Bezel staining on almost new seiko watch

[Crockpot]

Hey everybody, has anyone ever seen a bezel stain like this? It’s only 2 years old and I believe it’s made of aluminum because it’s scratched in a place or two and you can see metal under the paint. I’ve tried to pry the bezel off carefully but I don’t want to break anything.I’ve brushed it with dawn dish soap rubbed it with alcohol soaked cloth to no avail. Can anyone lead me in the right direction please? Any help is appreciated this is my everyday wear watch. Thanks

Edited March 2, 2023 by Crockpot

[Waggy]

Assuming you are correct and the besel is aluminium, It looks to me like the anodising colouring has worn away revealing the base anodized finish underneath (aluminium oxide). Unlike other plating techniques (chrome/gold/...) which deposit a metal coating by electrolysis, the electric current reacts directly with the aluminium atoms on the surface of the watch creating a layer of aluminium oxide which is then coloured.

However, from the pictures it looks like a copper 'strike' coat has been exposed, when metals (other than aluminium such as brass or steel) are electroplated sometimes the final coating will not plate to the base metal and an intermediate metal is plated first (eg copper or nickle), known as a strike. The final metal is then plated to the strike metal which ends up being sandwiched between the base metal and the final plate - to me it looks like this strike metal has been exposed, so maybe the besel is something other than aluminium?

The damage looks like wear as it is occurring on one side of the watch, so not caused by a single incident (bump/scratc) or something it has been exposed to like an acid etc. as you would expect to see an even (random) distribution of damage. To me this tools like wear from use i.e. putting your hand in your pocket, shirt cuff etc...

All this aside, such damage (by whatever mechanism or cause) should not be seen in a watch that is relatively new (2 years old), Seiko is a reputable company and I think you should reach out to them to see if they will repair the watch as this appears to be a manufacturing defect and I assume they will want to rectify even if it is out of warranty. I would give this a try before you try and repair it yourself and void this option - hopefully they will replace the part for you, or even give you a brand new shiny watch?

One last thought occurs to me.... are you sure this is a genuine Seiko? If it is a replica this may explain the defect you are seeing as the manufacturing techniques and longevity of the watch will not be at the same standard as a genuine Seiko.

Hope this helps.

[watchweasol]

I think waggy’s last paragraph is the crucial one,   Is it a genuine Seiko.  Check it out, remove the back and post a picture of the movement and calibre number.

[Crockpot]

 Thanks for your replies. I’m not sure about the aluminum, I was just guessing because it looked like aluminum where there is a tiny scratch and it scratched very easily.  It was bought in February of 2021. On Walmart.com. Here are the pictures.