AP polished for the first time by APSC.

[BMW335D]

My AP Elephant is polished for the first time by the Audemars Piguet Service Center combined with a full service and eh.. I don’t like it. The “matt” grey texture on the back of the case and the backside of the pinbuckle is gone. Also, the “AP” logo on the pinbuckle normally had some kind of contrast to the metal around it and now it doesn’t.
The bezel was ruined and had a hole but is done very well but that was also the reason that I decided to do a polish.

Overall, the watch feels kind of strange and the screws in the lugholes seem like they are very close to the outside. I don’t know what to think about it.

I’ll post some pics later on.

[Trailboss516]

If you have before & after pics that would be interesting to compare.

How long have you had the watch?

[Chadridv]

Definitely need to see some pics

[BMW335D]

Originally Posted by Trailboss516

If you have before & after pics that would be interesting to compare.

How long have you had the watch?

I have some before pictures but I guess that they are not good enough to compare. I’ll post them anyway.

I’ve bought the watch 2nd hand and had it for over a year when it stopped working. I did send it to AP about 4 months ago.

[BMW335D]

image upload

Look at the screws. Normally they were way much deeper.

[BMW335D]

More after pics:




image upload

[tng11]

Hmm, which service centre did that?

I know when I sent my Diver to Clearwater to be serviced and refinished, mine came back like the original despite a number of deep scratches and nicks. The matte "AP" finish you talk about on the buckle and caseback were all restored to original condition.

Same story for me when I sent my ROC to the Ottawa service centre, all the original finish was maintained.

[V25V]

Sure you sent to APSC? ;-)

I have never had an issue with them. I would reach out to Betsy and raise a complaint, have it escalated if need be. They will make it right if they did in fact do this. The depth on those screws is terrible if it had never been polished before, that's a lot of metal which has been removed.


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[BMW335D]

Originally Posted by tng11

Hmm, which service centre did that?

I know when I sent my Diver to Clearwater to be serviced and refinished, mine came back like the original despite a number of deep scratches and nicks. The matte "AP" finish you talk about on the buckle and caseback were all restored to original condition.

Same story for me when I sent my ROC to the Ottawa service centre, all the original finish was maintained.

Check out the pictures and judge by yourself.
I am not happy with the result and I’ve sent them a email.
I have sent the AP trough a AD, they did send it to the service center in Belgium.

Originally Posted by npalacio

Sure you sent to APSC? ;-)

I have never had an issue with them. I would reach out to Betsy and raise a complaint, have it escalated if need be. They will make it right if they did in fact do this. The depth on those screws is terrible if it had never been polished before, that's a lot of metal which has been removed.


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Damn, I was confused seeing it. This watch is overpolished definitely, also the buckle.. no more contrast between the AP logo and the metals. The AP logo is very soft and has the same metal color now like the metal surround it.
I did send them a email. The service center was in Belgium, I live in Europe.

[yyzpam]

This is NOT a good polishing job. In fact, I would argue that it looks very aftermarket. I would be on the phone with the APSC immediately and would ask for the finishing to be restored or a new buckle along with possibly a new bezel. Not sure what they can do about the metal taken off the case.....

Keep us informed !

[BMW335D]

Originally Posted by yyzpam

This is NOT a good polishing job. In fact, I would argue that it looks very aftermarket. I would be on the phone with the APSC immediately and would ask for the finishing to be restored or a new buckle along with possibly a new bezel. Not sure what they can do about the metal taken off the case.....

Keep us informed !

Did you notice that the bezel screw at 11 o clock is closer to the edge than the rest of the screws? I have payed 2000 euros for this and they had the watch for 4 months!

The first thing I am going to do is call them tomorrow.
I’ll keep you guys informed.

[SDDS]

Good luck and keep us posted

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[tng11]

Originally Posted by BMW335D

Check out the pictures and judge by yourself.
I am not happy with the result and I’ve sent them a email.
I have sent the AP trough a AD, they did send it to the service center in Belgium.

Yikes... that really is not up to AP's standard. Keep us updated on how it goes!

[rebel_1]

This is why I flipped my Jumbo. I’ll probably flip my Patek’s before it’s all said and done. If you can’t make it look fairly new again without completely ruining the watch then I’m close to being over with this obsession.

[Rachdanon]

..overpolished lugs and asymmetrically polished bezel is what i can gather from the photos, based on the comments.

