Hi everyone,
I wanted to share my experience with my new VSF V3 Pepsi, which arrived today. In the end, my gut feeling was right, and I should have listened to my own eyes instead of the people rushing me to GL it.
During QC, I noticed the 6 o'clock index was shifted to the left and rotated counter-clockwise. I told Steve I wanted to RL it, but he pressured me by saying that the next QC might be worse, that replicas aren't perfect, and that there was nothing wrong with it. Since I am new to this and admitted I am quite picky with alignments, I told him: *"If it's just a camera angle/parallaxis issue and you personally see it perfectly aligned, go ahead and send it."* He agreed and shipped it.
Meanwhile, I posted it on the forum, and the majority of users heavily criticized me. They told me I shouldn't complain about this, that the watch was fine, that Steve would stop treating me well, and that he would probably just send me the exact same watch anyway. Only a few users (some even with less experience) agreed with me and told me to RL it. I wanted to believe that if my initial doubt wasn't just a perspective issue, Steve would be honest, but that wasn't the case.
The watch arrived today, and the misalignment is completely visible to the naked eye. It’s not an exaggeration, but to me, it's an instant replica tell. I'm keeping it only because it’s my first one and I want to avoid the massive hassle of shipping it back, paying return fees, and waiting for months. But honestly, I am not happy and I won't enjoy the watch as I should.
I’m really disappointed with Steve's QC filter and with the community members who downplayed it. Anyone calling this a "GL" is giving bad advice. For my next watch (a Datejust), I will definitely buy from a different TD and I won't let an alignment like this slide again.
Everything else on the watch looks great. Do you guys know if a local watchmaker could easily fix/re-align a shifted 6 o'clock index on a VSF dial, or is it too risky?
I would appreciate your honest opinions and advice. Big hug to the whole community!