The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I recently bought my first Brietling, a Shark Chronograph, which I am really pleased with, and felt that the condition of the watch was as described by the seller and as shown in the photos, some of which are here. The only problems being a) the lack of papers and b) the bezel being slightly out of alignment (shown in the pics but I didn't really pick up on that before buying). So I decided to send the watch to BUK for authentication and to get the bezel realigned. They have come back with a comprehensive quote for recommended work which includes:-
- Attestation Certificate
- A full service
- Dial replacement - they say the original is discoloured
- Glass replacement - they say it is scratched
- Bezel replacement - they say the bezel is scratched and not very secure, although they are offering to realign the existing

I'm thinking that the certificate is a must, and given the lack of history, a full service is a very good idea. However I'm just not certain about the other options, especially as (perhaps in my newbie ignorance) I am very happy with the watch condition for its age. So my question to you guys is - is it ok for an older watch to show some signs of wear, or is there value to be gained from the expense of the thorough 'as new' overhaul?

Many thanks in advance for your opinions.

Regards

Paul

The crystal, dial and bezel are optional repairs, while the rest would be necessary. If you think that they are in good shape, which they appear to be in the pictures then I would leave them as is.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's personal choice whether you want it to look new or aged, obviously new is expensive

I would do the service if you don't know when the last one was, but dumb question on the bezel - can you not just turn it to align it?

Hi Paul,

Congratulations on your first Breitling. I hope it brings you much joy and happiness and fills your life with great memories.

I guess there will always be a debate about the merits of refurbishment vis the existing condition. If it were a coin, you would leave it. If it was a piece of jewellery, you would have it smartened up (probably). Where are watches in this?

My opinion is that if the watch is a current model, or within the past (say 10 years) I would opt for refurbishment if it was not quite right. If its an older and now not so common model or parts are harder to acquire, then I would opt for leaving it as it is.

Your Breitling looks great as it is. I would get the service and the certification, but the rest could wait sometime later. See, I have just broken my own opinion!

_________________
Jim

"You have Control".

Replace the crystal and leave the rest 'as is' is what i would do
Service should be minimal since its a quartz watch ?

_________________
"I spent most of my money on Booze, Breitling and Boats. The rest I wasted" - mostly Elmore Leonard

Thanks for the advice, and not a dumb question at all, but the bezel is half a second out of alignment, so the 'zero' pointer either sits just before the fixed marker or just after (as in the photos). I was anticipating this being a simple lift and reseat for BUK to do.

I am leaning towards having the service done, but also thinking would it do any harm to wait until the battery runs out. Not planning any underwater action so not too worried at this stage if the seals aren't 100%, or is that a naive approach?

Quartz, but analog so still has an oiled running train with oils that will break down.



Per what I wrote above, the oils in the watch break down over time and after 5 - 7 years they will be providing no lubrication at all. If it's been that length of time since the watch was serviced then the longer you wait the more damage will be done. The repairs are cheaper on quartz than mechanical, but not cheap, so if you don't know if / when it was serviced then I would want to get it done.

I doubt they would issue a Attestation Certificate for a watch that would not have had one when new. I think i'd just opt for the service.

_________________
Quite a few Breitlings, most of them starting with the letter C.

Ha - good point.

Watch is too early for COSC.

Many thanks for all of your replies and advice. I think I will opt for the service.

Odd about the certificate - when the dealer originally phoned the query through to BUK about authentication, they said it would be £24.50 for a letter of authenticity, but when the quote came back from BUK, it listed the Attestation Certificate at £60. I'll query that with them tomorrow.

If all it is is a letter saying that it's real - save your money. It's real and the letter is meaningless.

Well, they never stated that they would issue a COSC Attestation Certificate.
To attest means to certify or state that something is genuine, true, correct, etc.
As Roff said, save your money, it will not be COSC, just a letter stating that your watch is genuine.

_________________
"It is just a matter of time!"

There are some pros and cons to replacing the dial:

On the plus side, your watch will receive new hands which will be filled with SuperLuminova, a white lume material that if used with the old dial, will stand out against it quite sharply, and not match the yellowing tritium lume of the original dial. This will give you nighttime visibility of the hands, but not the dial, which will have faded quite a bit by now (tritium has a lume half-life of about 12 years).

On the minus side, Breitling won't have any Shark dials made up with SuperLuminova (they're not allowed to use tritium any more) so will have to have a service dial printed specially. My experience with this is that service dials are never as good as proper production/factory dials. I have one in a old-ish Superocean, and it's a bit fuzzy in areas, with imperfect printing and a misaligned '6'. It's completely kosher (it tallies with all the sevice documentation, and a call to the Breitling sevice agent who confirmed what had been carried out) - but it just doesn't look as good.

If you can live with the dim lume of the original dial, and it's obviously not discoloured or damaged, I'd keep it - unless they are willing to return the old one to you, for completeness's sake!

EDIT: link to a discussion I started here about service replacement dials:

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=50440

Thats exactly what I believed an Attestation Certificate to be as well. Surely, for the small amount they will charge to ID the watch as genuine, its a small price to pay and a reasonable investment.

_________________
Jim

"You have Control".

Er, no.

GBP60 is hardly a "small price to pay" for a letter and that letter is completely meaningless. We know the watch is real and a potential buyer in the future would have to spend about 30 seconds researching the model to confirm that it is real. I have never seen a sales listing offering a Breitling letter of authenticity and I have never heard of a potential buyer asking for one, it's a complete waste of money.