The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi,

I've got a SuperOcean which I do not wear all the time. Sometimes it's 2/3 weeks before I go to wear it.

Because it's automatic it means I must wind the watch when I want to wear it (as I do not currently have a watch winder).

The problem is that sometimes I cannot set the day or date after winding the watch. The day/date tries to move but wont transition to the next day or date.

Therefore I either must manually wind the hands of the watch going through all the days until I get the correct day/date (sometimes I must wind the time through weeks to get to the correct day and date).

Or I just leave the day/date incorrect and set the correct time, then in a short while I'll try and set the day/date and it nows moves so I can set it.

I sent it back to Breitling and they stated there was no issue. But this still sometimes happens (approx 60% of the time I try to set the day/date after winding the watch)

Is this a fault with the watch? Or is it because I am constantly leaving it unused and manually winding it?

Any help would be really great.
Many thanks

Hi pblackwe. Welcome to the forums.
Sorry you are having difficulty with your Superocean.
The first thought that comes to my mind is that you are possibly trying to set the date on your watch between the hours of 8:00pm and 3:00am. This is important that you don't. The reason is is that between these hours the watch date gearing is engaged and attempting to set the date between these hours can damage the mechanism. It may be that when you have attempted this in the past on some occasions (when it sets easily) it has been at the appropriate time and on other more difficult occurences when you could not set it it was during the "prohibited" time.

If this is the problem, then it is certainly encouraging that Breitling says there is nothing wrong, and you may have not done any permanent damage.

Is any of this possible or does this not seem to fit?

Hi thank you for your reply.

I do not think this is the problem. I am aware of not changing the date/day during those hours. Although I cannot say for sure 100%.

I say this because when the watch has stopped and needs to be wound you do not know whether the current 'stopped' time is in that timeframe and not 1pm instead of 1am for example.

The user manual tells you to 1. wind up the watch , 2. set the day/date to previous day/date , 3. wind the hands of the watch through to the next day so it sets the correct day/date and time, and that is exactly what I have been doing, in that order.

I would assume the not changing the day/date in that timeframe applies to when the watch is current running and has not stopped?

This means perhaps I should do step 3 before step 2, ie set the time first before setting the date, this way I could set the time say to 5 o'clock and that way I know for sure it's not because I'm trying to set it in the timeframe I'm not supposed to.

What do you think?

I have approx 9 months left on my 2 year warranty and obviously want to make sure if it is a fault it get repaired under the warranty.

Many thanks
P

You should never use the quick set date in that window - it will cause damage eventually, and potentially on the first time you do it.

The easiest way is just to wind your watch once wvery 24 hours so that it doesn't stop, but if you aren't sure whether it's stopped at 1am or 1pm then simply wind time forward until it's outside of the 8 - 3 window and then use the quick set date. There is no risk at all of damage if you wind time forward.

Yes I think the problem may be that in the instruction on #2 you may be using the quick date set and not be advancing the date via the time. What should occur is #1 wind the watch. #2 Set the date by advancing the time. (you don't know if it am or pm so if you use the quick date set, that is the second crown position, then the gears may be engaged between the 8:00pm and 3:00 am time).
#3 Once it is determined that it is 12:00am (confirmed by visual inspection of the date change) then advance it past 3:00am and you should then be able to change the date using the quick date set.

Try it but if you feel any resistance stop.

Ok, so what I will do is ....

1. wind the watch,
2. set the time ensuring it's not in that transition time of 8-3 (as I don't know whether it's am or pm),
3. use quick set day/date to set correct day/date (unless the day/date is only a day or so behind in which case I'll just wind the time forward a few days until the day/date is correct),
4. get an automatic watch winder! ....in which case any suggestions?
5. i will regulary use the quick set day/date whilest the watch is working in oder to test I can manually change the day/date, as up until now I only see this problem when winding it up for use (but i obvioulsy won't try this between the hours of 8-3!). If I have the problem when the watch is working (ie not only when i wind it up) , then that could mean there is a problem I would think?

And if I still have the problem when doing step 3. ie it still gets stuck while trying to set the quick day/date? ...does that mean I definately have a problem? (after ensuring it's not between 8-3)

Many thanks
P

If it still sticks then you have probably damaged the quick set date and it will need to go to Breitling for repair.

Lots of threads about this on here. Probably your best bet is to use the search function and see what other members recommend.
There is also a great blog concerning this the link is here. http://blog.breitlingsource.com/2007/03 ... -whatever/

Personally I don't have many watches so I just have a single winder. It is a Wolf 1.5 and I couldn't be happier with it.

Cheers

Roffensian I hope you are wrong, I really do. The only comfort I have is that Breitling sent it back recently saying it was ok and there was not a problem. Fingers crossed. What I will try doing is what I stated in my previous post and if there is still a problem I will once again send in back and hopefully the warranty will cover it.

Thanks br549 for the link, I will check out the wolf.

Many thanks folks
P

when i happened to try and set the date on my SA after 8pm, the date just skipped. when i wind my watch that i haven't worn for a few days, i wind past to 4, and then you can see if the date changes automatically.

it is really important to do that as said here you can seriously damage your watch!

if breitling said it's ok then dont worry, just get into the habit!

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Rolex Explorer II White Dial

Thanks ghosty,

I'll make sure I don't do a schoolboy error and set the day/date in that window. I've got a watch winder on order as well which is what I should have done in the first place, although it was never suggested to me when I bought the watch.

Just curious, but wat damage does it actually do if you do set the day/date within the 8pm-3am timeframe?

Would you really seriously damage the watch? if so how?

P

I'm not a horologist and don't know much about the "guts" of a watch. I do know that between the previously mentioned time of 8:00 and 3:00 the gears are engaged in such a way that adjusting the date can damage it. I am sure Roff or one of the other experts on here can answer that question more fully.
There is a Japanese Breitling Video that shows the gears and how they mesh and interract that may provide some explanation for you.
That link is here: http://www.studiobreitling.com/movie/ It's the video showing the date wheel on the watch. Second row ,second one down.

Cheers

The danger, which is very real, is that you will bend or break the teeth of the wheel in the date change mechanism that engages with the main running train. The date change mechanism is driven by the main running train (it has to be because that's what the spring drives) and the whole mechanism moves to engage with the running train as midnight approaches and then moves away afterwards.

By using the quick set date you are manually moving the date change mechanism much faster than would occur with the watch and if the gear wheels are partially engaged then bad things have a tendency to happen!

Thanks for the information folks

Rgds
P