Watch Repair Question

[zarathustra]

I purchased a Hamilton Field Khaki watch 6 mos ago from Overstock.com. It has developed a major problem in the last few days. Basically the second hand is skipping, it ticks and then skips 4-7 seconds very quickly.

While i could send this back to Overstock, they say it will take 4 - 6 weeks. How big of a repair is this? Is it something that a watch repair place could take care of? If so, how much?

Any recommendations in NYC?

 

[gdl203]

Send it back, especially if it's under warranty. 4-6 weeks is actually very speedy. My watchmaker always has a backlog of 4-5 months...

Is it quartz or mechanical? I've never seen this happen with a mechanical watch...

 

[Tomasso]

4-6 weeks!?!?!?

Send it back!

 

[zarathustra]

Ok back it goes. It was a cheap quartz watch i picked up as a beater. I suppose this gives me the perfect excuse to pick up a mechanical watch? I really liked the Hamilton Khaki series but was unable to find a mechanical with a clean white face. I really like this one even though it isn't white.

 

[gdl203]

Originally Posted by zarathustra

I really liked the Hamilton Khaki series but was unable to find a mechanical with a clean white face.
Well, they're supposed to be inspired by military/tactical designs. A military watch with a silver or white face is heresy!

 

[zarathustra]

Originally Posted by gdl203

Well, they're supposed to be inspired by military/tactical designs. A military watch with a silver or white face is heresy!

Karma must have broke it then!!!

 

[jetfight]

if your swiss mechanical watch needs repair and has to be sent back to swiss, you are talking about at least 3 months ...

 

[Twotone]

Since it's a quartz watch, it could be a dying battery. Some quartz movements have a low battery warning feature. When the battery is getting low, the second hand will jump in five second increments rather than every second.

I'd try a new battery and see if this fixes the problem -- faster and cheaper than returning it for repair or replacement.

Twotone

 

[Tomasso]

Originally Posted by Twotone

Some quartz movements have a low battery warning feature. When the battery is getting low, the second hand will jump in five second increments rather than every second.

Yep, my X-33 does that.