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TimeTechTalk.com > Time Tech Talk > Time Talk > Watch News and Reviews > Review on Prometheus Ocean Diver Chronograph |
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TimeTechTalk.com > Time Tech Talk > Time Talk > Watch News and Reviews > Review on Prometheus Ocean Diver Chronograph |
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| Review on Prometheus Ocean Diver Chronograph | Rating: 
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| Posted: Sun May 15th, 2011 07:56 pm |
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1st Post |
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FnuSnu99 3T WIS 
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Well , I just got my new Prometheus Ocean Diver chronograph, and for several reasons I felt like doing a review on it. This is perhaps going to be a kind of different review than what I did on the Vortex a while ago, and a bit longer, but will be straight forward and point out all the pros and cons, as I see them. Though I might have a hard time staying completely objective about this, I will try my best. If this has you wondering, read on and you will probably understand … First of I´ll shed some light on the background of the ocean diver form Prometheus. It is basicly a watch created after a design contest held on prometheus´own forum (on WUS), and a forum member called B.F. Green won the contest with this design (Design by B.F.Green can be seen on the case back). Prometheus first wonted to offer an affordable chronograph, and looked to Asia for production. But after having gotten back a prototype, and not being happy with the result, decided to change production to Switzerland and the Jura mountains, even though this raised the price on the OD line quite a bit (there is also a 3 hand version and a GMT besides the Chrono). And Prometheus states that the OD line is produced to the highest quality standards (and that is one of the reasons I decided to pull the trigger on it in the first place, that and the general design, that I liked) And the general quality and attention to details is the reason for my issues I will mention here. I ordered mine from supercrono.com as it actually was a bit cheaper than directly from Prometheus. So to the watch ... When I opened the box from UPS, I found a straight forward looking black leather watch box, and inside the watch it self, and an extra orange silicone strap and instruction manual. So nothing special there. The rest of the OD line comes in a kind of travel case, so don´t understand why the ODC just gets this boring box, but no biggy there. But kudos for at least adding the extra strap.  First of I was a little disappointed that even with the stated 44mm case, it looked very small on the wrist (imho). And comparing it to for instance the Vortex (also 44mm), it looked a bit smaller. In reality it is 43mm from 3 to 9 (at least with my measuring tool). And 47mm including the crown. It is 16mm high. I guess the reason I find it looking a bit small is the rather small/thin hands and the kinda busy dial being a chronograph. But all that said, I´m actually warming up to the look of it on the wrist as we speak, and the size isn´t really an issue for me any more. But there are some other issues ...that I will get to a bit further down. Case: Size I have already gone through, but it is a supercompressor case. For those of you not familiar with supercompressors, to make a long story short, it is a way of making watch cases much utilized in the 50´s and 60´s. And it has a case back that rests on a kind of "O-ring" that is not quite tighten up, so when pressure from the water outside increases, the case back is actually pressed even harder against the O-ring, creating a better seal the higher the pressure (quite a brilliant design actually) More info here for those interested. http://scubawatch.org/EPSA_SC_FAQ.html The case sits high on the wrist with its 16mm but is very comfortable indeed. And is 51mm from lug to lug.  Crowns/buttons: Being a chronograph with an internal bezel it has two crowns and two buttons. The crown at 11 o´clock adjusts the bezel, and crown at 3 o´clock adjusts time and day/date. The main crown screws in and out with a confidence, and is nice and tight. It is also VERY tight pulling out to adjusting to the 3. position IOT adjust time. I´m afraid of pulling the whole pin out every time I set it. Now to the buttons that start/stop and resets the chronograph function. The start/stop button is firm and nice, but the reset button on mine is loose both from side to side and up and down. Not very much but more than I would like on a watch "made with the highest attention to quality" I still haven´t tried to tighten the screws on it, so that might just do the trick. But, her we come the the first issue ...The crown for adjusting the internal bezel has quite a lot of play. I would say mine has about a 1-1,5mm play and is quite loose. Being so loose, most of the time the V pip on the bezel is of-centre to 12 o´clock. Not a BIG thing, but something I find irritating. There is no real reason why this crown should be so loose.  