PureTime preorder: seven weeks and counting

I buy one watch a year so I am in no hurry, but I want to put down where this preorder stands so the next person knows what they are signing up for.

Ordered with PureTime on 22 July. The piece was a Sea-Dweller 126600 listed as preorder, estimate given in the chat was three to four weeks. Price in the 480 to 520 EUR band, paid by bank transfer, payment confirmed same day. I asked at the time for a video of the actual piece before shipping, as I always do, and was told that was fine.

Week four I asked for an update and was told the batch was delayed at the factory. Week five, same answer in different words. Week six I asked whether I could switch to an in-stock reference or get a refund and was told the batch was due within ten days and that switching would lose my place. Today is week seven.

To be fair, every message has been answered within a day, and nobody has been rude. I do not think anything shady is going on. But the estimate was simply wrong by a factor of two at least, and nothing in the original conversation suggested that was likely.

Has anyone else got a PureTime preorder running at the moment? I would like to know whether this is the batch or the norm.

Preorders are preorders, with anyone. The estimate is what the factory tells the dealer, and the factory says whatever keeps orders flowing. I would treat any preorder estimate as a minimum and double it in my head. Not defending it, just how it seems to work.

Same boat, different reference. Ordered a 126610LN preorder mid August, also told three to four weeks. I am at four and a half now. Answers are polite but say nothing.

If you paid by transfer, your leverage is the relationship and nothing else. Get the refund option in writing now, while they are still being polite, even if you decide to wait. Then you have something to point to if week twelve arrives with the same message.

Closing the loop. Video of the piece arrived 29 September, ten weeks after ordering. Bezel alignment good, dial fine. I approved and it shipped on 1 October. So it came in the end, but plan on ten weeks, not four.