The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I recently sent my SOH 46 back to Breitling because of the Ocean Racer strap issue, and I also had them regulate it because it was around 5 seconds/day slow. Now, it appears to be 8 seconds/day fast! What's with Breitling; they can't achieve a better regulation than that???

BUSA or local AD Breitling certified wathmaker?
Regardless, I would send it back...and ask for a free cap for all the trouble....

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Rolex DeepSea, GMT Master II TT, Pres 18038, DJ TT 16013
Breitling Chronomat 39mm (bullet+UTC), Starliner SS/MOP (wife)

back with ROLEX

The AD claimed they sent it back to Breitling (primarily for the Ocean Racer clasp issue). I assumed that was Switzerland, no? It took around 6-ish weeks. The regulating part of the service was more of a secondary complaint.
Wherever it was sent, they stamped my Breitling booklet with a certified Breitling Service Stamp dealy-o.
I'm just surprised that the watch came back being less accurate than it was when I returned it.

The idea of sending a watch away for regulation boggles my mind.

Aside from the fact that a simple regulation to address a small error is a very simple and quick job, there is a good chance that a watch regulated to perfect time will get jarred in shipping and have an error introduced. BUSA may have got this wrong, or they may have got it perfect and then the package got dropped.

If you can find an AD who is also a service centre they whould have a timing machine, pressure tester and watchmaker which together makes it a 10 minute job.

I agree. I went on a short family trip this past weekend, and reset my watch to the EXACT second with time.gov, but in just 2 days have noticed my watch running over + 10sec/day. INSANE. This is a brand new watch too!

There's the answer for the error then in your case. It takes a few weeks to settle in to being run and worn.

I haven't had any timing problems with any of my (Breitling) watches so far....

Except for the Bentley, which was due for a complete overhaul (5 years old) (its there now)

Hope they send it back in the COSC acceptable range

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Rolex DeepSea, GMT Master II TT, Pres 18038, DJ TT 16013
Breitling Chronomat 39mm (bullet+UTC), Starliner SS/MOP (wife)

back with ROLEX

this is quite interesting... since these are mechanical watches they can never keep perfect time, right? So how much exactly is too much for a certified chronometer?

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Navitimer, Steelfish, Colt GMT, Aerospace, Chronospace, Chrono Superocean

interesting read
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COSC

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Rolex DeepSea, GMT Master II TT, Pres 18038, DJ TT 16013
Breitling Chronomat 39mm (bullet+UTC), Starliner SS/MOP (wife)

back with ROLEX

COSC standard is -4 to +6 seconds per day.

Thanks Roff, I wasn't aware of that. Is there a break in period?

You can call it that way.

There are so many variables involved in regulating a watch it is difficult to get them all to come together at the same time to provide precise timing. If you read the methods used in testing, you will notice that the automatic winding mechanism is disconnected during the tests.

There is a characteristic of a watch called isochronism. It is the ability of the watch to keep the same rate as the mainspring unwinds. Typically, a watch will run slightly faster as the power decreases because the impulse from the escapement is not as strong and the balance does not swing as far. Consequently, the watch will probably run a little slower when you wear it since the mainspring is maintained in a more fully wound condition by the automatic winding mechanism.

We're not talking about a lot of difference here, but if the watch was on the low edge of the limit it could slip outside the limit when the mainspring is always close to being fully wound.

Another factor is positional timing. For a wristwatch, the five positions are dial up, dial down, pendant (crown) up, pendant left (looking at the watch from the front) and pendant down. These are the positions the watch will traverse while being worn. Again, the rate is adjusted to average out the inconsistencies. If the watch happens to be in one position more than the rest because of the physical habits of the wearer, it will run predominantly at that rate.

The point of this treatise is that even though the watch passed the COSC tests, it may perform outside the COSC parameters when worn.

I usually tell people to wear the watch for a couple of weeks to see if it runs fast or slow, and by how much. If it is not an acceptable amount, I put it on the timing machine and adjust it to offset the reported error. Now, the watch should keep better time when worn but it probably will be off if you wind it and leave it on the dresser.

Obviously, a more precise movement will have a much smaller error than one of lesser quality. However, the same rules apply.

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1809 Cosmonaute
1903 Navi
Navi Olympus
Super Avenger

I noticed that when the power decreases, my watches run slower.

It's possible that the hairspring is not contacting one or both regulator pins when the power is low. That will make the watch run slower because the effective length of the hairspring is longer. Also, the condition of the oils can slow the balance at the same time the swing is reduced by the loss of power. There are a lot of factors in the equation. Positional errors are also affected by changes in power. They all impact the amount of time it takes for the balance to complete the cycle. That's why I usually say "typically". Any time I make an absolute statement, I am immediately proven wrong.

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1809 Cosmonaute
1903 Navi
Navi Olympus
Super Avenger