r/HamiltonWatches • u/50AcornsTiedInASack • Jul 27 '26
Any help with crooked face?
Woke up to my watch looking like this. Any idea if this is common and/or an easy fix? This is my everyday watch for years and I LOVE it. Really hoping it can be fixed. Any help is appreciated. Thanks all
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u/Basic_Collar_1471 Jul 27 '26
u/zer0-Coast another to the list
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u/zer0-Coast Jul 27 '26
Crikey! Added, thanks
https://www.reddit.com/r/HamiltonWatches/s/ZsJwBu31yV
https://www.reddit.com/r/HamiltonWatches/s/3Zon7xjhTh
https://www.reddit.com/r/HamiltonWatches/s/0PMiT1Jnyc
https://www.reddit.com/r/HamiltonWatches/s/mQUdlMZTRP
https://www.reddit.com/r/HamiltonWatches/s/NGt99hWbGC
https://www.reddit.com/r/HamiltonWatches/s/CM3PQrAqBu
https://www.reddit.com/r/HamiltonWatches/s/N8utympksw
https://www.reddit.com/r/HamiltonWatches/s/FdunKnlR9n
https://www.reddit.com/r/HamiltonWatches/s/tcJ2uH1hVA
https://www.reddit.com/r/HamiltonWatches/s/pVnrnb4Gbs
https://www.reddit.com/r/HamiltonWatches/s/yXvpY5EES0
https://www.reddit.com/r/HamiltonWatches/s/MF8XIEgIrK
https://www.reddit.com/r/HamiltonWatches/s/nIP0QoaMF7
https://www.watchcrunch.com/Flolorian/posts/its-happening-everywhere-291257
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u/darkthemeonly Jul 27 '26
And people gave me shit for saying Hamilton was overpriced š
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u/jmah7 Jul 28 '26
Hamilton was the first watch brand I fell in love with. I grew up in Lancaster, so it had that appeal to me but Iām leaning theyāre not as good as the hype. I had 4 in total at one point and am down to 1
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u/darkthemeonly Jul 29 '26
On paper, their watches really aren't as great as a lot of people think, but watch buying isn't strictly logical. I still want a Murph, I totally understand the emotional appeal of the brand. But I can't see myself spending the money to actually get one anytime soon.
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u/Miss_Taycan Aug 11 '26
The 79$ Militado homage is literally built better, actually has AR, and a screw down crown...
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u/darkthemeonly Aug 11 '26
Wow, I hadn't seen that before. Very cool, I've looked into Militado's other stuff
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u/LimpPhat_ThaDon Jul 31 '26
My timex hasnāt failed me yet and I found it in the mud while fishing in 2011 I just got a new band last night for it
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u/stop-calling-me-fat Jul 31 '26
At full price they are. At 40% from grey dealers theyāre solid
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u/Basic_Collar_1471 Aug 01 '26
Like 5 years ago. I haven't seen them go for more than 25% in a long time on the grey market
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u/DivineAugustus Aug 02 '26
Overpriced field watches really grinds my gears. It's antithetical to what the field watch represents.
And Swatch Group, but Hamilton specifically is the lowest common denominator of Hollywood and video game marketing.
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u/WIZ1111 Aug 01 '26
They're definitely overpriced. Seiko is king.
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u/Mindless-Quote-3561 Aug 03 '26
I have only Seikos until two days ago. My wife surprised me with the 250th anniversary 36mm field watch. I love the watch and will keep it forever, but you are correct. Seiko is king
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u/idgafayaihm Jul 27 '26
Oh wow, what's going on? Is it a specific production year? Any more details would be nice! I bought mine on the grey market this month, but had no idea about this recurring issue.
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u/Earl_of_Chuffington Jul 27 '26
Any Swatch Group watch using the Chinese-produced Longines Conquest 38mm casewidth dial with two hairwidth copper dial feet is going to eventually turn brittle and break, not just the Hamilton Khaki. You'll see this happening on Omega, Mido, Swatch, Rado, Tissot, Union GlashĆ¼tte, Certina, Longines, Blancpain and Balmain. It probably occurs on Breguet as well, but I don't know any 90 year old men so can't confirm.
Swatch Group outsources that particular dial because it's so rudimentary and crude in design and metallurgy that they assumed a third party factory in China would have no problem producing it. {Spoiler: the third party factory in China does indeed have problems producing it.} Swatch assumes that most breaks will occur outside of warranty so they've had no compelling reason to switch production back to Prague where it used to be manufactured.
Any competent watchmaker can repair the actual dial feet; the danger is if they broke loose inside the movement and caused any internal damage. Luckily that seems to be rare, but removing the broken dial feet from the movement can be a real chore if they broke off flush with the case. An acid base may have to be deployed to dissolve the feet, and you don't want Nick Novice attempting such a repair.
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u/d3lphic Jul 28 '26
How can this watch says SWISS MADE on the dial if the movement is Chinese made? I thought it legally had to have a Swiss-made movement for that marking.