Bezel: And here we get to issue nr two ... As mentioned, the bezel crown has play. That of course effects the bezel also. And this has the same play but also it moves just a bit sidewise and not only clock wise. This does not scream quality in my world. It seams to be a bit loose and wobbly. The lumed V pip on the bezel is clearly of a different kind of lume than the rest of the watch (I will address lume "quality" later on) And the applied lume on the V-pip is just a bit "off" compared to its white background. You can clearly see this in the picture abow. Dial: Being a chronograph it might be a bit busy for some, but I find it ok, although I don´t care that much for it having "pressed" in a tachymeter ring on the dial also. And the number markers have a little dot in addition to the mark, that just ads to its busyness (imho) Hands: hour and minute hands are black with lume in the centre. The minute hand on mine however is not completely coated in black, but has a unpainted area on one of the sides, again not high attention to detail (imho) You can see it in the picture below if you look closely at the side of the minute hand.  The small seconds hand is white, and I personally would have liked this to at least have a lumed tip, so one at least can see that the watch is working in low light conditions. The chronograph hands are red, and lines up perfectly every time. Lume: Here we come to maybe its biggest weak point ... And should mention that as some of you probably already know, I´m a BIG lume addict. And love me some lume. But on this one the lume just don´t cut it. According to Prometheus it is C3 all the way, but as the hour/minute hands are quite bright and nice, the rest is just REALLY weak. And the worst is the V-pip on the bezel. It looks like it´s some other kind of lume, and just can´t be C3. It looks a bit "dirty" when inspected, and looses its glow in a matter of seconds after charging.  10 seconds charge with UV torche, along side the Vortex for comparison.  After only four minutes, you can hardly see the dial lume, and the V-pip is completely gone. Straps: It comes on a Caribbean style silicone strap, and a similar orange one is also included. The straps are held in place by screw bars. The screws have a very shallow and thin slot, and normal panerai screwdrivers will not fit. I had to take some old ones and file them sharp to get them to fit. And after a bit of work with warm water the locktite loosened, and they came of. The silicone straps are extremely soft, and VERY long. I´m not sure if I would trust the silicone straps completely, as they are so thin, soft and flexible I feel like they are about to snap every time I flex the wrist. So I got a zulu on it straight away, and haven´t looked back since. The lug bars are not so long, and will probably not accept the thickest leather straps. Even though the case has a "slot" on the underside so the strap wont rub against it. Movement: It houses a ETA Valjoux 7750 Elaborè movement, and not gonna say much about it, as you probably know it well. Can´t really say that much about accuracy yet, since I just got it on Friday, but it has run a steady +8/24 so far, but that might settle nicely once it gets some more wrist time. So to some other goodies ... When I first got it I wasn´t completely satisfied as I mentioned. And on closer inspection in the sun, I actually found specs of dust on the dial and the internal bezel ring.  If you look closely, you can see three specs of dust around the 25 mark on the bezel and between 53 and 54 on the bezel. There are more, but for the life of me I couldn´t get it to show on the photos. But believe me, it´s there, and irritating the crap out of me. So with the dust and loose bezel ring and bezel crown, and also the poorly applied lume on the V-pip, I felt like adressing the issues I had on the prometheus forum on WUS, and see if others had experienced the same. I was quickly asked to to contact Prometheus, and did so by PM on the same forum. And yes, one could easily argue that I should have contacted them straight away, and not first on a forum, but I was quite disappointed, and I would have liked it if others with the same issues on theirs had posted it, so one could read about it before buying. Because all the reviews I had read up till then, was positive. (some mentioned the lume not being great ...) But Carlos at Prometheus quickly stated that he could clear the dust from the case for me, but not fix the rest of my issues. I never asked him to take the watch back and give me a refund, as I bought it from superchrono (a AD for prometheus) But he keept on repeating that he really could not give me a refund. And I repeated that I didn´t ask for that from him. I only wanted to know if there was anything wrong with mine, or if it in fact was the case that the bezel was supposed to be loose, the reset button was supposed to be lose and the bezel crown was supposed to have that much play in it? He never addressed those issues in the PM, but instead closed the thread I started and stating that "Issues with watch to be sorted out as part of warranty as mentioned to OP in pm where I have suggested to get watch looked at and dial cleaned by us. " And I had clearly stated to him that I wouldn´t send the watch to him if the only thing he was going to do was to clean the dial (as I could get my local watch maker to do that for a lot less hassle at almost the same amount as it would cost to send it to Portugal and back). And he was not interested in fixing the other issues, rather stated that the rest button was that loose by design, since the 7750 mvt needed it to be IOT work properly, and that all internal bezels had that much play, and