The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hiya peeps
Recently bought a second hand Bentley from a errm decent source.
I know the watch is genuine as all the paperwork is correct etc.
However there are a couple of problems....
Firstly the main sweep hand does not absolutely centre when the chrono is reset it is about 1 second off centre.
Secondly (as I'm happy to live with that) the watch unwinds within a day.
I.e I wear it constantly the auto wind seems to work as in it stops frequently I then take it off and 'flick' it a few times and it starts functioning
But wearing it permanently it will not hold enough 'auto wind ' to keep it going.
The watch is under warranty...any suggestions? I seem to be a bit reluctant to send it back as have sent it back once already ref the sweep hand and I was told that this was normal and I deftly accepted this as right.
I also have another breitling chronograph and I have none of these problems.

the incorrect positioning of chrono hands is not "normal", but an easy fix and should be done.

regarding the "unwinding": the automatic winding mechanism is designed to maintain a power level, not to reach it; the efficiency does depend on your (hand) activity level, of course.

give your watch a full manual wind - about 40 crown turns - it should then keep going on it's own for approximately 40 hours.

no taps or flicks, please ?

should your watch stop again in normal everyday use, it definitely requires service attention.

Welcome aboard.

Firstly, the chrono hand should centre perfectly when the chronograph is reset. I'm surprised Breitling said it was normal for it not to. It's certainly not normal in my experience. Maybe you could post us a picture of two to show us the extent of the problem?

Secondly in terms of the power reserve - have you given it a full wind of at least 40 turns manually via the crown? Give it at least 40, 50 or even 60 turns as you can't overwind it. Then set it down and see how long it runs for without you moving it. If it's anything over 40 hours it's OK, and it would seem it just needed a proper wind. If it's considerably less than that, then there's a problem that would need Breitling to look at.

EDIT - Fred "did a Roff" and beat me to it, but I'm gonna post it anyway as I've typed!

_________________
Driver8

Site Moderator

and you did add the overwinding phobia module !

thanks for getting back to me guys.
Truth is that I have had the watch 3 months now and in that time i have not done a full rewind...not because i'm scared of overwinding as i know that issue is not possible..it's just that i figured that I have enough umph (technical term) to keep it going on the kinetic wind...i am not a gentle bloke, everything i do is heavy and as i have another chrono breitling that works very well on kinetic energy, i figured that this would also be ok..
I did however do a partial wind when i first had it, prob about 10 turns it still ran out of steam 'xx' days hence, even though i'm wearing it every day, i suspect that the 'spring' is ok. i would say the prime candidate at fault it the auto winder/kinetic bit not winding properly or not balanced properly so therefore not winding properly, I also hear that there is a 'reverse' winding mechanism and that if the watch isn't oiled/maintained correctly then this could be a problem.
have attached an image but being a noob it may not of worked..[img][/img]

To test the power reserve just give it a full manual wind - 40 turns as stated and then leave it sitting on the dresser until it stops - there's your reserve. Then give it another full wind and wear it. If it stops in the same time period then the auto winding is broken, if it runs longer then it likely isn't.

It doesn't make sense to even begin to worry about that until you have done the simple diagnostic tests Driver and Roff have suggested. Look at it another way: if your car stops running, would it make sense to speculate about the condition of the spark plugs if you haven't first checked to see if there's gas in the tank? Give the watch a full wind and see if that doesn't solve your problem.

Hiya folks,
continuing from may 31st, wound the watch 40 times, then have worn it since (taking it off at night) however the watch stopped at 5.15pm today.
Have tried to wind it up again to do second 'test' i.e winding up and leaving it on the side. however now it's not working at all.
suggestions???

as before - if it occurs again - send it in to have the problem solved.

Try moving the watch around a bit (don't shake it), or rotate it to see if it will start up. Sometimes when a watch stops, it needs a little help to get going. If it has stopped working altogether, then obviously there's a problem that needs to be addressed by a technician.

Regarding the first test, I don't know where you're located, so it's a little hard for me to determine how long the watch was running before it stopped. (You say it stopped at 5:15 pm "today." Where I am today, it's only 11:30 am.) I'm gathering it was between 48 and 72 hours...does that sound right? If so, that doesn't sound too bad. Power reserve on a 7750-based movement (assuming that's what you've got) is 42 hours, so you got more than the basic reserve by wearing it. That said, wearing it is not maintaining the power reserve enough to keep the watch from stopping, so you'll need to wind it every couple of days or so, or store it on a winder.

Or you could just send it in for a once-over to see if everything is alright.

sorry guys
yes i'm in the UK watch prob lasted about 48 hrs so not bad and I guess the auto bit works...ish, however with me wearing it I am very disappointed that it has ran out.
especially as I assumed with the auto wind that it would just continue running 'til I stop wearing it'
I have another Breitling Chronograph and that one is once on forget it as it keeps up with itself on the auto wind.
I do have this watch on a 12 month warranty and as i've only had it three months I guess I got reason enough to send back
(also with the sweep hand not centering) as per piccy. I guess that's the best result!
Thanks for your help folks

Ideally that is how they would work. Admittedly, 48 hours isn't that great, given that you were wearing it, so it is possible the auto winding isn't working as efficiently as it should be. Given that it is under warranty, and there is another technical issue you want addressed (the non-centered sweep hand), I think it makes sense to send it in and have the whole thing taken care of. Good luck.

If it only ran for 48 hours of constant wear after a full wind that's not even close to right. It needs servicing.