The Breitling Watch Source Forums

So, as I had posted earlier, my Navi has developed a rather creative opinion of how long a day is. It hence went off to the factory for a service.

Now, it purportedly came back... Or so says the notice I received. Breitling claims it had water damage and recommends to not ever expose the watch to any water.

They exchanged the crown and claim it works fine again.

So far so good. But the strange thing is, I know you're never supposed to bring a Navi close to water and thus, I never have done so. I have been uber-careful with the thing. A sandcorn in the desert was more likely to be damaged by water than this watch. It has spent the greatest part of its existence in an excellent box in an equally excellent safe, sad though that may be.

So where for the love of god should it have got water damage from?!?

Can anyone make sense of this?

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Cheers from Switzerland,

Fred

If Breitling says that it got water in it then I would be tempted to believe them, and if they replaced the crown that would appear to have been the point of ingress. It could simply have been a faulty crown stem that allowed rain to work its way in to the movement.

I've heard stories of water ingress from washing hands or similar then changing the time which sounds like it could happen here. I've also ruined a longines conquest just by leaving it on the bathroom vanity while I showered with the fan on (and that was 100m WR!)

Well, perhaps it really was water after all, although I can't remember any occasion where that could have come in contact with the watch...

In any case, I have to hand it to Breitling, their service is really second to none. Fast, efficient and the watch came back looking like new. They repolished the buckle which had taken one or two scratches and cleaned the rest of the watch perfectly.

Great kudos for that!

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Cheers from Switzerland,

Fred

snow???...condensation from temperature changes???...it could be so many things...I wonder about my own...we can have dramatic temperature changes in ChicagoLand...

Bill

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Breitling Old Navitimer

Temperature changes might indeed be the cause... They would've gone unnoticed... And could have altered the watch without my knowing... Sounds plausible, perhaps it's how it happened... We get crazy temp variations between heated rooms and bitter cold alpine winter.

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Cheers from Switzerland,

Fred

If the condensation caused water to get into the watch just like that then I would feel that the design of the watch needs to be changed! Otherwise u will find yourself having to send yr watch in every now and then cos it's hard to control such things and doesn't make sense for the watch to be that sensitive to water....Oh gosh this sounds worrying. Anyway glad that yr watch is ok now...

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Breitling Chronomat 01 Limited Edition
Breitling Navitimer 01 46mm

If you're storing in a safe, make sure that if its a firesafe or something that is airtight that there is nothing that could produce moisture inside. A big bag of desicant might be good to keep there as well. I do this.

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BreitlingSource Admin
http://www.breitlingsource.com - http://blog.breitlingsource.com

I had a similar experience once, never seen again after Breitling intervention and still can not explain it to this day how it might have happened in the first place.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=39737

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"It is just a matter of time!"

or over time a gasket was compromised...it happens...

Bill

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Breitling Old Navitimer

After a year?

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Cheers from Switzerland,

Fred

No.

That was my first thought, based on an experience I had rather than any expertise.

I had a watch with a faulty crown stem. Sent it to be fixed under warranty, and it came back with a note from the workshop indicating that it had water damage and that I shouldn't wear it in the shower. I didn't pay much attention to that instruction, thought it was ridiculous for a watch with a 2000m WR rating. For the record, I never wore it in the shower, but it did see a few pools and the ocean.

OK. This is very interesting. I bought a Breitling Chronograph for my Son in Australia. The watch is less than 3 years old (past the 2 year warranty of course).The watch has never been used in water, the crown has remained screwed down except to adjust the date, and the watch has now got water in it! How does this happen to a high-end watch?? I have had the Breitling folk in Sydney assess it and it is going to cost me $420 AUD for a service to fix it! This is a substantial fraction of the cost of the watch brand new. Is this normal?? I am appalled that this is possible with a supposedly water resistant watch. From reading this forum, it happens to many Breitlings, yet they are sold as quality timepieces. This is crazy.

The first question to ask Breitling Australia is whether the watch passed the pressure test. If it did then the only logical conclusion is that water got in through user error, if it fails the pressure test then it might be worth pushing for them to cover part of the costs even outside of the warranty period. The 'good' news is that $420 will include the service so is a lot cheaper than it could have been and it will reset the service window so that you will have another 5 - 7 years until the service is due.