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| Joined: | Sun Sep 4th, 2005 |
| Location: | Akron, USA |
| Posts: | 28626 |
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....most of us have been around awhile and understand that watch making is not always and exact science and problems along with delays are expected,especially when dealing with new Asian movements and ground up designs such as the moVas.
...the prototypes need work but that is why you get protos ,to do the necessary adjustments and improvements before the final product is ready to ship.
....TY for the info Sean and keep on doing what you are...I look forward to seeing what you come up with and I am sure there are many WIS on 3T who understand and may even have some ideas that can help.
Hi Folks,
Another delivery date came and went, but as you shall see, it's not all to waste. This will likely be the second last update for the divers, hopefully the last one will just be a short message to tell you guys things are ready to ship!
We just came back from HK where we did the QC ourselves because I feel this is the only way to address all the issues that are required for a watch like this. I now understand why people stick with non complications for their watches and recycle very simple case designs. The pictures are attached to the e-mail and posted up at oceanictime:
http://oceanictime.blogspot.com/2011/01/movas-divers-collection.html.
Here are the latest round of features/ updates/ errors:
1) Movement
- There has been very little written about this movement, well basically because it's new and Seagull themselves don't have much literature on it!
- The GMT hand cannot be set independently, hence it's just a 24H display and not a two time zone movement.
- The date window is very very small, and as such there is a magnifying glass over the movement which cannot be removed. This poses an issue with viewing the date because of glare. This can't be avoided because the glass is integral with the top plate.
- The movement is hackable.
- The seconds hand sweep is exceptionally smooth, so much so that it sometimes looks like it has stopped.
2) Case
- The crown was designed as screw down. However, with the crown protector, it can also be kept closed by the crown protector without screwing down. Naturally the WR isn't the same, we haven't tested what WR will be with the crown protector closed without screwing down. But it is definitely a handy feature for day to day wear.
- There are some alignment issues with the case/ lug, but simple to resolve.
- Unfortunately the bezel markings can't be lumed. The pip will be changed as the samples didn't have it as C3.
- The blasted case shines relatively easily, especially at the bracelet links. But this is a common occurrence with blasted finishes.
- The pusher (which is actually for the date adjust), is almost impossible to DLC coat. So we will leave the pusher as stainless steel finished. Otherwise it will scratch too easily each time you adjust the date.
- The domed glass in the sample is not AR coated. Final production will be AR coated internally.
3) Dial
- You may not notice but the indexes are not C3 Superluminova like we specified. So the hands are a slight greenish tint whereas the indexes are not! Off they go to the dial factory again to be refinished..... it's crazy.
- Otherwise the sandwich is deep and everything else is in order.
- There is actually a very very small slit for the PR hand to slide along and the movement plate can be seen through it as being silver in colour. We will paint this portion black.
4) Hands
- The PR hand is not C3, this makes an inconsistent tint to the hands. The orange outline for the Minute hand is also incomplete, and we noticed that the sides of the hands were orange instead of black....
- All the GMT hands are skeletonised. Previous sample triangle was solid, and we redid them. I changed the design of the red GMT hand, and I think it looks better the way it is shown.
- We will be redoing the sub sec hand for the orange Professional Diver. It will be redone as being half lumed and half orange. As the seconds hand is an important feature of a dive watch, we felt this was necessary for the 'professional' diver.
5) Rubber straps
- Well, since we had some time, we experimented with multiple compounds and finally came up with a compound that was a mixture of isoprene.
- It is salt water resistant and hypo allergenic. It is a very similar compound to what is being used by 'isofrane'.
6) Buckle
- The moVas buckle design is finished and I will show those in a separate update. We have them in blasted/ brushed/ black brushed/ black blasted to match all the cases we have.
That's about it for the update, hope I've covered all the bases. The factories are all closed for Chinese New Year. Production will resume for all the above items, naturally delivery is delayed again. Final update will include final delivery date (which I expect to be close to end of March to be on the safe side).
Regards,
Sean
Attachment: moVas AG Diver 01.JPG (Downloaded 127 times)