The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I've never understood the difficulty with setting the date. My BB dies every week, I mostly just wear it on weekends, so I just wind the time forward until the date changes, then set the time, then set the date, making sure to be out of the highway to the danger zone, pretty simple really.

I think that sometimes people really overthink this watch thing. If you not sure if the watch is between 8pm-3am them wind it forward and see if the date changes at 12. It doesn't take all that long.

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"Leave the gun, take the cannoli."

As Sharkman says, yes you can, but make sure that the time is out of the 8pm - 3am window at all point - i.e. don't wind it back so that it ends up within that zone or passes through it.

If you're out of the "danger" zone and wind the time backwards backwards past midnight will the the date change to the prior date? Or does the date change mechanism only engage when the time is
moving forward?

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Regards,

Peter

BREITLING for Bentley Motors T & Mark VI, Aerospace
ROLEX Submariner Ceramic116610LN
OMEGA Plantet Ocean 8500 42mm Orange arabics
OCEAN7 LM-3

The date will not change back, but if you do that then you are potentially damaging the watch because you have wound time backwards through 8pm and 3am.

So even though the date mechanism does not engage when the time is going backwards there's still potential to damage the watch?

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Regards,

Peter

BREITLING for Bentley Motors T & Mark VI, Aerospace
ROLEX Submariner Ceramic116610LN
OMEGA Plantet Ocean 8500 42mm Orange arabics
OCEAN7 LM-3

That's it!

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SHARKMAN

When in doubt, just don't. It's a simple rule, but it seems exceedingly difficult to follow for some reason. Sort of like my advice to jail inmates about talking about their case on the jail phones. It doesn't matter how many times I say, "Don't do it." They still do, then wonder why their case gets blown all to hell when the DA hears the recordings of all the crap they admitted.

That is exactly what I was trying to say but it seems I was misunderstood. Again. It must be my poor English.

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- This is Ghost Rider requesting a fly-by. - Negative Ghost Rider. The pattern is full.

I agree with some of the other responses here whereby I don't understand the need to have to wind a watch backwards at all, or why the 8-3 rule causes so many problems. Winding a watch forward all the time is one of the simplest way to avoid issues as that's the direction a watch is designed to go in, and it's not like it adds that much time to a time or date setting operation.

And as for using the quickset date during the 8-3 period : well, as Sharkman somewhat cheekily but nonetheless correctly illustrated, it's just something that some watches aren't designed to do - just like iPhones and Navitimers aren't designed to be waterproof.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

This is one of those topics that really confuses me. Every few months we get this kind of debate about what should be such a simple thng - don't wind time backwards or use the quick set date between 8pm and 3am and yet it really seems to cause all kinds of angst and I'm not sure why.

It's always a good idea to avoid winding time backwards - on some high complication pieces that can cause all kinds of issues regardless of the time of day and as has been said the amount of work involved in going forwards is minimal so I don't see why it causes problems.

When setting the time it's possible to accidentally go past the current time. So it easier to go back 10 min instead of 23hrs and 50 min forward.

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Regards,

Peter

BREITLING for Bentley Motors T & Mark VI, Aerospace
ROLEX Submariner Ceramic116610LN
OMEGA Plantet Ocean 8500 42mm Orange arabics
OCEAN7 LM-3

Agreed, but we're talking about it taking literally no more than 60 seconds of your time to wind the watch forward through 23 hrs 50 mins, and have zero risk of causing a problem to the mechanics, as opposed to 1 or 2 seconds to go backwards against the direction it's designed to go in. 9 times out 10 (and provided you're outside of the 8-3 period) it'll be fine, but for the sake of 58 seconds of my life, I personally don't risk it.

It's a no brainer to me, but that's just my opinion.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Is it so difficult to apply it?

It's a matter of personal discipline, that's all.

It amazes me how long this thread is going on for such a simple matter.

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- This is Ghost Rider requesting a fly-by. - Negative Ghost Rider. The pattern is full.

What if it's leap year? Can I wind it backwards if it's leap year? What about solar eclipses? Is it OK to use the quick set date during solar eclispes? I had a bad day yesterday. Should I risk winding backwards while having a bad day?

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SHARKMAN

Only if has a perpetual calendar.

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_________________
"Leave the gun, take the cannoli."