also that it was a known fact that the OD series had rather poor lume. And summed up with "accidents happen ..." So that kind of pissed me off. I then made a new thread to inform other forum members of issues actually NOT being agreed upon fixing by Prometheus, other than dust. Only to get hammered by admin, and that thread closed also ... For those interested here is the link to both threads http://forums.watchuseek.com/f242/my-first-prometheus-not-so-blown-away-539772.html http://forums.watchuseek.com/f242/interesting-carlos-prometheus-closed-tread-regarding-issues-new-odc-539975.html So to sum up ... I still like the design of the ODC, and besides the issues mentioned I like my ODC quite a lot actually. At first I thought this was going to be a case of catch and relese, but now I have decided to keep it, get my watch maker to clear the dust out, try changing the gaskets on the stem of the bezel screw IOt tighten it up a bit (if possible) and look into if someone can relume the whole thing for me. And when those issues are taken care of, I´ll be a happy camper again. But must say, I´m not extremely impressed by the CS from Prometheus, nor am I impressed by WUS per say. It almost seems like people there only are interested in hearing positive information, and they act almost like a religious sect (I felt like I swore in church or something when I told of my issues with my ODC there, and got quite a few PM´s, hehe) Was a "frequent" poster on WUS some time back, under a different nic, (that I for the life of me can´t remember the password for) so had to re-list IOT say my meaning this time, but needless to say, I´m sticking to 3T from now on ...) And they can sit there give each other positive feedback and censoring everyone that has something not so good to bring to the table ...I have better places to spend my time. And the whole reason why I gave my insight and experiences in the first place, was so others on the fence about the ODC would get a more nuanced picture, and have some more info before pulling the trigger, and I will always say what I mean and feel about something, regardless if others disagree. I kinda thought that was the whole reason for having discussion forums in the first place ... And to finish of, something isn´t made to the highets quality standards only if you say so ...And I guess there are some lazy and not so detail-focused watch makers even in the Jura mountains of Switzerland. Because cleaning the dial before reassembly is a given, and something you just don´t forget if you have attention for details. And a quality inspection before shipping is newer a bad thing ... dance.gif Last edited on Sun May 15th, 2011 08:05 pm by FnuSnu99 |
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| Posted: Sun May 15th, 2011 09:16 pm |
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2nd Post |
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Jeep99dad 3T WIS 
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Well I was on the fence (3-hand)and well I no longer am:) I'll pass! Thank you for your honest review. Every watch company can have a bad product here and there... But it's how they handle those that gets my attention! And his reaction to your PMs, the thread closing are all I need to know. I'll stay away. There are many other brands to spend my money on. Congrats on the watch, I'm glad you like it anyways! Brice
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| Posted: Sun May 15th, 2011 09:40 pm |
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3rd Post |
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Paladin 3T WIS 
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Dan... I'm sorry to hear of your trouble with the OD. I had heard of others that had issues with Carlos but I have not had this experience. As for the watch, I have had a 3 hander for over a year now and have not had any issues. The size is small, but it gives me a sturdy alternative to my larger watches. The only issue I have is the week lume.
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| Posted: Mon May 16th, 2011 05:06 am |
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4th Post |
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Hammerfjord Moderator 
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Well, Rolf, since you decided to hold on this chrono, it seems like you still like the design(me too) and will try to do your best to modifie it and obtain it's real good side: I salute your tenacity! For thos reading this: I've had a long discussion with Rolf "FnuSnu99" since he received the Prometheus and I must say that I was surprised by the quality issues and never the less even more surprised by the responses from Carlos(Prometheus's owner) as I've been reading all his emails too... About W.U.S: No surprise at all! But we'll come back to thatblah.gif As I told you my friend, a tighter gasket O-ring on the stem who's manipulating the inner-bezel would certainly do the trick: My watch-maker proposed it to me last year about the same issue concerning my GV2 Mechanical Sub(Same trouble there...It's a bit loose and the inner-bezel has it's own life going on) So when I read Carlos saying that it was normal for those bezels to twist loose and that otherwise, it would be too hard to turn...??? WTF? A compromise between a loose crown and a stocked crown don't exist? Choose the right gasket Carlito... About the loose pusher