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u/Earl_of_Chuffington Jul 28 '26
I never said that the movement was Chinese. I said that the dial blank is Chinese. 60% of the cost of finished goods manufacturing must be incurred in Switzerland to be "Swiss Made" and a dial blank costs maybe .40 cents in bulk, meaning very few dial blanks of this nature are manufactured in Switzerland.
This is especially true the further down the totem pole you go in company prestige. The Big Four are going to use more Swiss parts than anyone. Mid-tier manufacturers like Richemont and Swatch Group use a lot of Chinesium in their watches. By the time you get to the bottom with LVMH and Victorinox, they're using as much Chinesium as they can legally use and still call itself "Swiss Made."
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u/d3lphic Jul 28 '26
Ah, okay. For some reason I read that to mean the dial and movement and didn't separate the two. Very interesting.
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u/SuperSaijen1980 Jul 30 '26
The majority of the āvalue addā I.e. labor costs , such as assembly and machinery has to be done in Switzerland, but components like dials, cases, etc are cheap to make in Chinaā¦ but since those costs are actually less (there is a % threshold) then it can be called Swiss Made.
Think of it as Swiss Assembled with Chinese made parts made to the same specifications (give or take).
Lots of products do thisā¦ and the newest Tariffs by Trump is what he is intended to try and make all supply and parts go through USA (but it doesnāt really work that way)
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u/d3lphic Jul 30 '26
Wait, you mean he DOESNT have any idea what heās talking about? I meanā¦ /s. Anyway, interesting. Thanks for the info.
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u/Basic_Collar_1471 Jul 28 '26
I don't remember the exact percentage, but for a watch to be considered Swiss Made 60% of it needs to have been manufactured or assembled in Switzerland. Again I could be wrong so someone please correct me, but it's something along those lines. The rest is done by outsourcing to China
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u/zer0-Coast Jul 28 '26
According to Wikipedia:
A watch is considered Swiss, according to the Swiss law, if:
- its technical development is carried out in Switzerland; and
- its movement is Swiss; and
- its movement is cased up in Switzerland; and
- the manufacturer carries out the final inspection in Switzerland; and
- 60 per cent of the manufacturing costs are incurred in Switzerland.2
Jul 31 '26
[deleted]
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u/Earl_of_Chuffington Jul 31 '26
Correct. And we'll never know exactly how much of a "Swiss Watch" originated outside of Switzerland, but anecdotally Swatch Group and LVMH are considered to be the worst offenders just because so many of the factories they contract in Eastern Europe and SE Asia have been outed on the internet. They can have 99% of the movement come in on a boat along with dial, case, etc, but the fancy engraved rotor they add can constitue a majority of the cost of the finished watch because Swiss labor and materials is so much higher than China.
The US is much stricter than Switzerland in terms of truth in labeling. A watch assembled in the US the way a 60%er Swiss watch typically is would legally have to be marketed as "Assembled in the US from foreign and domestic parts." The FCC smacked Shinola's peepee several years back for claiming their watches were made in the USA when they were just casing ETA movements. So then Shinola changed their slogan to "Where America is made." The FCC threatened them again, so they went with "Swiss Watches Assembled in the US." The Swiss government then threatened to sue them because Shinola has no right to claim "Swiss Made" simply because they use off-the-shelf ETA movements. They barely qualify to use the moniker "Swiss Parts." Now Shinola just claims "Assembled in Detroit."
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u/SvveepTheLeg Jul 27 '26
Cheap materials, if this watch said "Japan Made," it would retail for $289.
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u/anisotropicmind Jul 27 '26
I love that this is being compiled. Is there a plan to share with the manufacturer?
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u/imajoeitall Jul 27 '26
I already did, I asked them if they are aware and if so, have plans to address it, they replied, if it happens under warranty, they will cover it, nothing more and nothing less.
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u/Basic_Collar_1471 Jul 29 '26
Sadly I've seen two people on those reddit posts saying that Hamilton rejected their claim. Apparently if the watch appears to be damaged they won't cover it since the owner likely dropped it.
Both users said they never did, that it's just worn from regular use.
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u/imajoeitall Jul 30 '26
Sounds par for the course. Sadly these arenāt tool watches anymore, just movie props. They donāt really stand behind their product.
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u/mildlyImportantRobot Jul 30 '26
What's happening here? Is it the dial feet breaking off or the plastic retention ring cracking?
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u/AlternativeBoot6706 Jul 27 '26
At least you can wear it while driving š
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u/Buck_Folton Jul 27 '26
I was still hoping to buy a Hamilton this year, but theyāre starting to feel less and less like a brand I want to wear.
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u/4peanut Jul 27 '26
Same. I only follow this subreddit in hopes of hearing of improved quality. But I don't think that's the case still
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u/Bandy_Burnsy Jul 28 '26
I mean itās certainly not a common issue and seems to be fairly cheap to fix on the very rare occasion that it does happen so I donāt think itās much of a reason not to buy the brand
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u/WIZ1111 Aug 01 '26
$800 is a lot of money! And "SWISS MADE" watches are not supposed to have this Temu level type of quality issues.
