The Breitling Watch Source Forums

As the title suggests many of us know that the two tone pilot bracelet is gold rolled/filled, in effect, a heat bonded gold laminate of substantial thickness over the a base material (steel in this case).

Whilst this process beats plating hands down, (between 50 and 100,000 times thicker than some plating), do any Forum members have experience of bracelet FADE, where the centre link gold laminate has been scratched, over polished or worn to such a degree that the stainless base has revealed itself?

I had a long conversation with Breitling UK this morning and asked what their position was for out-of-warranty time pieces on which the above had occurred, the short answer..............Bar some vintage 'plated' variants, it is something that is almost completely unheard of.

Now truth be known, I had specifically enquired about a 2007 Chronomat evolution, two tone, rose gold diamond bezel,pushers,crown and diamond MOP dial, so I am unable to report any particulars on other models. However the following was proffered, after having said that I would take the response as "Gospel" and may later rely on the phonecall having taken the VERY helpful Service Centre staff member's name.

Bracelet-Polished Stainless and 18kt rose Gold Wrapped links, all spring bars and link screws (removable or otherwise) are steel. The Breitling wings logo on the clasp is Solid 18kt rose gold.
Should they wear through?? Never, according the this and two other members of staff.

Case- Stainless Steel, as we all know.

Crown and pushers- Solid 18kt rose Gold, joined to the case and screws with Steel, as the gold would not sustain the torsion forces of every day winding and would strip easily. This was contrary information to that I had previously understood to be true, but during the 35 minute phone call, this was verified on several occasions.

Bezel- 18kt solid rose gold, in this case set with D-E colour VVS clarity Wesseltons, fully certified.

Now some of the points above may be new to some, old to others and/or irrelevant to most, however I found it most interesting that much of the information available on the internet is sensationalist conjecture, with supporters of other famous brands claiming improper use of 'plating' and dubious workmanship by Breitling.

It would appear on the face of it, that Breitling UK are very up front with material use, although even that seems to differ between phonecalls!

Kindest Regards
CR

This has been discussed many times including a lot of emotional discussions. The bottom line is that the 20 micron rolled gold layers on the bracelet can theoretically wear, but it's unlikely to happen and will take decades. Not just the thickness, but the fact that it is a gold sheet rather than a molecular deposit makes a difference.

Now, crown and pushers gets interesting.

Historically they were without a doubt similar construction to the bracelet - rolled gold over a steel core. However, there were reports of them wearing - they get a lot more use than the bracelet, and I am starting to believe that there have been some production changes in the last couple of years. That's kind of what BUK are saying to you, but the 'solid gold' still requires some explanation.

I don't know when you can call something solid vs. rolled, clearly it implies a greater thickness, but there has to still be a steel core for the reasons that Breitling mention. Take the crown for example - it is screwed onto the crown stem so at the very least the interior structure with the screw threads needs to be steel. In reality I suspect that the steel core for pushers and crown has become smaller in recent years to provide a greater amount of gold and avoid the steel from showing through (what would normally be called brassing, but that term is a little nonsensical with a steel core).

As a by product of that change it has (I am supposing) allowed Breitling to refer to them as solid gold rather than rolled gold. I would love to see a current 'gold' crown alongside one from a few years ago.

With you Roff!

I summised form the conversation that a steel winder/screw was 'plugged' into a solid gold crown to use crude terms. They were absolutely unyielding in the point that the only wrapped components on throughout the watch were the bracelet midlinks.

Even the term 'wrapped' had the chap using a slighty stern tone to elaborate that the process was in fact 'capped', suggesting an even thicker layer of gold than 'wrapped' would imply.

To put into perspective the wear required to remove the finish, it was said that to totally remove the gold would be the same as to have a very thin ladies necklace simply crumble to dust after 20-30 years of polishing, when in fact they last into centenial proportions, and even when they do, the components are replaceable.

Having thought about the matter further, I'm almost feeling assured by the fact that SOLID 18k combined with S/S can lead to the sort of bracelet stretch issues associated with my 1990 two tone datejust as a result of using metals of different hardnesses, rendering the bracelet almost irrepairable. Perhaps 'capped' gold (at the Breitling pricepoint at least) remains a sturdy option for long term lonegevity.

I'd like to know what day to day stories people have of this finish being scratched or worn just for fun!
Perhaps some buyers were even unaware of the finish being used? I, for one, do not feel to cheated just yet!

Kindest Regards
CR