The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Highly perturbed to find that Breitling are now adopting a "Block exemption" with regard to the stopping of supplying of necessary Parts to third Party service/repair Centres.
My Super Avenger Black Steel has unfortunately developed a fault in that it will not screw the Crown into the case after winding. I have used a excellent company called Swiss Time Services who have lamentable advised me that they are now unable to acquire the Parts required to complete the Repair meaning I will be forced to go down the Service Centre and the inevitable additional expense that will incur.

At a time where people's disposable incomes' (mine especially) are under more pressure than ever this is just plain wrong.

I am requiring a new middle case which actually Breitling had the Watch In June last year and after I had kicked up a fuss about the £900 quote (which included advising an unnecessary "service" they backed down & offered a "non Guaranteed repair" cost of approximately £300 St's subsequently had the Watch back & repaired it FOC)

So i am forced to don the "Battle helmet" with them again undoubtedly

Pretty common for companies not to supply parts. Rolex done it for years, and also Swatch group had a legal fight for years with Cousins over this matter.

Update on that
The £300 offer of a non Warrantied (?) repair that I could have had last August is no longer on the table. So I will have to pay the Kings ransom of £1060 for a replacement Middle case, New Crown Tube & the "Maintenance" service to complete the work.
It would seem that my Super Duper "instrument for professionals" timepiece is not up to the rigours of nothing more than being Wound occasionally.......

Pathetic.

I went through that with a simple battery replacement. Not worth it. To that end I'm unloading my Colt44. I bought my Rollie in `91 for $4K Now worth $20K. I will pay the highwaymen to get that watch serviced or repaired.

It is disappointing that Breitling has no respect or regard for those of us who own older timepieces. I own a Superocean A13340 and a B-1, both full sets in excellent condition. My dilemma is that is it better for me to continue to use the Breitling service route to preserve the integrity of my watches or to entrust this to a reputable watchmaker who can’t get access to genuine parts? The B-1 uses the ETA E20.341 movement so theoretically should be serviceable by a competent watchmaker. The Superocean uses the ETA Valjoux 7750 which should also be within the scope of a reputable watchmaker. Is the lack of access to ‘genuine’ parts crucial for the maintenance of these movements or are we being shafted? My view is that whilst certain parts such as middle cases and crown stems are brand specific we are at the mercy of Breitling but for the more routine service requirements it may be better to go elsewhere.

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Breitling B-1 1999
Breitling Chrono Superocean 2004
Casio G Shock
Citizen Eco Drive AT4000-02E (for gardening)
Seiko 5 SNZG15J1
Hamilton X Wind LE

My experience with Breitling as a company is similar non satisfying in a few ways. It's a shame because the watches are usually great and I'm a big fan and own four of them.
But the customer service and how they deal with us is just not the luxury way.
In the past few days I decided to sell two of my Breitlings because I don't want to deal too much with that company anymore.

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can any of you name a Swiss "top tier" watch manufacturer that makes spare parts available to non-certified watchmakers?
just one?

and I'd like to understand where customer service didn't deal with customers "the luxury way"? Errors happen, sadly, but in general, the Breitling customer service does an excellent job, as confirmed in several industry-wide studies.

I sent you a pm in German, because English is not easy for me.

I wouldn’t argue with any of your points and have always been pleased with the quality of work undertaken. However, for those us with older watches of any luxury brand the cost of a major intervention is a considerable percentage of the value of the watch. Whilst I advocate using Breitling facilities wherever possible there is a dilemma as to whether these ongoing costs can be justified. For me, the automobile industry presents an interesting comparison. By law in the UK a car owner can have their vehicle serviced at any reputable garage without compromising the warranty providing the correct schedule is followed and genuine parts used. My car is worth far more than the combined value of my watches but I entrust it’s servicing to a reputable specialist who’s hourly labour rates are 40% lower than that of the main dealer.

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Breitling B-1 1999
Breitling Chrono Superocean 2004
Casio G Shock
Citizen Eco Drive AT4000-02E (for gardening)
Seiko 5 SNZG15J1
Hamilton X Wind LE

neither would I argue with your points - and as a collector myself, I'd love to have wide availability of original spare parts and choose my own, trusted watchmaker (as rare as they've become) to do the servicing and/or repairs.

I was just noting that this is an industry-wide standard policy now and in no way "uniquely Breitling".

Received the Watch back Today with my Bank Account £1060.82p the worse off.
The original quote was over £1600 iirc as they wanted to carry out a "Complete" service rather than the "maintenence" one i had (Watch had a £600 Complete service in 2020). So the work isn't actually even guaranteed!!!!
This price is double the cost of any part/repair that I have EVER paid on any Car I have ever owned!! And I have owned some decent Cars.

As someone earlier in the thread quite rightly alluded to, The practice what Watch manufacturers are actually carrying out now is what Car manufacturers were unsuccessfully trying to implement in 2005. It was stopped by EU law at the time. Block Exemption is the term. Is it safe to assume that as Switzerland is not in the EU they are not able to impose this (even though the majority of their Market is in the EU?)

I have 3 Breitling's in total & i will relinquish at least 1 if not 2 due to the protectionism stance they are now taking.