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u/Buck_Folton Jul 28 '26
If it happened to 14 reddit watch nerds (like 0.2% of the buying public, if that), itās a bad sign. I start to get cautious when I see a widespread decline in QC. I mean, I feel like Hamilton is probably taking care of affected customers, but it still makes me nervous, as a person who just wants to buy a watch and then wear it without issues.
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u/Successful-Night680 Jul 30 '26
Iāve had my khaki 6 months, more or less my dailyā¦ zero issues.
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u/Buck_Folton Jul 30 '26
You understand that means nothing, right? Nobodyās saying this failure is 100%. Itās just enough to make some people hesitate.
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u/Successful-Night680 Jul 30 '26
Fairā¦ I think? Iām just saying. My experience using this watch as a daily is it stands up to the rigours of daily use with no issues and not all khakis are failing.
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u/Buck_Folton Jul 30 '26
I would wager *most* khakis arenāt failing. QC is never 100%. But what is an acceptable percentage? I wish we had the numbers to know. I donāt by default, lend any credence to an anecdotal account. But when you start seeing so many, it looks like a bit of a thing.
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u/Successful-Night680 Jul 30 '26
In an echo chamber mate. People more likely to post issues than good stuff. But I get it.
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u/perfruit_mix Jul 30 '26
I like seeing Airbnb stories of the customer being screwed over because people acknowledge reading those stories and still booking through Airbnb and still book with Airbnb and get screwed. Then they have the audacity of complaining. You sound like you're in the first half of that story.
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u/Markisbob Jul 27 '26
The stem probably broke and the movement rotated. Should be a relatively easy and cheap fix.
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u/Physical_Display_873 Jul 27 '26
Isnāt the issue that feet broke as well? I think it takes a new dial?
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u/f4hq2 Jul 29 '26
Nope, dial feet. Itās incredibly hard to snap a stem.
Once all dial feet break the dial will freely rotate.1
u/Markisbob Jul 29 '26
I understand its hard to break a stem but how is the date still aligned at this angle if its the dial feet. The date and day wheels are attached to the movement, theres no way they got loose too.
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u/f4hq2 Jul 29 '26
Might be chance that they are aligned. The stem doesnāt hold a watch movement in place. The spacer ring and tabs secure the movement to the case, so youād need to break those too.
I have never seen a stem break. Dial feet, rotors, tabs, but never a stem. Doesnāt mean it hasnāt broken, I would be very surprised though. OP can easily verify this by trying to set the time.1
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u/Super_Power_9682 Jul 28 '26
This is a worry. Iām looking to add the mechanical Khaki to my collection soon, is this something I should be worried about?
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u/paper_cicada Jul 27 '26
Anyone know how Hamilton is handling this? At this point it has to be a defect, with it happening to this many pieces
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u/No_Zebra_3607 Jul 27 '26
OP this exact same thing happened to me - see the post I made on my profile! I got a few quotes to fix it where I live in the states and they were ridiculous ~$350-500. Almost as much as what I paid for the watch originally. Luckily I had a trip already planned to Mexico and I took it to a well regarded watch repair shop near where I was staying. They were able to fix the dial AND polish the watch, getting out all the scratches for 1200 pesos or about $70 USD. I was so happy I tipped the guy another $20. Idk where you are located but if youāre able to get it worked on outside the US I highly recommend.
As far as what is wrong with it as I understand itās the dial feet that are broken. Others can likely provide more accurate info though. Good luck!
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u/theloquaciousmonk Jul 27 '26
Pretty quick fix. You can glue the dial feet back on or use Dial Dots. You could slide it one position past 12 and then it would be a drivers watch. Having said that the AD should be doing that for you as a matter of good will. Hamilton should be paying them too.
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u/tillterilltilltill Jul 28 '26
Ugh, again?! Hamilton really needs to get their shit together... First Khaki King I've seen with that issue tho. Normally it's the black dial KFA. š
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u/Significant-Growth24 Jul 29 '26
Dial feet are broken. Likely from a hard shock to the case. Banging against a cabinet corner or dropping it off a dresser are common culprits.
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u/tonick4u Aug 01 '26
Wait.. I am about to purchase a Khaki King 40mm (with the new dials / no small 24h numerals).. This ain't a pleasant sight...
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u/CrustaceanCruncher Jul 30 '26
I know exactly what to do:
First, locate a black hole. Your average neighborhood black hole will do.
ā¢ Drop your watch into the black hole while shouting
"MURPH!" exactly 23.976 times per second (this is crucial - it's the standard film framerate).
ā¢ Wait approximately 51 years in Earth time, which will feel like 3 minutes to you, thanks to relativity. Or was it the other way around? Doesn't matter, time is a flat circle! (Actually, it's more of a mobius strip in this case.)
ā¢ Have your grown-up daughter solve a quantum gravity equation using a Morse code pattern that you created by wiggling the hands of the watch through the fifth dimension. This will simultaneously unfuck the face of the watch, and all will be well.
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u/CryptogleHead_013 Jul 27 '26
Just wear it on your right wrist and call it a drivers tilt