The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Recently I noticed a problem on my Chronomat 01: While the chronograph is turned on, the chrono minute hand takes 4-5 minutes to jump to the 1st-minute mark, to put simply, it won't jump until the chrono second hand has encirled the dial 4 or 5 times.

And during this 4-5 minutes period, the chrono second hand slows down between the 59-60 second marks. outside of the 59-60-second segment, its running is normal.

Its non-chrono accurucy is still top-notch: losing 4-5 seconds per week(worn on my left wrist daily, face-up at night).

Now it's back at Breitling China Ltd for service.

Has any one heard of this or can someone shed some light on this? Thank!

From my perspective, this is not a systemic problem with the B01 caliber but will need Breitling attention.

As the watch's chronograph is behaving abnormally and the timekeeping is outside of COSC specs (-4 to + 6 sec/day) you are well within your rights to request a warenteed repair.

Take it back to the AD you bought it from and they should take care of you.

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“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.” - Albert Einstein

btw, he said he looses 4-5 secons /week, so it's such perfect of COSC specs...even if it would have been 4-5 secods /day, it wouls still be IN COSC specs...

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Breitling Antares B10047
Breitling Chronomat B13050
Breitling Chronomat A13050.1 - pilot bracelet
Breitling Chronomat Blackbird A13050.1 - serie spéciale
Breitling Avenger Seawolf E17370
Breitling Chronomat EVO A13356 - pilot bracelet

It sounds as though something in the minute counter is sticking - may just be dirt, although it's weird that it only happens at the start rather than most times. Breitling will doubtless figure it out for you, but obviously frustrating.

Thanks guys for your response. Roff I sort of agree with you, as it looks like the watch itself struggles to put the chrono minute hand on the 1st minute mark, albeit to no avail during the first few attempts.

My Navitimer Caliber 01 has an issue with the minute hand counter too, mine instantly jumps to between 1 and 2 minutes and the start/stop pusher needs quite a bit of force to engage it. Mine is also back with Breitling and yours isn't the only other B01 I've heard of issues with.

Stef

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Stiff pushers are symptomatic of column wheel chronographs, so not necessarily a problem that it would be stiffer than other Breitlings that you are used to (which would not be column wheel).

Obviously the other issues are different....

Ah, OK, thanks for the heads up Roff, the top pusher is a lot harder than the bottom one, is that normal?

Stef

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Yes, that's because only the top pusher engages the column wheel.

Thought that might be the case, thanks again Roff.

Stef

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my b01 was sent 4 times back to breitling
problems it was running - 5 min per week
and the minut marker of the stopwatch wasnt working good
also the secondspointer wasnt working good
the second time the push button was very hard to unscrew
third time there was a lot of damage on the dial after repair
and the problem whit the stopwatch minut marker was here again
the last time the other push botton was also hard to unscrew
the repairs took al a month
i got the breitling book and two pen
and a new warranty of 3 years
i sold my watch to the dealer
now i have the b01 limited edition
greetz jos

Congrats on the new limited edition BO1
I'm about to get one tomorrow actually. Just curious, since I haven't seen one in person, is it as eye-catching as the regular BO1?
Any issues with the movement?

To keep you guys updated, I took my watch back from BCL (Breitling China Ltd) early this month. The chro problem has been successful resolved and the daily variation up to now is +2/day (dial up at nite) and quick date change happens 2 mins past midnight every day.

A major thumbs-up to BCL!

I decided to reply to this post because I went to the Breitling Boutique on 57th Street in Manhattan after reading this post last night. I wanted to personally check out the limited edition BO1 and especially the chronograph function, as that is one of my biggest concerns on a watch that has a chronograph.
Breitling's BO1 in-house movement boasts of a column wheel chronograph that eliminates the problem of jumping hands when the chronograph is started, thus ensuring clean starts, according to their own literature.
I was greeted at the front door by a very friendly security guard, and then by an equally friendly sales rep called Sara Beth Brown. The service was first class all the way, very friendly, very accomodating. Within minutes I was seated at a very comfortable table and the Breitling Limited Edition BO1 was in front of me, brushed finish, limited edition number 1460/2000 in all it's glory. Mind you, I know the BO1 inside out, not from a watchmaker's perspective, but from having previously owned a BO1 when it first came out. A friend of mine bought that piece from me last year. I won't bore you with too much detail but here are the important specs:
In-house movement
500m divers (LTD Edition is 200m)
Column wheel chronograph
70hr power reserve
Date adjustment at anytime. So I was eager to test the watch. I wound it about 35 times and pressed the top pusher. Immediately, EVEN BEFORE the sweep second hand began to move the chrono minute hand jumped a whole minute!! At first I thought I was imagining things so I quickly reset it and tried it again. This time operation was normal and the sweep second hand made it's whole round and the chrono minute jumped one notch - as it should. I made several more attempts and each time it worked like a charm. Then on attempt number five the chrono minute hand jumped a whole notch right at the start of me pressing the pusher, even though the second hand had only passed ten seconds. Upon stopping the chrono, the chrono second hand jumped BACK a notch. Sara Beth Brown saw all of this and called a manager. We tried it several times in front of him but it was fine each time. However Sara acknowledged to him what she had seen.
The manager then asked me if 'that would be a reason for me to not buy the watch'. And I said that that was a huge reason for me to not buy the watch especially since Breitling had billed the Column wheel chronograph 'to ensure clean starts' and eliminate the jump of hands that is so common in other chronographs.
Actually, you cannot accuratly time a race or event if the needle jumps one whole minute right at the start and then could possibly jump back again when the pusher is pressed to stop the chrono. This is no way to time anything.
Now I know that we dont live in a perfect world, and it is NOT Sara Beth Brown's fault. In all likelihood that piece was one of a few that has this issue. I seriously doubt that every BO1 has an issue with the chrono. I'm only responding because I read this post last night and decided to try out the limited edition BO1 myself.
In Breitling's defense, I went to another retailer down the street that also had the limited edition BO1 and the chrono worked fine after more than twenty tries.
If anyone has any feedback I would love to hear it as this can only enlighten us all.