The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Good morning all. I had the horrible experience of the crown detatching from my watch yesterday when I was setting the time. I firstly noticed something was wrong when I was setting the time as when I was turning the crown the hands would move then stop moving then start moving again even though I was continuously turning the crown. Anyway when i was out shopping with the wife and kids yesterday I noticed that the crown wasnt up flush with the case so I tried to tighten it up gently and it would not tighten up and the crown just fell off. Luckly I was in a shopping centre that has a breitling AD and I was only 100 yards from the shop at the time so I went straight there and they have sent it off for a full service. What I would like to know is obviuosly this wont be covered in the service but will it be expensive to fix the crown on top if the £500 service charge and will they fit a new crown as I dont want the same one put on if its going o happen again. Also is this a common thing as I have lost alot of confidence in Breitling now with this happening to such an expensive watch and it took my wife along time to save up for it. I know the watch is 7 years old but it was sold as being new and unworn when she bought it at xmas from swiss watches UK and I have only worn it about four times. It looked like nothing had snapped off as the stem and spring are still intact on the case and it does not look like there is anything broke off inside the crown itself.

Any advice would be great, thanks.

Impossible to know how it will be fixed without knowing the cause. The crown has obviously detached from the crown stem but that doesn't necessary mean that either part is damaged, it may never have been attached properly, or loctite may have aged over 7 years. A new crown stem with be minimal additional service cost, a crown would be a bit more, but likely not significant. All you can really do is wait for the estimate.

It's not a common problem on the Evo, but not unheard of as the crown is a high use piece.

Thanks Roff, i didnt realise that they just used glue to hold the crown in place. That dosent seem like a very secure way of holding something in place on an expensive watch, are all crowns on other manufacturers ie rolex, omega etc held in place in the same way?
Thanks Stuart.

It's not just glue, they're threaded onto the crown stem with loctite used to hold the crown on the threads. However, if that watch was bought NOS after spending 7 years in a display case / vault / similar it likely wasn't an ideal environment for that loctite.

Ok thanks, 11 weeks wait to get it back is a bit of a joke mind. Im missing it already lol.

Just out of interest why do Breitling always insist on changing the hands of a watch when they service them?

The hands are taken off during disassembly and cannot be reattached. That's my understanding.

Well, they could be reattached, but it's not a good idea. Hands have to be removed because otherwise the dial can't be separated from the dial and they are friction fit. Once they have been installed over the arbor and then removed they won't fit as well if reused and will tend to slip.

Thanks, I was just curious as to why they fitted new hands each time. Now I know