Calling all DIVER owners

[thsiao]

Please vote on the poll.

I'm interested in knowing how common is the inner bezel misalignment/misprint on the Diver. I received mine BNIB last year and noticed that the inner bezel is slightly misaligned by what seems to be a print issue on the bezel.

[shoe-bop]

Have the Diver in SS & FC and both are spot on.

[masterserg]

Owned it twice, and both were slightly misaligned ... especially at the 45 minute marker. Looked like a misprint rather than a misalignment since some markers were ok (same on both cases .... but the first one was actually much worst).

I remember calling AP in Clearwater about it and speaking to a watchmaker who "was aware of some issues". He mentioned that it would be fixed under warranty even if the watch was out of warranty.

The issue is fairly visible in a lot of Diver pictures.

BTW, owned the FC 26400 and the tach scale was slightly misprinted as well (skewed to the right on the 120 / 30 seconds mark). This is also very visible in most 26400 pictures. Didn't really bother me too much. Just an OCD observation.

[thsiao]

Originally Posted by masterserg

Owned it twice, and both were slightly misaligned ... especially at the 45 minute marker. Looked like a misprint rather than a misalignment since some markers were ok (on both cases, the first one was actually much worst).

That's exactly what mine has... especially at the 45 marker. The other markers seem ok.

[masterserg]

Originally Posted by thsiao

That's exactly what mine has... especially at the 45 marker. The other markers seem ok.

AP will fix it no problem.

[thsiao]

Originally Posted by masterserg

AP will fix it no problem.

Did you wait till you serviced it to get it fixed or did you fix it under warranty?

[masterserg]

Originally Posted by thsiao

Did you wait till you serviced it to get it fixed or did you fix it under warranty?

I sold them both .... nothing to do with the issue (it didn't bother me that much) ... just the disease ....

I would have waited until service time.

[Colin W]

Originally Posted by thsiao

Did you wait till you serviced it to get it fixed or did you fix it under warranty?

Just how good is the QC process when things like this occur, you gotta wonder, seem to be so many more issues these days - just shouldn't happen for this amount of £

[DECR]

Have the FC model. Inner bazel is perfect, but the minute yellow hand is sligthly misspainted. Have seen pictures of other FC Divers on the web and seen this issue too. IMO this shouldn´t happen with high end watches.

[DECR]

Here is a pic. Look at where the minute hand meets the other (hour and seconds) hands. Just seems that it is misspainted by a bit, the yellow paint goes over the black.

[thsiao]

^^^ You're talking about the triangle at 12 right? Wow... that is more painful than my slight misalignment. Should definitely NOT be acceptable on a watch this expensive! Where is the QC AP???

[DECR]

Originally Posted by thsiao

^^^ You're talking about the triangle at 12 right? Wow... that is more painful than my slight misalignment. Should definitely NOT be acceptable on a watch this expensive! Where is the QC AP???

Not exactly. But yeah, you are right about that too! Now there ate two "paint" issues.

[thsiao]

Originally Posted by DECR

Not exactly. But yeah, you are right about that too! Now there ate two "paint" issues.

Do you mind explaining how the minute hand is mispainted? I'm not seeing it.

[DECR]

Originally Posted by thsiao

Do you mind explaining how the minute hand is mispainted? I'm not seeing it.

As someone said. It is probably hand painted.

In the picture it is not fully appreciated, but if you look from a close distance it seems as if the yellow paint fades into the black center round part of the minute hand. It seems as if the paint was sprayed instead painted with precision.

There are much better quality pics in the web for you to see.

[DECR]

Thsiao

Here is a better quality picture of the "issue".

FYI. I love APs. Just pointing this out since the OP brougth out a paint/misallignement poll.

[masterserg]

The triangle looks fine. That's the way it is on the FC (wedged in, so to speak).

I have seen the yellow hands issue. This is because they are hand painted probably ... but it is only visible with magnification, right?

The red tip on the chrono hand of my (ex) 26400 was a mess under magnification as well, but it looked fine to the naked eye.

PS, I wish I'd still owned the Diver! Aligned bezel or not ...

[Vincent65]

dude - put the loupe away (I know, you don't even need one…!)

[Audemars Piguet]

No problems with my FC

[thsiao]

I think it is alarming that almost 30% of the people that have responded to the poll has had an issue with the inner bezel. Makes me wonder if anyone in AP is paying attention to their QC!

[bayerische]

It's perfect but I don't think it's a practical design for an active diver....

[DreambreaX]

the yellow print = bad quality.

i look very closely and just realized the yellow print is not high quality

[Jim12345]

No issues with my bezel.

[DECR]

Bazell issue at the 12 triangle marker.

[DECR]

Here is the pic.

[singe89]

Originally Posted by DECR

Here is the pic.

Is that a photo of your actual watch? I've seen early stock photos like that of the ceramic diver with the half covered triangle at 12 o'clock and black minute marks. All the ceramic divers I've seen had orange they fully surrounded triangle and extended past the 3 o'clock mark. They also only white minute markers not black.


Both images taken from Hodinkee



The FC diver has always had the half covered triangle and black/outlined minute markers.




The half painted triangle on the FC diver that doesn't appear symmetrical is normal.

[DECR]

Not my watch. Just a pic I found on the web.

Interesting what you note about some pictures being different from actual models.

[masterserg]

I like the wedged triangle of the FC much better than the one on the ceramic Diver :)

[singe89]

Originally Posted by masterserg

I like the wedged triangle of the FC much better than the one on the ceramic Diver :)

Agreed I like the black minute markers as well. The contrast seems to make the colors pop more.

[RobearH]

Watches are made by man not angels. Nothing made by the species is perfect...let it go and enjoy! JAT

[Audemars Piguet]

It's interesting that the ceramic is presented on the official Audemars Piguet website exactly like the FC http://www.audemarspiguet.com/en/wat...re-selfwinding but all sold, with a different painted bezel type.