch police"...who knows.

[Fitz]

Wow, this makes me appreciate the attention that went into my SAS and Korsbek. Hopefully they stay the course and don't circle down the drain like this.


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[JBZ]

Wow. That is simply atrocious. Wonder why the original purchaser didn't send it straight back to Kobold? Should have never made it through the Invicta-esque QC.

ironically, he picked it up in person and said he didn't notice anything wrong with it
to be an ignorant watch buyer again..would save me lots of headaches

I'm wondering if this is BS. Guy paid full pricer retail for a watch just to turn around and try to sell it 3 weeks later at a significant discount? Maybe he got flack from Kobold's CS and just decided to try and cut his losses. Either way, inexcusable for him not to list these issues on the resale.

Also, the lug hole in one of the pictures looks damaged (oval shaped). Is that accurate? Caused by the warped spring bar or already like that?

Too bad. Would love to see some more quality watches coming from American companies. Based on this admittedly small sample size, seems like Kobold has slipped mightily from what it once was.

[Seth]

I'm not one to defend Mike, but I wonder if this is the whole story. I get the sense that this is the whole story. The bracelet clearly isn't original.... Or doesn't look like anything I've ever seen come out of their shop.

I'm betting this is something somebody hacked together.

[t20569cald]

I'm not one to defend Mike, but I wonder if this is the whole story. I get the sense that this is the whole story. The bracelet clearly isn't original.... Or doesn't look like anything I've ever seen come out of their shop.

I'm betting this is something somebody hacked together.

Don't suppose you or anyone knows what bezel internals they use?
I have a feeling that was an easy fix, as I have had the issue myself with the Fricker internal design.

The rest, not so much

[jswing]

I have to say I really liked Kobolds. Until I got one. It was a mess. Seemed like it was a Frankenwatch pieced together from mismatched parts. Bezel problems, finish issues, tons of dust under the crystal, crown issues, mismatched lume. just everything about it sucked. I had to return it. I told myself it must be an isolated incident, but now I'm not so sure.

[CGSshorty]

I'm not one to defend Mike, but I wonder if this is the whole story. I get the sense that this is the whole story. The bracelet clearly isn't original.... Or doesn't look like anything I've ever seen come out of their shop.

I'm betting this is something somebody hacked together.

There may be more to the story, but that is definitely the new Kobold bracelet.

[streetracer101]

I'm not one to defend Mike, but I wonder if this is the whole story. I get the sense that this is the whole story. The bracelet clearly isn't original.... Or doesn't look like anything I've ever seen come out of their shop.

I'm betting this is something somebody hacked together.

Seth,
Kobold came out with new bracelets earlier this year. They now have 3 flavors of bracelet to chose from. The bracelets, like the cases, are made in house.
The watch came with an invoice for $4000. He received the standard 15-20% discount.
As for the bezel, if it was an isolated instance it would've been no big deal. But, like in Ed's case, the sum of little issues amounted to a bigger issue.

[toxicavenger]

hell if the cases and bracelet's are all made in house then his house must be leaning some

[craniotes]

Wow. I had a seal and the inverted triangle was tilted to one side!

That was a mistake on Fricker's part in the first batch of SEALs, and all the bezels were replaced under warranty when a second batch was milled.

As for the watch in the original post, that bracelet looks off to me. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the SMG-1 come with the standard 5-link Fricker bracelet? Seems to me that the seller tried to fit a round peg in a square hole, here. Now, the bezel... That's easily remedied, so I'm not sure that I'd rake Kobold over the coals for that, particularly when you have no idea how the watch was treated prior to delivery. Same goes for the crown, which was probably stripped.

Regards,
Adam

EDIT: I see now that Kobold is pushing an Oyster-type bracelet. If this is indeed OEM, well... Damn. Not cool, Mike.

[drster]

Kobold has never been very good at QC imo. They have used various suppliers for parts. Sloppy bezels and ones that don't line up are more the norm from what I've seen. And I've probably sold 15 to 20. All those little problems except the crown could be fixed with a little sanding stick and bezel adjustment. Shouldn't come like that but if the price is right ...

[unixshrk]

He must have seen you guys talking about it, or someone made an offer on it.
He ended the listing.

[streetracer101]

He must have seen you guys talking about it, or someone made an offer on it.
He ended the listing.

He offered to have it repaired when I sent it back.
I decided (as you already knew Chris) that I'd be disappointed regardless of the outcome.
When I returned it, I told him if he fixed the issues he could probably get $3000-3500 for it.
It baffled me that he didn't fix the issues when he said he lived 1 mile from kobold and could have it refinished to new condition, but just chose to relist it.

[unixshrk]

He must have seen you guys talking about it, or someone made an offer on it.
He ended the listing.

He offered to have it repaired when I sent it back.
I decided (as you already knew Chris) that I'd be disappointed regardless of the outcome.
When I returned it, I told him if he fixed the issues he could probably get $3000-3500 for it.
It baffled me that he didn't fix the issues when he said he lived 1 mile from kobold and could have it refinished to new condition, but just chose to relist it.

Yes, full agreement.

He ended it this morning again. A reseller probably bought it.

[GGD]

That's disappointing on the sellers behalf.... thanks for the heads-up because I had my eye on that one.

Never had a single QC or CS issue with KWC and my AD TAC still rocks despite my best attempts to treat it with absolutely no respect for it's welfare

[T.R.]

The Kobold website makes me want to

Just went there and could not find a pic or an offering of the new oyster bracelet as pictured and as Adam noted. Could not find a pic of the SMG 1, but did find their listing of the SMG X. The SMG X noted a 5 year warranty on all defects, thus this watch should be returned directly to Kobold to have each and every issue addressed. If the original buyer who bought this watch in 2013, as per the ebay listing, cannot tend to this then we know he f'd up something trying to fit something on the watch that did not fit, etc.

I do love my Seal. It's an awesome watch and keeps superb time. It is likely one of my favorite watches. But I find it very odd how many folks have absolutely no issues, yet others have very serious issues upon receiving their watches like my friend Jeff Swing. I know he was fired up to get his watch and he could not send it back fast enough.

Thank you for the original post. Good thread here.

I hope you find another more suitable Kobold watch.

[Axelay2003]

That was some BS right there. I'm glad you got your money back.

[Seth]

Wow. Well........... No fucking excuse.

[Vern]

I had good luck with my SOA, an Arctic Diver, and my current AD destro. It's odd to me that someone doesn't handle the watches in the house before they leave and catch these problems. These aren't minor, nit picky details. Seems weird.

[hoppyjr]

....... It's odd to me that someone doesn't handle the watches in the house before they leave and catch these problems. These aren't minor, nit picky details. Seems weird.

I agree, apparently there is ZERO quality control. The AD I owned a few years ago was fine, so this appears to be a recent change.


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[CGSshorty]

The 3 old models (SOA, AD, Seal) I had were nice as well.

[toxicavenger]

I think before they said something along the lines that if their QC guy is out of town then sometimes a watch doesn't get looked at.

[marchone]

I think before they said something along the lines that if their QC guy is out of town then sometimes a watch doesn't get looked at.

That's insane at any price point much less what MK charges. I haven't so far and will likely never risk it. The stories are legion. There are too many reputable manufactures out there to throw caution to the wind.