# Misaligned chapter ring



## Roxyben (May 19, 2020)

So I have a recent purchase of a Seiko Turtle but the chapter ring is misaligned. Now I really love the watch, think it's great but the chapter ring now is bothering me a little. I tried to not let it bother me but it is now. To put this right is it an easy fix that I could do myself or does it need sending to a repair specialist. And if so is it an expensive fix?

Here is a shot of the watch.



Its most noticeable at the 25 minute mark. It seems like it needs rotating anti clockwise a little. Is it possible the indices are out also? Its a shame really, I am aware of the whole chapter ring alignment quality issues from Seiko. You would think such a great company like Seiko could get such a fundamental thing like this right.

The longer I look at this the weirder it gets. Its almost like the 12 position is centred but the 6 is not which makes no sense!


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## PC-Magician (Apr 29, 2013)

I think the printing is off, so a replacement chapter ring (Maybe)

Maybe a slight mod is in order?

https://www.seikomods.com/shop/ct229/


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## Roxyben (May 19, 2020)

Yes logic seems to suggest maybe this is a printing error as the lining up of the minute track doesn't seem consistent all the way round. Think I will have to reluctantly pick up a new chapter ring. Is this something that is easy to replace? Or a job left to the professionals. It's a real shame regarding this watch as I really do like it but the misalignment is really starting to grate on me!


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## nevenbekriev (Apr 21, 2019)

The entire movement is slightly turned anticlockwice.


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## Roxyben (May 19, 2020)

nevenbekriev said:


> The entire movement is slightly turned anticlockwice.


 Is this possible? It could explain a few things. This watch seems to be getting wonkier!


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## nevenbekriev (Apr 21, 2019)

Nothing wrong with the watch.

You need to unscrew the back, , align the movement and put the back again


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## andyclient (Aug 1, 2009)

I agree with @nevenbekrievbut would say it needs to go slightly clockwise :thumbsup:


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## WRENCH (Jun 20, 2016)

Seen a couple with the same issue. Along with misaligned bezels, another example of poor Seiko quality control. I would tend to think along the lines of a misalignment between the chapter ring and dial. I looked at several "turtles" in AD's, and every one of them was off.


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## Roxyben (May 19, 2020)

nevenbekriev said:


> Nothing wrong with the watch.
> 
> You need to unscrew the back, , align the movement and put the back again


 How do you align a movement? This still won't make the minute track line up with the indices on the watch face? ...or will it.? Forgive my lack of knowledge concerning these things. Thanks for helping also!

This is a close up with the hands straight. The minutes hand dead on 12 the hour hand is slightly to the left of the 6 position.

You can also see a very misallign ed chapter ring!


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## Roy (Feb 23, 2003)

Roxyben said:


> How do you align a movement?


 You can't, either the dial is out or it's the chapter ring.


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## WRENCH (Jun 20, 2016)

I had a similar problem with another brand. The 12 o'clock marker aligned perfectly but The rest were out getting worse as you went round the dial. The reason in this instance was that the dial was slightly off centre, slightly to the right of the watch. Once corrected everything was fine.










If you look closely at the markers either side of the 6 o'clock marker, does the gap between the 5 o'clock marker look less than that of the 7 ? If the dial was moved slightly to the right it would balance the gap, and it would perhaps then line up properly.



Roxyben said:


> You can also see a very misallign ed chapter ring!


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## Roxyben (May 19, 2020)

Yes an off centre dial would explain a lot. I think my wifes Longines has a case of this. Quartz and it tracks nicely on certain bits of the chapter ring and veers off elsewhere.

There seems to be a very similar gap regarding 5 and 7 o clock positions. I think this is purely a chapter ring issue but I could be wrong.


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## spinynorman (Apr 2, 2014)

Similar problem with my Crystron.



9 and 6 are ok, but 12 and 3 out.


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## Roxyben (May 19, 2020)

spinynorman said:


> Similar problem with my Crystron.
> 
> 
> 
> 9 and 6 are ok, but 12 and 3 out.


 Its odd how this happens. Its as if the chapter ring is not one piece as you would expect everything to be out equally. Like someone mentioned earlier maybe a printing error or something? Your watch does not look too bad though. How do you feel about it?


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## Roxyben (May 19, 2020)

In an update on this I have actually contacted the vendor and have sent it back for them to have a look at it. Its a new watch so I may as well see what they can do. I should have done this weeks ago really but In my head I was trying to just put up with its flaws, but that didn't work. Anyways I will see what they can do, If they can fix the issue great and if not maybe I will get my money back. Would be nice if they could fix it though as I really like the watch.


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## Raymond Spanks (May 4, 2020)

At least you know its a genuine Seiko!

Hope it gets fixed.


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## Roxyben (May 19, 2020)

So the vendor received the watch and agreed that the chapter ring was not aligned and they have passed it onto Seiko for repair. So pretty happy about it getting sorted but I am guessing its going to be gone a long time. But at least its getting sorted and not at my expense. Will this be sent overseas? Or is there an official Seiko repair place in the UK? Might be able to gauge how long it will be gone if I know where its going.


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## Roxyben (May 19, 2020)

So to bring closure to this thread I have received back the watch today! All straightened out and sorted. Very impressed with the time taken to sort out this issue. Total kudos to the vendor who were a pleasure to deal with. I had it in my head that it would be gone months! Maybe sent half way round the world or something. But alas it is back on my wrist as of today and I couldn't be happier with it. The only thing that seems different is the crown action, its all works fine, it just feels different, but Its probably because the movement has been out and put back in. So glad I did get it sorted as it was a major source of irritation. Now I can finally enjoy it.


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