Update on the Radiomir Chrono

[GMF]

I posted about my Alpha Radiomir Chrono over on the WUS Chinese Mech forum and someone posted in response about the trials and tribulations of changing the strap. Based on his experience I can see why the guy in HK told me that getting the wire lugs back in correctly could be a hassle.

It seems Alpha did cut corners when it comes to the wire lugs. Rather than drilling and tapping the holes for the four screws that hold the wire lugs in place, they just drilled the holes and used self-tapping screws. This works okay as long as you never remove the screws. But once you do, the threads in the case from the self-tapping screws are so shallow that the chances of getting the screws to engage them exactly again is slim. And what happens is that the self-tapping screws chew them out and you wind up with the holes being too large for the screws to get any bite. And of course the end result is that there is nothing to hold the wire lugs in the case. The guy finally wound up having to cold weld the wire lugs to the case.

I suppose a really good watchmaker or machine shop could drill and tap the holes if you could find the right size stainless steel screws (which a watchmaker should be able to get).

I'm really glad I ordered that deployant. I want this strap to last forever since it seems replacing the strap is really not a viable option on this watch. And for that, Alpha gets my first .

[CHIP]

look at the bright side...
Should you break it... you can replace it without having to pay an arm and a leg.
And at the end of the day you have spare movement and spare parts and you still invested less that somebody would for an original Omega strap and deployant.

[Warren]

That's the great thing about inexpensive watches there isn't much room for any really disappointment, if something doesn't quite meet your expectations just reflect on what you paid for it and suddenly you feel better!

[GMF]

wetowne said:

That's the great thing about inexpensive watches there isn't much room for any really disappointment, if something doesn't quite meet your expectations just reflect on what you paid for it and suddenly you feel better!

True, and I'm not really knocking the Radiomir. Since this watch isn't worn on a daily basis and the strap is reasonably good quality, I don't foresee ever having to worry about removing the wire lugs or changing the strap. That being the case, Alpha's cost cutting measures in this area won't ever likely affect my enjoyment of this watch.