Unreliable Hamilton Watch -advice needed

fluffiness

In 2013 my partner bought his son a Hamilton Watch, since then we have had no end of problems with it, not what you expect with a hi-end watch!!


Its a Hamilton U.S 66 Power Reserve watch


It has been back to them now 3 times due to leather strap issues. My stepson has been studying in China for the last year and left the watch at home, and due to the amount of times it has been back with them for repair, and the time it takes to get repaired he has hardly worn it!

Now the crown has snapped, which they are blaming on excessive force but this is unlikely due to the location of the crown as well as its function ( which is to charge the watch up so requires twisting it more frequently than a watch ran on a long life battery ).


They are asking for £140 to get this repaired. We feel this unfair considering how unreliable this watch has been from the outset, and has turned what should have been a lifetime special gift for my stepson into just a nuisance. We would be willing to pay this half this cost.


When my stepson spoke to the Hamilton representative and communicated his disappointment, the response was 'oh well..'


Does anyone have any good advice or tips as to what I can say when I give her a call to take this futher?


Thanks in advance

Tyler_Du

Was this purchase online / in the UK ? You've had it a few years and would at least need to get an independent report detailing the issues. I wouldn't hold out much hope.

fluffiness

We bought it from an independent jewellers in Harrogate. Also my mistake it was 2014 when we first purchased it.

JJ_Egan

Your claim under SOGA would be against the vendor .

As per Tyler Durdens post .

Are this They the manufacturer or the vendor .
If the manufacturer they don't have to negotiate with you .

wealdroam

fluffiness wrote: »

We bought it from an independent jewellers in Harrogate. Also my mistake it was 2014 when we first purchased it.

And what has independent jewellers in Harrogate said?

Your statutory rights are with the seller.

burlington6

I'll be honest, it's not a brand I've ever heard of. Is it high end like Rolex, Breitling etc?

Either way, the above posts are right. See the seller

JJ_Egan

burlington6 wrote: »

I'll be honest, it's not a brand I've ever heard of. Is it high end like Rolex, Breitling etc?


Old Yankee brand now owned by Swatch /.

vuvuzela

fluffiness wrote: »

Now the crown has snapped, which they are blaming on excessive force but this is unlikely due to the location of the crown as well as its function ( which is to charge the watch up so requires twisting it more frequently than a watch ran on a long life battery ).

Only a small point, but it's an automatic watch and doesn't need manual winding - simply wearing it keeps the power reserve up. Realistically the only time you would need to use the crown would be if the daily rate of accuracy meant it needed to be reset by a minute or so, or to reset it if it wasn't worn for a while.
Personally I've never had a broken crown stem and I've owned many tens of mechanical watches over the last 20 years. My strong suspicion would be that the son isn't taking the watch off when he uses the crown to set it, which necessarily will be putting excess lateral stress on the stem, making it liable to break...

fluffiness

Thanks for all your input.

It was originally for sale at £1200, but discounted to £700. When we spoke to the jewellers they said we needed to take it up with Hamiltons. With regards to the winder, I will need to check with my stepson if he is taking it off, as I said earlier he hardly ever wears the watch, which is why it probably needs adjusting.

Although I'm still not sure what to say to the jewellers or Hamilton representative to fight our corner.

wealdroam

Is it still under the manufacturer's warranty?
If not, the Hamiltons/swatch owe you nothing and you will need to look for a remedy from the seller.

The seller may well ask you to prove that the problem is due to a manufacturing fault.

Joe_Horner

Leather straps wear out. Especially if used in / near water or during fairly strenuous physical exercise. Depending on use, even a really high end strap (which could cost half what his watch cost on its own) might only last anything from a year or so upwards.

Sadly, the design of that model would make fitting anything else a little tricky. Next time buy a watch with a standard style and size of strap fitting to avoid being held to ransom by the maker. One-off "innovative" designs like that are all well & good for style but there's a reason that "standard" became standard - they simply work and they're easy to replace with a wide variety of alternatives. They also aren't reliant on the maker still making the original for the life of the watch (which they won't do btw).

The crown snapping is virtually guaranteed to have been mishandling, misuse, or accidental damage in some way. The stem that holds them is 0.9 millimetres diameter, semi-hard steel and can snap. They've been like that just about forever (although some earlier ones were a bit thicker) and don't give problems unless they're subjected to shock loads or a leak on the crown causes them to rust.

That said, the 12-o'clock placing of the crown on that model does potentially make it more liable to damage when using it even if it does shield it during wear

That model has a 5 atm (50m) water resistance which is considered by ISO standards to be enough for surface swimming but not things like water sports (surfing, windsurfing etc), snorkelling, or hot baths / showers where heat, soap products and steam are involved. As well as damaging water resistance those will also contribute to leather strap issues btw!

I'm absolutely not a fan of Swatch Group or their products but, as a professional watchmaker, I have to say they're likely to be in the right in this case.

That said, unless there is water damage (which I'm sure they would have mentioned and charged extra for) £140 for a stem replacement is daylight robbery. Assuming the existing crown is still there and can be salvaged (ie: the remains of the old stem can be removed) our normal quote is around £15 - £20 and the parts cost us more than they cost Swatch "at source"!