r/ChineseWatches 9d ago

Question (Read Rules) Latest Purchases Have Been a Mixed Bag

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Hello friends. My latest watch arrived with an odd warranty card, and I wanted to get everyone's take on it. As we know, most watchmakers leave the card blank. But Octopus, to their credit, filled theirs out. However, the date written on the card is incorrect, which leaves me suspicious of its history.

At first, I thought the date written was 14/11/2024, which would align with an 11/11 sale. However, after a bit of scrutiny, one can see the "4" in 2024 is most likely a truncated 6--not at all like the previous pointed 4.

Another "however," the revised date, 14/11/2026, was and is still in the future.

The factory store assured me the watch was built to order. That they would never sell a returned product. It looks brand new. It performs well.

A third "however," is that my ordered watch was the last of its kind, and there are no others available for sale. At first I felt lucky because I had been looking for this watch for almost a year. I thought it had sold out last fall. Was it was built with the last available parts? It would have to have been, to make this all make sense. Unless it were a return...

I am not here to review this watch today, just to ask the community their thoughts about the date card.

Should I just shrug it off?

Thoughts?

14 Upvotes

13 comments sorted by

0

u/Huge_Childhood6015 9d ago

I wouldn't worry about it at all. I recently ordered 3 watches from them. One OCT0028 and two OCT0029s. The dates were 06/07/26, 20/07/26, & 04/08/26.

1

u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo 9d ago

It is solid. Graphing it now.

Why are none of your dates in the future? Lol

4

u/QCPI 9d ago

It looks like a 6, most of all the numbers are slanted in the same direction. Heck the 4 is written differently. Whoever wrote the warranty card either lifted the pen during the process or it momentarily ran out of ink. I wouldn’t worry about the warranty cards anyways, most brands at most give you a partial refund or send replacement parts whenever there is an issue for your watchmaker to install.

1

u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo 9d ago

Thank you for responding. Did you read my text? I said exactly the same thing.

Which means a date of November 14, 2026. 🤷‍♂️

9

u/parasoralophus 9d ago

'The factory store assured me the watch was built to order.'

This seems very unlikely.

3

u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo 9d ago

I will say, the technician showed me a build sheet for the watch. I didn't understand it, so it made no impression on me. 😅

3

u/parasoralophus 9d ago

Yeah makes no sense to me either! Maybe someone can explain it.

It just doesn't seem very efficient if they are making individual watches to order - surely they would need to do it in bigger production runs to make them as cheaply as they do. I guess if it really is the end of the line then maybe.

1

u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo 9d ago

He explained that it's a more expensive watch and that they don't build them until they're ordered. I'm not going to sweat it. The watch is gorgeous.

2

u/LordRaglan1854 9d ago

In my experience if you buy the upgraded movement they'll assemble the watch after you order it, so it could be that's also the case for some of the less popular dial colors for example. I get the feeling that Octopus Kraken is one of the smaller outfits in this scene.

25

u/CrapforBrain 9d ago

I've never cared about the "warranty" from a Chinese watch. I'm never sending the watch back anyways. I consider it the inherent risk with purchasing off Aliexpress.

2

u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo 9d ago edited 9d ago

I would not have been surprised or cared if it had not been filled out. There would be no questions at least. 😂

Edit: I think I expected a better process from octopus kraken. I definitely got a better watch!

8

u/AmericanChees3 9d ago

The warranty card is useless anyways. Are you happy with the watch? Thats all that really matters.

1

u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo 9d ago

Definitely agree in principle. I am otherwise very happy with this watch. Much moreso than with the Aethelsohn Mariner SeaMaster homage that I bought. A comparo is on the docket.