Rolf, if a tightening of the screw don't work, it might be the hole inside the pusher who's a bit too big for it's screw...Then it's another trouble and the pusher should be changed: No question should be asked! The dust will go off with a proper cleaning and you'll get the occasion to have a look at the movement at the same time  Offcourse, since it's demounted, a good watch-maker could allways apply a better lume quality on the dial markers: Your choice. My opinion is that the markers need more layers of lume or better lume quality. It is not because the watch is made in Switzerland, that it will be absolutely problem free: There is unprofessional people everywhere! Offcourse, who you choose to do the job is relevant and it seems like Prometheus been choosing the wrong company for mounting. It's more the fact that Carlos don't control his watches before sending who is the trouble. Benarus learned them lesson and now control them watches before selling(from what I understood) It may take time and efforts but that's the way to avoid troubles when you run small productions. Or maybe the watches are assembled in Portugal? Who knows...Jocking around... Anyway: You had a "monday watch" most likely and some people should be sorry for that....A bit more sorry. About WUS...Hahaha, let's lock and load! NO SURPRISE! And that's why I don't roll my balls there and will not do it before the inner-politic change. Yes, it's like a church of fanatics or maybe a sect who love åss-kissing but hate any remarks who would set them precious sponsors(the brands who pay to be there) in a bit of shadow... And they punish you down to the abysses for that!  Is this forum hosted by a North-Korean server?  Criticism is the base of evolution gentlemen: If you never put anything in question, you never make it evolve. To rethink is good! Freedom of speach is the root of democracy: But forums who are runned by dictators will never see this light. Thanks the wide internet, we don't need to be a part of them club to enjoy watch-talk. My conclusion is that they very stand one more time for what we know them to be: Masked propagandists selling brands who are paying them back in $ for the favor. It's all about business as the passion is definitely gone and all there is left again is Who.U.Suck Now, I proudly made myself popular over there, again 
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| Posted: Mon May 16th, 2011 05:52 am |
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5th Post |
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FnuSnu99 3T WIS
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Hahaha, well put William! I can´t but agree ... And much thanks to your insight during our frequent mailing the last clp of days, I decided to give it a try, fixing it up (O-ring gasket etc) So If you hadn´t pointed that out to me, I guess I would have been up shits creek right about now. So again, tip of the hat to you my friend  But there is allways a way around issues like that. And as you also point out, the biggest thing here, is really the way Carlos/Prometheus conducted themselves, not really that I received a blue-monday-watch imo (even though that sucks big time). Because I to see that even the best can fail from time to time, but when u take the piss like that, then you get the piss right back ...And William, you read my mail to Carlos, and I actually feel like I should get the damn peace-price for the diplomacy I showed in that mail!!! In stead I ended up as a punch bowl surrounded by turds, trying to get in ... And WUS, don´t even get me started ... But thanks for the support guys, cause didn´t feel a whole lot a love over at WUS the last cpl of days, and been wondering if I´m really as big a douche bag as people over there claim (I might still be, hehe). Considered posting a few of the PM´s I got, but decided not to as they in fact are PM´s. And only refer to PM´s when they come from a company owner/brand etc, and is on topic. But will say this, the best one was the guy who claimed I only bought it to crap on it, and that I was negative towards the Prometheus line from the get go. Well my "friend", I don´t have THAT much money, that I can go around buying things I don´t like, just to diss it, hahaha  . I wish ... Also, I guess there is no way back now really, the bridge is burned down (in regards to Prometheus and CS) guess if I send it now for warranty repairs, it will be as if one complains to a waiter in a restaurant, about the food, only to get it back with "extras". I might just have to pick buggers and toe nail clippings out of the mvt ...So will try my watch maker first, pay up and write it of on the list for "lessons learned ..."
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| Posted: Mon May 16th, 2011 06:08 am |
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6th Post |
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Hammerfjord Moderator
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And William, you read my mail to Carlos, and I actually feel like I should get the damn peace-price for the diplomacy I showed in that mail!!! I totally agree there Rolf! Sadely enough, your diplomacy didn't help. I guess that if some twisted guys thought that you had bought it just for the pleasure to bash it, it may be due to the fact that you posted there with a completely new profile... ...And also the new "watch-brands conspiracy theory"! Poor world...
