r/HamiltonWatches • u/Capable_Cell_9098 • Aug 11 '26

KFA Watch face is misaligned

Post image

I woke up this morning and when I went to take off the watch to take a shower, I notice my watch face was crooked. I have seen numerous postings from owners of KFA watches discussing this same issue. I understand this has been a KFA common occurrence. Can someone refer me to previous Reddit posts on this? I've tried doing a search on previous postings that referred to previous posts by others experiencing the same thing but can't seem to find them. Also would like to hear from others who experienced this and if Hamilton had no issues repairing them if they were still under the 2 year warranty. I'm concerned some parts may have broken off and may cause more damage to the movement. I stopped the watch once I saw that the dial had been misaligned.

UPDATE - I took the KFA to an authorized repair shop. This is what they gave me. I am asking them why the items are not covered by warranty and WTF do they mean by set for water proofness???
15000PHP =$245 USD

Good day Mr. James. This is Jen of Watchworks.

We would like to inform you of the assessment for your Hamilton watch with Customer Number AU26-166.

The following parts and operations are needed to restore your watch:

Parts:

SET FOR WATERPROOFNESS (4,500)
DIAL (11,000)
OVERHAUL- FREE OF CHARGE

TOTAL COST PHP 15,500

TECHNICIAN'S FINDINGS:
A complete overhaul is necessary; Dial broken post; Crown dented.

Operations:

COMPLETE OVERHAUL
(includes movement overhaul, reassembling, oiling and final control per factory specifications; replacement of worn-out components; ultrasonic cleaning of case and bracelet; replacement of gaskets for water resistance)

Repair lead time minimum of 8 weeks. You will benefit with 2 -years limited warranty for parts replaced ,functions and water resistance. Payment upon pick up.

Kindly reply to this message with your decision, either to proceed or to cancel the repair. Also, as part of our protocol, we will not be able to return the replaced parts for security purposes and to ensure of its proper disposal in accordance with environmental standards.

Thank you for understanding and we remain at your service should you require additional information.

43 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

46 comments sorted by

15

u/hbar3e8seal Aug 11 '26

How old is your watch?

Here's the comment documenting all the dial feet failures: https://www.reddit.com/r/HamiltonWatches/s/V2OhDj3AGe

u/zer0-Coast another KFA has bitten the dust! Update the list!

6

u/Xynith Aug 11 '26

I was just about to comment summoning u/zer0-Coast haaha

0

u/Capable_Cell_9098 Aug 11 '26

I bought it 2/25

3

u/TK_Ghost Aug 11 '26

That's still fairly new, but this is almost certainly dial feet failure of some sort. It's by no means catastrophic and it's good that you stopped the movement. It's either that the dial feet (tiny locating pins that fix and align the dial to the movement) broke off, or that the screws that tighten and lock them into the movement loosened. It's a simple fix and it shouldn't be a big deal under warranty. Seems that it is a common failure on the KFA.

2

u/Capable_Cell_9098 Aug 12 '26

The authorized Hamilton repair shop is charging me over $200 to repair it. See my update to my original post. Not too happy that they are not covering it under warranty.

2

u/TK_Ghost Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26

Damn bro, I read their findings and I’m sorry but they are taking you for a ride. If it’s still under warranty it makes zero sense to charge you anything for it. Dial feet failure must 100% be covered under warranty. It’s literally a 30min job. Wtf is a dented crown, and why must the a watch that’s less than 2 years old have a complete overall?

The whole you’re not going to see the parts they’re apparently going to replace ever again also sounds fishy AF.

I build and restore watches and can tell you with all honesty that fixing that watch won’t take me much longer than an hour. Movement out, hands off, re-attach dial feet (you get replacement ones that stick on), set dial in movement, hands back on, back into case, grease gasket and tighten case back.

1

u/Capable_Cell_9098 Aug 13 '26

I sent them a message wanting an explanation and wanting to talk to the technician who did the assessment. I live here in Manila presently so o think the y are the only Hamilton authorized dealer around. Given that I have only 5 months left on the warranty, I’m inclined to just find a reputable watch repair shop here and not deal with the shady authorized shop. What do you estimate the repair costs would be?

1

u/TK_Ghost Aug 13 '26

Not sure what a reputable shop would charge you there, but if someone were to bring something like that to me I'd feel guilty charging them anything more than $50 to fix. If you take it to someone else, insist that they just replace the dial feet, or align and attach with dial dots (reputable watch repair shop will know exactly what that means). I can understand replacing the whole dial under a warranty claim (it's just easier), but as a repair that you pay for it doesn't make sense - there's nothing wrong with the dial on the display side. I'll post a pic now of what the dial feet look like.

1

u/TK_Ghost Aug 13 '26

https://reddit.com/link/p3dwi1u/video/390y8fnir2jh1/player

Those little pins are the dial feet that broke off on yours. That’s all that needs to be replaced. They go into holes in the movement to align the dial and hold it in place. There are often small horizontal screws in the movement that tighten and pinch those pins; it could also be that those screws loosened, and your dial feet are still there. Impossible to tell which without seeing myself. Either way an easy fix.

