Girard Perregaux

Peter CDE,

I was captivated the very 1st day  EVO3 Moonphase was released in 2006. And it was very difficult since then to buy one due to very short supply. I finally managed to buy the white dial EVO3 Moonphase watch (s/n AN290) on Oct 2007 in Malaysia. After the initial excitement and satisfaction, I began to face the reality of, I think, a manufacturing flaw, not expected of the quality of such top-end watch:

The minute hand cannot synchronise with the minute marker. Despite adjusted accurately, it will be misaligned by about 30sec when the second hand completed its revolution. This could happen after the watch is left running for an hour or so. And I can see the minute hand is in between two of the minute markers. Once misaligned, it stays misaligned and yet maintained good accuracy. The service center in Malaysia acknowledged the flaw and accepted it back to the factory for service since early Nov 2007. After 3 months, it is still in the factory; expected to be returned to me by mid-Feb 2008.

I now examine the original pictures posted by you. It shows similar effect, although it could very much due to improper adjustment to start with. You can see here while the second hand is about 30 sec, but the minute hand is not at mid way between two of the minute markers.

It would be interesting to understand the technical problem here that cause such misalignment? While this watch has so much external beauty and also functionality, I really hope it has the brain to match it.

Thank you.

regards,

s.j. lim, Penang, Malaysia.

This happens to me with another watch from a different manufacturer.  It doesn't bother me at all.  I just advance the minute hand forward by extra half a minute or so and it will be always right on the minute marker when the second hand is pointing at 60.  My GP and another watch equiped with a GP movement are totally fine.  I think you have to allow a bit of play with the minute hand in this situation which I think is totally normal.  This is a small nuissance when you compare to say AP cal. 3120 movement which apparently jumps forward or backwards by a few minutes when you push the crown back in.  Enjoy your watch.

Yes, there is a bit of play in the geartrain of most watches. A possible solution is when setting the time to go past the time by a few minutes and slowly turn the crown backwards to the correct minute. You'll feel the play in the crown. When your time signal is synced with the watch, gently push the crown in and everything should be lined up. This may take a little practice but this has worked for me on other GP 3300 movement watches.

Thanks, Mike.

G'day,

in general there are tolerances for the hands/marker alignment; it should be flush at 06:00 and 00:00 and these are the positions allowing for exact measurements. If that´s achieved, it´s basically ok.
Whether or not it´s off between the markers is much more difficult to determine, not only for parallax errors.
I´m not aware of a hard and fix rule, but there´s a slight tolerance; the overall rule, which applies to most brands i´m aware of, is to check whether or not the setting of the hands is correct from a view at arms length.

Therefore any specific comments to your watch would need to see it, at least to check in which way the hands do not align.
Frankly i´ve not seen a GP piece where misaligned hands/markers turned out to be a problem before (unless hands were damaged or came loose), therefore i´d rule out constructional problems.
The best you can do is what you did and get in touch with GP´s regional distribution!

Cheers,

Peter

GONG XI FA CAI to you first I am also Malaysian residing in KL, do occasionally drop by Penang. Please email me as i like to know more about your problem too and see if i can help Dont be upset or frustrated, in the world of fine hand assemble watches, flaw bound to happen.  Its how they resolve it and learning about the cause of the flaw is also part of the fun And then u can compare with your other watches with similiar complications and see if they have the same result or so. Just my 2c.

May contact me at [Email address suppressed for privacy] or just PM me

 

 

Regards

Thank you all who has responded.

Quality is conformance to specification. And if the published quality of the product is a superbly designed and manufactured watch, then, such expectation of quality is expected to be met.

When one spent a lot of money on a fine watch, certainly the least expectation is that it should be void of such non-conformance to this expected specification. And certainly not a fundamental requirement on a watch where the minute hand  is expected not to be off alignment my about 30sec after only operating for an hour. I mean if it can run for the first half an hour or so with correct alignment, why it should be off after an hour?? It certainly did not happen on my Glashutte Original Senator Perpeatual Calender watch. Neither it happens on my Omega Seamaster or even Harbing2 watch.

Now, would a watch enthusiast who has spent a lot of money on a fine watch accepts below par quality. I think not. And in the long run, it will ruin a manufacturer's reputation and business. If you are to buy a BMW and the speedometer is off calibrated to read only 150kph, while the actual car speed is already 200kph, I doubt one will be amused by such poor quality. Kind of tick you off that you can't drive fast enough, haha!

Once I received my watch back from GP factory, and when I  receive the service report on their findings, I will share with all of you.

Have a good day.

regards,

s.j. lim (email: [Email address suppressed for privacy]), Penang, Malaysia.

Jacky,

your email is protected for privacy. you can sms me at 012-421 3369.

TQ.

s.j.

Peter,

My watch was serviced two times, once at GP Swiss factory and once at GP AD's BMI in KL, Malaysia.

1st time, the minute hand alignment was repaired and function well. But it created new problem. The moonphase disc was not functioning. It was ok before the service. It was later found out during the 2nd service that the disc mechanism was not connected at the factory during 1st service.

2nd time, the moonphase disc problem was corrected. But it created the 1st problem again. That is the minute hand alignment problem returned. I observed that the alignment is ok at certain position of minute marker, but runs out at most other minute markers.

BMI offered me to return the watch to GP Swiss factory for problem correction. I have not accepted the offer yet. I am still disappointed of such poor quality problem from such a reknown watchmaker.

Have a good day, especially enjoy the beauty of the SIHH 2008 "off-centred enamel Vintage 1945". Hopefully, its beauty is not plagued by quality problem.

Regards,

S.J. Lim, Penang, Malaysia.