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| Posted: Mon May 16th, 2011 06:20 am |
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7th Post |
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FnuSnu99 3T WIS
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Yeah, I kind a see that having a shining new profile and then taking a dump straight away drew some extra attention. But as I mentioned in the review, I used to have a profile there a while back, and posted around a bit. But for the life of me I can´t remember the password for the account, nor have I access to the email the account was linked to (old work mail) So only way was to make a new profile (but under same name as I use now, here and on other forums, of course) But hey! I have an idea. Why don´t we start spreading the word around that you finally have completed that dish-plate "watch" of yours, the one where you had used a magic marker for the numerals (think you posted it in regards to the famous Invicter, and it was made in cardboard and named SONBOL ) and we can just stick to it as being made with the highest attention to details, AND made in Switzerland (guess it will pas as long as you have a mouth full of toblerone while assembling/writing on it) And then we can just crucify who ever tries to diss it as being a rip-off? You up for that? We are on to a potential gold mine here my friend!  Last edited on Mon May 16th, 2011 07:12 am by FnuSnu99 |
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| Posted: Mon May 16th, 2011 06:53 am |
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8th Post |
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Hammerfjord Moderator
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FnuSnu99 wrote:Yeah, I kind a see that having a shining new profile and then taking a dump straight away drew some extra attention. But as I mentioned in the review, I used to have a profile there a while back, and posted around a bit. But for the life of me I can´t remember the password for the account, nor have I access to the email the account was linked to (old work mail) So only way was to make a new profile (but under same name as I use now, here and on other forums, of course) You are getting insolent and infamous Rolf: I will close this thread because everything WILL be solved by PM, that you like it or NOT! That's my final word to you: Learn how to push the chrono pushers before you open your mouth! And remember that the majority of the people here, agree with me as you are just a public dirty laundry washer! Now, let's move on, I will dust your watch and you'll just eat the rest yourself because I don't have anything to do with my authorized dealers at all!! NOT.  Last edited on Mon May 16th, 2011 07:21 am by Hammerfjord |
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| Posted: Mon May 16th, 2011 07:39 am |
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9th Post |
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Newton 3T WIS 
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I was following your Prometheus issues over on WUS to see how it was coming along. As a matter of fact I posted a comment on the Prometheus Forum in response suggesting that you give Carlos the courtesy of addressing the issues before posting. However, the WUS response just burned my butt !!! I checked in the other day to see how things were going with the CS followup only to find that the post had been closed WTF !!!! Although, by your own admission you probably should have contacted Carlos first, this doesn't mean you didn't have real issues that required real resolution. And this doesn't mean that there aren't members who want to find out what happened. Like me. I have a Prometheus OD/GMT that I love. True, the internal bezel crown is beyond touchy, and the lume is not the best. But I love this watch, and had not heard of any issues with Carlos up until this point. I always try to avoid commenting on issues between multiple people without having both sides from both parties. It works for me, so I am not going to comment here. But closing the post on WUS is just BS !!!!! Think I may hang out more on 3T in the future.
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| Posted: Mon May 16th, 2011 07:44 am |
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10th Post |
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FnuSnu99 3T WIS
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Hammerfjord wrote: FnuSnu99 wrote:WTF!!! Did he really write that??? I can´t find it, maybe I´m banned from seeing new threads or something, hahahahaha. But if so, it´s actually even funnier, because just a cpl of hours ago, I sent Carlos a PM on WUS, telling him that I will try to have the issues looked at by my local watchmaker, and that the case was closed on my part. So if his reply to this is to go on thread only to tell me to solve this by PM, then he is in a whole different category than I even thought him to be. I´m dying over here, hahahaha. Please post the link to where he said that William, cause I can´t see it, even though I started this whole show 
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| Posted: Mon May 16th, 2011 07:54 am |
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11th Post |
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Paxman 3T WIS 
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Rolf you have every right to be unhappy with your purchase. You may have wanted to address the issues with Carlos privately and then go public if your issues were left unresolved, but what's done is done. If you do a search for Prometheus on 3T you will find a number of posts. I will be succinct and simply state Proemtheus has had any number of questions raised about everything from its designs to movements. IMHO Prometheus may have some nice designs but they are not a company I would feel comfortable spending my hard earned dough with... As for WUS realize they are running on monies provided by paying sponsors which include Prometheus. This gives them the right to do as they see fit up to and including closing or deleting your posts. It would seem to me this makes being objective about anything just about impossible since they feed at the teet of the watch industry. Just another reason I rarely visit WUS unless I need to use the sales forum. And I am not bad mouthing WUS. I am simply reiterating the fact that WUS is subsidized by watch vendors and therefore has difficulty being objective. The issue you have with this piece should have been caught in QC. Barring that, the vendor should offer to fix them. Wobbly crowns are only for Enzos.
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| Posted: Mon May 16th, 2011 07:59 am |
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12th Post |
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FnuSnu99 3T WIS
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Newton wrote: I was following your Prometheus issues over on WUS to see how it was coming along. As a matter of fact I posted a comment on the Prometheus Forum in response suggesting that you give Carlos the courtesy of addressing the issues before posting. However, the WUS response just burned my butt !!!Newton, I agree to your position of always having both sides of the story, and also often the best to stay out of disputes like this, all together. And as you can see from my review and even my thread on WUS, I to state that I probably should have given Carlos the courtesy of dealing with the issues, outside a forum thread. So yes, agree on that to (to some extent) But still, I stick by my decision as I feel it is important to inform. And I´m not only dragging it in the dirt, but also stated what I like about it, and there are several things in fact, as you can see in my review. My main issues with this whole matter, is how prometheus/Carlos and WUS conduct their business. And to say that one is not responsible for own product if it is sold through a AD, that to me is just wrong. When you put a product out there, and advertise it with all the bells and whistles , well then you also need to handle when people think your product lacks a bit in regards to quality. (IMHO)
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