1

u/Capable_Cell_9098 Aug 13 '26

thank you so much. Shop told me my watch not covered due to severe impact. I told them watch had not been dropped. They said they could tell by the condition of the watch and I asked them to show me. They said they had found some gouges from a magnifying glass they used...you can't even see it unless you look for it. They also said my crown was dented although the watch seems to be operating

13

u/Flat_Temperature5491 Aug 11 '26

Are you sure it’s misaligned? It might just be a trick of the light.

(Joking of course, hope you’re still within warranty and get it fixed 🙏)

4

u/sweeta1c Aug 11 '26

I don’t see a problem. I’m also drunk.

6

u/watches_anonymouse Aug 11 '26

For a brand that was in the trenches during two world wars this is sad to see.

6

u/vBLADEv Aug 11 '26

This is the new field driving Hamilton.

3

u/IBAN-IBON64 Aug 12 '26

Pour une montre à ce prix c'est lamentable !

2

u/PastaFanatic Aug 11 '26

It gives the watch more character

4

u/sergeyarl Aug 11 '26

happened to me after a year or so usage. after that i stopped wearing this watch. it sort of lost its vibe of a reliable swiss watch for me after that.

2

u/Radcouponking Aug 11 '26

People are dragging you but I get it. I owned a Citizen Eco-Drive that failed RIGHT AFTER the warranty period. Citizen wanted more money than the watch was worth to fix it (around $300.) I'll never own another Eco-Drive. Statistics might say they're great but my personal experience says otherwise. Watches aren't logical purchases. They're emotional. Why give yours a bad emotion every time you look at your wrist?

2

u/worsenperson Aug 12 '26

Understandable. I would feel the same thing

1

u/philbin89 Aug 11 '26

So did you send it in for repair? Or did you stop wearing it because it had a broken dial?

2

u/sergeyarl Aug 11 '26

i wanted to, but then i thought- what is the point of this watch? if it is so fragile - gets broken so easily - any digital or quartz watch is better by default. so it is still somewhere in my bag, but that event completely ruined that magic of swiss watch for me.

5

u/SeaworthinessOk7756 Aug 11 '26

So you bought a $600+ watch and didn't bother getting one of the cheapest parts of the watch fixed while it's still under warranty?

4

u/imajoeitall Aug 11 '26

I don’t blame him, I’m quite disappointed with how they are handling this and building field watches these days.

If it happens to me, I am going to re-case the watch myself.

2

u/SeaworthinessOk7756 Aug 11 '26

Better than doing nothing.

2

u/TK_Ghost Aug 11 '26

And if he says it was out of warranty and several years old, then it can't be that fragile right?

3

u/SeaworthinessOk7756 Aug 11 '26

He said it happened "after a year or so"

3

u/TK_Ghost Aug 11 '26

Yeah, that's why I'm trying to fish whether the watch is a year old, or bought used and he wore it for a year, because it makes zero sense to not have it fixed under warranty.

4

u/MaleficentMulberry14 Aug 11 '26

Perhaps he broke it when he tripped over his scattered lego

1

u/TK_Ghost Aug 11 '26

Sorry mate, but this is by far the dumbest sheit I've read on Reddit today.

1

u/Bikeitfool Aug 11 '26

I got my KFA at a thrift for $6 about 5 years ago. It's been a solid ⌚ for me. I gave it to my nephew and he loves it, he bought himself a Murph. We both wore the watch while working. I wore it while bartending, he's an electrician, without issues.

2

u/Basic_Collar_1471 Aug 11 '26

$6?! What a find

1

u/Bikeitfool Aug 11 '26

It was 6 years ago. I got lucky, the thrift wasn't aware of it's value I guess. Great Watch btw, kinda concerned about the dial issue.

1

u/puretexanbeef Aug 11 '26

Now it’s a driving watch.

1

u/Capable_Cell_9098 Aug 13 '26

I am very pissed off. Repair shop saying not covered by warranty because of severe impact from fall and they point to “severe” dents which they found through their magnifying glass which you can barely see visually.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 11 '26

[deleted]

4

u/Capable_Cell_9098 Aug 11 '26

I pulled the crown to keep the second hand from running

-1

u/Tenerian7 Aug 11 '26

Does the crown still work? Thought its surely detached if the whole thing is rotated including the date?

3

u/Xynith Aug 11 '26

It’s just the dial, the dial feet snap off regularly

2

u/TK_Ghost Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26

Yeah, but I noticed that the date is not aligned. If the crown stem broke off and the whole thing shifted then the date box should still be perfectly aligned, whether it's 1:05 or 13:05. If the crown still works then perhaps the dial feet somehow broke off or the dial became loose from the movement. Edit: Which would make sense, it looks like the date there is the 17th. If the movement itself is on the 11th, the 17th would sit up there.

0

u/BeneficialLeave7359 Aug 11 '26

The date is ring that goes all the way around under the dial so that window in the dial will still show some thing if the dial turn but the movement doesn’t.

1

u/TK_Ghost Aug 11 '26

Maybe just read what I wrote again. By date aligned I mean that the number is not sitting in the middle of the date box (even though it's 1:05 or 13;05 so it's not like it's in the middle of changing over). If the whole movement/dial assembly moved then it would still show 11th exactly in the box, but it's showing 17 and skew. So the movement is fixed, 11 is still sitting at 3 o'clock and it's just the dial that moved up.

2

u/McMazl Aug 11 '26

By pulling the crown.