The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi for the first time ever the power reserve ran out and my chronomat stopped, so had to wind it manually, the manual suggests 40 turns, however I came to the stop at 31.
My question is can you do any damage by winding to the stop or does the Chronomat have some sort of protection to stop clots like me over winding it!

Thanks Jon

The number of turns is somewhat subjective. It depends on how far the crown rotates as you roll it between your thumb and finger. I have a daily wear watch that I wind at the same time every day. It takes between 10 and 16 winding motions to get it fully wound. It's all about how I hold the crown. So, don't worry about the number of turns it takes to wind it. You can't overwind an automatic. The mainspring will slip in the barrel when it is fully wound. I'm curious about how long it was motionless before it stopped. If the power reserve is significantly diminshed, I would take it to the AD for service. There are two in your area.

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1809 Cosmonaute
1903 Navi
Navi Olympus
Super Avenger

Good advice from Onewatchnut but I'm a bit confused (which is not unusual for me). Are you saying that after 31 winds you are encountereing a significant resistance to the point that you can't physicaly wind the watch any more? If so, I wonder if there might be something wrong. As Onewatchnut says, you should be able to wind it all day long without problems.

Maybe as usual i'm just misunderstanding the question.

The power reserve lastest approx 40-48 hour which I think is about right.

Yes when it was manually wound it did come to a stop point after about 31 turns, at which time I did not try to wind it anymore. I think my old B2 used to do the same though I cannot be sure.

Since then it has not seemed to perform any different. I guessed that on the automatic side there must be a mechanism to stop it getting over wound, but I was just curious about the manual winding side of things.
Thanks again for all the help, Jon

Yikes, my Chronomat just keeps spinning and spinning, even when I wind it past 42 turns. It does not stop, and I think that's the standard... curious why yours stops.

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Chris
Club Member #0070
2009 TT Chrono Evo w/Rose gold, blue face
2009 Airwolf w/black face, Co-Pilot module
2009 TT Lady Cockpit w/Mother-of-Pearl, Diamond face for the wife

If that happened, there's something wrong with your Evo.
You can wind any Auto for the whole day without any resistance.

Agreed. As stated, that needs to go to the AD ASAP. There should be no block to winding except your finger fatigue.

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Chronomat, Steel/Gold, MOP Dial, 2-tone band (2008)
Super Avenger Black Baton Dial (2009)
Bentley B04 GMT Silver Dial (2013)
Avenger Blacksteel Baton Dial (2014)

My B2, just back from BUSA for a complete overall, has increasing resistance around 35 turns, and definitely feels like it would break if I try to wind it after 40 turns.

--EasyD

Don't worry, it won't brake.