The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Ok Roff i call uncle. No more posts I promise. Have been talking with the AD. Just hate to part with my new baby! Sorry.

I agree, younwill drive yourself crazy trying to figure out if something is wrong. The truth is that it should not be having the issues you spoke about. If it was me, I would just take it in and get it checked out. A pain, I know, but you should be just enjoying the watch not worring about it and once something does something "wierd" you always will be looking for it to do that again.

Going to the AD tomorrow and giving him my four week old toy! And three weeks or so all will be right with the world again!

So the Breitling authorized repair center in NYC just called and advised that the oscillating weight was out of place and rubbing against the case back. Probably due to shock. Glad small problems will be returned after a few days of testing. Can anyone advise what an oscillating weight is? This lost time problem started a week after I had the watch and was eratic and acute since. Does this make sense? Could testing uncover anything else?

The bit that drives the automatic winding.

Could that cause the erratic behavior the watch has been displaying? Would the watch just get slower and slower?

It wouldn't wind properly so it would run out of reserve and then keep stopping when you weren't moving your arm much which would appear to be getting slower.

So my SA is ready. The message says they preformed a "basic service" and testing and I can pick up. Will be there for the 10 am opening tomorrow!

So I have my watch back and after setting the watch to the atomic clock (the Breitling technician did not precisely set the minute hand!), the watch after 24 hours is running 8 seconds fast and therefore out of spec. Getting disappointed that a watch I waited to obtain for many years has not run correctly since I own it even after a warrentee service. I am going to monitor the watch over the the next week and see what happens, maybe averaging will help.

It's just been serviced, it's going to take a while to settle. Give it at least 3 - 4 weeks before testing the rate.

You da man!! Thanks feel much better!

So I was running the chronograph this morning and after five minutes at about 6:20 the watch is stopped dead! The crono second hand was stopped at the same spot as the watches minute hand. The crono had run 5 minutes. When I hit the start stop pusher nothing happened. When I pushed the reset pusher the crono reset and the watch started. Nice to know my $25 Casio works better than a $5k watch I have waited my entire life to acquire!

Sounds to me like the hands haven't been put on straight and the chrono hand is fouling the minute hand. Either way, it's totally unacceptable in terms of QC from Breitling. At least it's under warranty, but I totally feel your pain and sense of disallusionment over things like this.

I had similar service issues with IWC when they appeared to not take sufficient care with my watch, and that event single-handedly put me off owning another one : not because of the watch itself, but because of the lack of care by the service centre which meant I was fearful of ever sending another one in for a repair or service.

Get on to Breitling IMMEDIATELY if you haven't already, and give them a piece of your mind. Hope they sort it out for you.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

On my way now. Want a full refund or a new watch and suspect Iwill get neither. Going to call my AD too and give him a piece of my mind. Wanted a breitling my whole life and now I do not care at all about it. Suspect this will go to BUSA for 4-6 weeks. I cannot conceive how this can even happen especially after they serviced the watch and supposedly tested it! How does a watch leave the factory like this. is quality suffering for sales? They can have the dammed thing!

Sadly as with any mechanical item, issues can happen from time to time during manufacture as no process can be 100% error-free 100% of the time..... although I would also argue that if enough testing occurs prior to dispatch, even issues from the factory should be minimal.

HOWEVER, QC issues AFTER a repair/service should NEVER happen IMO. If a watch is returned with an issue, the company has one chance to restore a customer's faith in the brand. One single chance. It's often said that how a company deals with an issue is ultimately more important to customer loyalty than if the issue never happened in the first place.... and I tend to agree with that.

Personally I have a massive problem with poor customer service and QC issues on expensive watches. Ultimately these watches are purely luxury items - no-one NEEDS a watch costing thousands ; they are total luxuries, nothing more - and the service we receive should reflect that.

That said, I personally haven't ever had an issue with Breitling's service or QC here in the UK, so if you can get past this particular problem, I'd just say there's a lot to like about Breitling's watches. Hope it works out for you.

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Driver8

Site Moderator