The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi all,

One of my watches (Breitling SO) is a constant 10 sec out per day, its about 4/5 years old so should be serviced but its only a bit of a beater and I don't really have the time to send it off and have it serviced as I'm moving about quite a lot at the moment.

I'm wondering, what would be the problem with having it regulated to run a little slower instead of a service, then when I wanted it / had the time to get it serviced I could do that, say 6 months down the line?

I don't want to damage the components by regulating it and not servicing it so if regulating it is a bad idea I won't bother.

Thanks in advance for replies.

J

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Breitling
Omega
more..

It's not that regulating is a bad idea, it's that not servicing a watch that is telling you that it needs one is a bad idea.

In all likelihood you'll have it regulated and then it will become inaccurat again - regulating is 'moving the goal posts', but not solving the problem.

The reason for the loss of accuracy will be the breakdown of the oils and they will continue to breakdown and won't provide lubrication. That will mean that there is a lack of consistency in the movement of parts against one another, which affects accuracy and a reduction in lubrication, which leads to increased wear, and in turn may lead to higher servicing costs.

Thanks for the reply as always.

So, if I wasn't going to service the watch for another 6 months, is it worth regulating it now or would I find that it loses accuracy within a short space of time?

I just thought of regulating it as I thought it would be a very quick service; same day, possibly? And if it was a quick thing to do which will get my watch a little more accurate and keep me going until I do get it serviced in the next 6 months.

The only thing that leads me to think I should get a service instead of regulating is that if I want to manually wind the watch its not a very easy and smooth motion, it seems to give more resistance when winding. Its not difficult or massively noticeable, but it is more resistant than my other watches...

Thanks again,

J

_________________
Breitling
Omega
more..

If you aren't planning to service now then I would just put it in a drawer and forget it. Regulating won't damage it, but I would be surprised if it worked for a relatively extended period of time like 6 months and running the watch for 6 months beyond the point where symptoms suggest that it needs servicing is likely to increase ultimate servicing costs.