Carrera Fragment gone dead.

watchlabs1 · Dec 19, 2019

Hey all, new guy here.
I have a 6 months old Fragment. It kept perfect time for 6 month and died.
I wound it, it’s keeps time for 5 to 15 minutes, then stopped.

is there a watchmaker in The Bay Area that services Caliber 02? I don’t want to send it to Tag and wait 3 months to get it back.

Thanks all.
Alex

Jim Dollares · Dec 19, 2019

Dont you need to take it to Tag to use the warranty? Or am I misunderstanding that you want to take it to a watchmaker and have him service it without Tag being involved?

watchlabs1 · Dec 19, 2019

I don’t want to involve Tag at all. I’m willing to pay out of pocket for the repair. I’m not willing to wait 2-3 months to go thru Tag’s warranty channels.

does Tag supply parts to indie watchmakers for the Heuer 02 Caliber? Anyone recommend a Tag specialist in the Bay Area? Yelp and Google search came up a handful of Rolex and Omega watchmakers.

Calibre11 · Dec 19, 2019

That's frustrating. Maybe one of our US readers can help out with a recommendation.

I do expect parts to be a problem. I'm not sure if TAG Heuer supplies the indies or not, but they may not for the in-house watches. Be aware that it may also void your warranty, but sounds like that is not a major concern.

Hubert · Dec 19, 2019

Keep in mind that if your local watchmaker can't repair it, TAG Heuer may void your warranty. I wouldn't take the risk.

Hubert · Dec 19, 2019

Calibre11
That's frustrating. Maybe one of our US readers can help out with a recommendation.

I do expect parts to be a problem. I'm not sure if TAG Heuer supplies the indies or not, but they may not for the in-house watches. Be aware that it may also void your warranty, but sounds like that is not a major concern.

Ha, ha. We replied with the same note at the same time. 😀

Lugduno · Dec 19, 2019

watchlabs1
Hey all, new guy here.
I have a 6 months old Fragment. It kept perfect time for 6 month and died.
I wound it, it’s keeps time for 5 to 15 minutes, then stopped.

is there a watchmaker in The Bay Area that services Caliber 02? I don’t want to send it to Tag and wait 3 months to get it back.

Thanks all.
Alex

With the Calibre 02 movement I wouldn't trust anyone but a TH service centre. It's still a pretty new movement and I even if a local watchmaker might be able to fix it s/he is definitely not certified to do it so it would void the warranty.

I believe most brands have a designated set of watchmakers to take care of guarantee repairs in order to get the waiting time down. At least I know that Omega usually are quite quick with warranty repairs and in my experience TH are good as well when it comes to warranty issues.

abrod520 · Dec 21, 2019

watchlabs1
is there a watchmaker in The Bay Area that services Caliber 02? I don’t want to send it to Tag and wait 3 months to get it back.

No - half the point of the in-house movement is that you have to send it to them, or at least to an authorized service center. But the authorized service centers send the 02s to TAG.

MAJOR tip: Send it to TAG yourself with your own insurance, or it might be "misplaced" by the retailer during the process.

imagwai · Dec 21, 2019

abrod520
No - half the point of the in-house movement is that you have to send it to them, or at least to an authorized service center. But the authorized service centers send the 02s to TAG.

MAJOR tip: Send it to TAG yourself with your own insurance, or it might be "misplaced" by the retailer during the process.

You speak from bitter experience! 🙁

HeuerLondon88 · Dec 21, 2019

If it’s under purchase warranty then it’ll come back a lot quicker than 2-3 months.

watchlabs1 · Dec 21, 2019

Thanks guys and gals.
It’s pretty unanimous. This puppy will go back to the mill where she came from.
I appreciate your feedback.

Hubert · Dec 22, 2019

watchlabs1
Thanks guys and gals.
It’s pretty unanimous. This puppy will go back to the mill where she came from.
I appreciate your feedback.

Let us know how it goes. Hopefully you won't have to wait as long as you originally anticipated.

abrod520 · Dec 22, 2019

HeuerLondon88
If it’s under purchase warranty then it’ll come back a lot quicker than 2-3 months.

This is also true, it should be about a month or so. Maybe 6 weeks.

watchlabs1
Thanks guys and gals.
It’s pretty unanimous. This puppy will go back to the mill where she came from.
I appreciate your feedback.

Go to TAG's website and look under the service section for instructions on how to ship it to them yourself. Do not drop it off at Tourneau or Macy's. And see if you can insure it properly - regular shipping companies won't insure watches. TAG customer service may have suggestions, since I can only offer ParcelPro but word is they aren't signing up individuals anymore.

THJunkie · Jul 7, 2020

Anyone know of there was a happy ending to this story?

Is TH still only offering 2 years on this (relatively expensive) “in house” movements? I’d have expected that they’d be increasing the the cover for something that can only be serviced by them.

abrod520 · Jul 7, 2020

THJunkie
Is TH still only offering 2 years on this (relatively expensive) “in house” movements?

2 years is just about the industry standard, though that does seem to be changing towards 5 years these days.

THJunkie · Jul 7, 2020

abrod520
2 years is just about the industry standard, though that does seem to be changing towards 5 years these days.

many brands are offering 5 years, some even more. And the models with the H02 movement - which can only be serviced via TH approved channels - are at the top end of their price range. Competing directly with some of these other brands. On a 5k watch you’d expect more than 2 years.

I’m not suggest that they won’t last the distance or that the quality is not there - certainly looks like TH are upping their game with recent models - which is great to see. But i think it would certainly help with buyer confidence if they stood behind their new movement offered better coverage. It would send a strong signal.

not so much of an issue on the older models where parts are more available at independents and are cheap to buy, or on a quartz which is highly unlikely to break down anyway. But on a bespoke ‘in house’ movement a repair bill of £1k in year might put a few off ever buying another. not when for similar money you can get as good a watch with 5 years.

Hopefully the movement will be very robust and have a low failure rate. But if not I’d not be at all surprised to see a class action started. And it would not be unjustified.

Luckily in the UK goods have to be fit for purpose for far longer than 2 years so they’ll not get away with milking people for repairs.

Mspeedster · Jul 7, 2020

THJunkie
Anyone know of there was a happy ending to this story?

Is TH still only offering 2 years on this (relatively expensive) “in house” movements? I’d have expected that they’d be increasing the the cover for something that can only be serviced by them.

If you're worried about the Heuer 02 movement, 2 years should be enough to make sure you're in the clear. I don't own a H02, but from what I've seen, if there's going to be some problem it will usually raise its head in the first year of ownership.

Carrera Fragment gone dead.

watchlabs1

Jim Dollares

watchlabs1

Calibre11

Hubert

Hubert

Lugduno

abrod520

imagwai

HeuerLondon88

watchlabs1

Hubert

abrod520

THJunkie

abrod520

THJunkie

Mspeedster

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