[Tomas Eriksson]

Originally Posted by Rachdanon

..overpolished lugs and asymmetrically polished bezel is what i can gather from the photos, based on the comments.

Bezel looks fine. Clasp and the coarse finish on side of the case is the issue.
When it comes to the screws, haven’t they just switched screws to ones with longer heads (44mm ones)? They can’t have removed that much material and kept the shape.

[Xerxes77]

send it back

[BMW335D]

I am going to send it back for sure but first I am going to call them.
The screws should not be the wrong size mate because if they can put wrong screws and not notice it, then they can probably ruin your watch and not notice that too!

[BMW335D]

Just called them, they have forwarded the pictures to the section that polished the watch.
I will be called back today.

[Tomas Eriksson]

Its a tricky situation, I wouldn't wan't them rectifying it. They will most likely make it worse.
I had a incident when I got my caseback scratched and a screw head damaged during a water resistance service. Just their response of total denial when I brought it up made me walk out the door.

[BMW335D]

Originally Posted by Tomas Eriksson

Its a tricky situation, I wouldn't wan't them rectifying it. They will most likely make it worse.
I had a incident when I got my caseback scratched and a screw head damaged during a water resistance service. Just their response of total denial when I brought it up made me walk out the door.

Where did you do the service?
I hope they fix this up otherwise I have to start a complainprocess. I did pay 2000 euros and waited for 4 months.

[Passionata]

Originally Posted by rebel_1

This is why I flipped my Jumbo. I’ll probably flip my Patek’s before it’s all said and done. If you can’t make it look fairly new again without completely ruining the watch then I’m close to being over with this obsession.

there s an other option just leave the watch as it is and live with the scratches those are come anyhow however i second to that scratches are not as disturbing on certain watchcases(like Roley) than on AP or PP .

[BMW335D]

Originally Posted by Passionata

there s an other option just leave the watch as it is and live with the scratches those are come anyhow however i second to that scratches are not as disturbing on certain watchcases(like Roley) than on AP or PP .

Best you can do. Leave it as it is.
PS guys: AP asked me to send it back so they can take a closer look so I am going to do that right away! I will keep y’all updated.

[Tomas Eriksson]

Originally Posted by BMW335D

Where did you do the service?
I hope they fix this up otherwise I have to start a complainprocess. I did pay 2000 euros and waited for 4 months.

At my local AD.

What they can and probably will do is to redo the finish on the side and switch out the screws. Hope all works out in the end for you.

[BMW335D]

Originally Posted by Tomas Eriksson

At my local AD.

What they can and probably will do is to redo the finish on the side and switch out the screws. Hope all works out in the end for you.

The watch is probably at the APSC now.
I told them to consult me first before taking any kind of action. I don’t want them to polish the case again and ruin the watch more and I actually don’t think that they have used the wrong screws. The lugs looks already overpolished just like the buckle.
Let’s see what they have to say about it.

[BMW335D]

Hello guys,

AP replied that they have received the watch and will take a look at it after the weekend.
Let’s see what happens. Any tips about what I can do if they don’t want to fix it?

[V25V]

Originally Posted by BMW335D

Hello guys,

AP replied that they have received the watch and will take a look at it after the weekend.
Let’s see what happens. Any tips about what I can do if they don’t want to fix it?

Not sure what they can do to fix it, besides replacing the case. You can't put metal back which has been shaved off. How badly was the case marked up prior to the polish? They have always sent me close up photos of any blemishes in the proposal for any work. Can you share that?


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[BMW335D]

Originally Posted by npalacio

Not sure what they can do to fix it, besides replacing the case. You can't put metal back which has been shaved off. How badly was the case marked up prior to the polish? They have always sent me close up photos of any blemishes in the proposal for any work. Can you share that?


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Nope, they didn’t send me any pics.
I know that they make pics prior service anyways.

The case was actually in a very good condition. No dents, no scratches only 2 or 3 tiny marks on the polished edges.

The bezel had some scratches and a little dent/gap.
They’ve laser welded the gap and polished the bezel.
The bezelscrews and crystal didn’t stick out afterwards so that was not a very bad polish I guess but the case? I mean come on man, actually it didn’t even need a polish and the screws are almost sticking out?

Well, I hope they will replace the case and buckle because I don’t even want to look at the watch.

[BMW335D]

Some before pics:

[BMW335D]

Some more before pics: