The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I usually take my watch every 2 years (when the battery needs replacing) to a Breitling / swiss watch seller in central Manchester. This was done two years ago, as usual. On the face of the watch, I have recently noticed that the luminous green covering the numbers and the hands has become a dull bronze colour as if some fungus is growing on these. I had noticed just after the latest battery change a fleck of dust on the inside of the glass (it is still there) and, although I was annoyed about the obvious lack of care after paying 40 GBP + for the procedure. I meant to get this sorted but never did as in time i forgot or could not spare the time. Has anybody had a similar experience, and, furthermore, what could I do about it ? I bought the watch with the black face option available at the time as I thought one day blue would go out of fashion, and black is classic. Also, the green stuff was never visible in the dark even when the watch was new. Is that normal ?
Thanks.

The Chronospace is quite an old model now - yours is 11 years old, and lume "technology" (if you want to call it that!) has certainly improved over the years. Additionally the luminescence of the material is proportional to the amount of the substance that has been applied. I'm guessing that the Chronospace just may not have had a particularly thick application on the hands and dial - hence the faintness of the lume even when new.

In terms of the discolouration on the hands, I had the same thing on an old Seiko of mine after a battery change by a high street store. In my case it was basically due to them re-using the old gasket which allowed moisture to enter the case and therefore caused mould to grow on the hands. The whole thing stopped working shortly after that. I think your's has been caused by the same thing - moisture in the case.

I'm surprised that an official Breitling AD would be so careless, especially leaving a fleck of dust inside the crystal. You say they sell Breitling watches, but are they actually an official AD? I'm not enormously familiar with the battery changing process for quartz Breitlings but I woudn't be surprised if an official AD would've sent it back to Breitling UK for the battery change. As I say, as an auto owner, I don't know what the rule thumb is on quartz models, but £40 strikes me as being quite cheap actually.

Either way it will need to go back to Breitling UK now for a service and new set of hands. Hope you get it sorted out OK.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

I've had the same problem with moisture in my Jupiter Pilot (after 7 years).
Have had the battery changed twice by an AD who pressure test it every time (I saw him actually do it).

The AD says that if it passes it is fine and otherwise he suggests to send to B'ling for a service. According to him the seals only last about 12-18 months while a battery lasts 2 years. Therefor sweat and water can enter over time if one uses the watch on a daily basis. One can however get lucky and have longer lasting seals.

BTW my AD charges about 10-15 euro for a battery change which I don't consider to be over the top.

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Breitling Jupiter Pilot blue/reveil
Breitling B-1 blue
Breitling B-2 blue