The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I am thinking of buying a breitling emergency, it is 2002 so it is the older version. It would be an everyday watch as i find my super avenger a little on the heavy side. Are they reliable watches and do the suffer from any faults? is a 2002 quatz watch likely to brake? any good on holiday to wear in pool swimming? how long does the battery last and how much is the replacement cost?

Pretty reliable, Superquartz models have a little more accurate movements then the older non-SQ versions.
(When you see the word chronometre on the dial it's a SQ version). Numbers on the dial on the SQ dials are thicker to, most people prefer that to the old fashioned thinner numbers.
It is NOT a good "holiday watch", swimmng with these things is defiitely not recommended. Battery from the transmitter needs to be changerd every 2 years, from the movement about every 3 years.
Full service with both batteries changed wll set you back about 400 dollars/euro.

Partly because of the way Breitling market them people sometimes think they're all-round rugged, like an upmarket G-Shock, but the depth rating is modest.

That can be a little misleading however, because Breitling did have chronometer certified versions of the non SQ model as well.

For what it's worth, I have always worn mine on holiday while swimming with no ill effect.

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Well the depth ratings do vary: 30m for the 1995-2001 Emergency; 30m for the 2002-12 Emergency SQ; 100m for the 2003-8 Emergency Mission; 50m for the current Emergency II. 30m is classified as "Will withstand splashes or brief emersion in water, but is not suitable for swimming", so that's a lot of Emergencies which aren't.

well, if all the seals are in perfect condition, this might be possible, but I still wouldn't try it.

Just watch this video of a DIY battery replacement of an Emergency and you can clearly see how easy water gets in the transmitter part if that big and flimsy seal is not 100% correctly installed and in very healthy condition....



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1BPc_gpk6U

I have the Orbiter 3 edition, which is really cool as it came with a piece of the balloon.

I find with something like this, is you know if it is for you as it is a personal thing. Lets face it, the Emergency is a specialist military/aerospace piece of kit with a distress transmitter, which I am fairly certain won't be used by 99.9% of their owners; they have them for other reasons.

It is a bit like a supercar; no body could possibly need one, but they are very desirable.

So - if you like the Emergency, if you like the way it looks, the fact that it is a bulky piece of kit (but very comfortable to wear) then go for it.

To answer your question - no problems with mine, the battery change however it quite pricey, I think the last time I got mine changed it was about £250.

I've one of each (Professional and Mission).

Been swimming with the Professional many times with no issues.

The Mission wears like a Skyland, the Pro is very light compared.

I find them both comfortable (I wear them with the bracelent and loose) and don't find any of the antenna caps dig in or anything.