The Oris Watch Acts Up Again
I went to my cousin's wedding in Holland a few weekends ago. It was a whirlwind trip: Fly from Dulles to Frankfurt overnight Thursday, another cousin picked me up and the whole family drove to Maastricht, Netherlands. The wedding (in Neercanne Castle -- the same place where the treaty forming the EU was signed) was Saturday afternoon followed by a very late night reception ending around 5am. Next morning, we all wake up and drive back to Frankfurt. Then on Monday afternoon I caught my return flight to Dulles.
Now, what does this all have to do with my watch? Well, over the weekend it looked like the crystal was smudged a lot, and wiping it clean didn't help. Then when waiting at the terminal in Frankfurt airport, I noticed that there was quite a bit of condensation inside the crystal. The funny thing is that about an hour into the flight, it was clear again. It seems that the slight rainstorm we had during the wedding was enough to make the watch wet on the inside.
I thought about taking it to the jewelers but then without the evidence on display I figured they'd just send me home so I didn't bother. A couple of weeks later it happened again. This time however, it was like a rainstorm on the inside of the watch. The drops of water were enormous! So I drove over to the jewelers to show them. As luck would have it, the power was out at the mall on their little strip. The shops on the other side of the hall were up and running, but this side and the street outside were dark. They closed the store due to security concerns, which is understandable. Unfortunately for me, the next day the watch cleared up again! So again I postponed my trip to show them.
Now, on June 17, I heard the watch rattling a bit. Upon closer inspection the side was starting to show a gap where the back of the case was attached. This was not a good sign... I took off the watch and there was one screw missing, and another that was about to fall out. I couldn't believe it! One bum watch was probably a fluke, but two watches suffering basically the same major flaw seems downright incompetent.
The watch has been at the store now for almost three weeks. I haven't heard yet what they're doing about it, and every time I call the watchmaker either out or on the phone with someone else. I'm almost afraid to hear what he's going to say considering how he accused me of dismantling the first watch. Stay tuned for the further saga of the Oris F1 watch.
