The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi Everyone,

First time post and unfortunately it's regarding a problem with my Superocean Chrono. The watch normally keeps time very well, at least to my satisfaction - usually a minute or two month lost each month. Yesterday this changed dramatically with the watch gaining massively. It's gaining about 10 seconds per hour. Happened completely out of the blue - went to bed and it was fine, woke up to find it running almost 45 minutes ahead of the correct time.

I got the watch online a couple of years ago so I know that Breitling won't consider this an authorised source (it is definately genuine). To compund things I have been living in Calcutta, India for the last year so won't be able to easily have it AD serviced.

Any suggestions or ideas? I'm bemused as to what could have happened as there was no impact or event that would have triggered it. I normally wear the watch all the time. It was left overnight on a bedside table with a book and lamp beside it - no strong magnetic fields I am aware of.

Thanks,

Iain

Welcome to the forum!

Sorry to hear about the problem. The only thing I can think of (but remember I'm just an enthusiast, not a watchmaker as others in here) is that it has got magnetized somehow (despite your last sentence). If you take it to your AD/watch store they should be able to check this and also fix it quite quickly if it is the case.

Good luck and keep us posted!

_________________
Collection: http://s540.photobucket.com/albums/gg32 ... mview=grid

Iain, just wondering if you have got the problem sorted? I had the same sort of problem with my B2.... I suspect it took a hard knock although i'm not sure where!
I had to send it back to Breitling, although thankfully it was only away for anout a month. £200 later and it is good as new!!!

Patrick

_________________
Previous watches: B2, Superocean, Super Avenger, Colt, Skyland.

Current: Yellow Emergency.

Weird, this just happened to me with my Chronomat Evolution. Yesterday, it was keeping nearly perfect time. When I woke up this morning, it was WAY off. And it's currently gaining several minutes per hour (I haven't timed it exactly, but it looks like it's on the order of 5-10 minutes per hour). I don't think I've abused it in any way (no drops or knocks or anything). I guess I'll just take in in. Sigh.

It's magnetised guys... just take it to a "real" watchmaker and have it demagnetised, takes 5 minutes and 0 dollars....

_________________
Vanessa
#18

Another failure might have happened, I had the same experince when my CSO was new, out-of-box, bought from a good AD: if I explain well, somehow the mainspring began to slip when the watch was fully wound and worn. This is not a QC issue and can happen to any movement, solution is a good watchmaker, who recognizes this failure. Does not need spare parts. Extremely rare, so demagnetizing should come first. In connection with the failure I've described you can find old posts on TZ fora (cca between October 2003 and spring 2004).
PS: Since the repair my watch keeps EXCELLENT time: now cca. + 2.7 sec a day and is my daily wearer 7/24.
You will have lots of fine time with your CSO! Don't be sorrow, sometimes machines go wrong, even the best ones. CSO is a great choice though.
Best regards: Robertus

This question is more geared to Watchmakeress. How easy is it for the watch to become magnetized? I mean we're surrounded by magnetism just about everywhere, from speakers to cabinet doors (those little magnets on the edges that keep the doors closed) to most electric 'running' motors. Is it seconds or minutes of exposure?

Cheers in advance for any help you can offer.

_________________
Breitling Cosmonaute
Breitling Wings Automatic

That's a hard question to give an accurate answer to...
The most likely way to get a watch magnetised nowadays is via a cell phone... So if you leave your watch on your nightstand while you sleep, next to your cell phone, chances are your watch will get magnetised. Maybe not every day, maybe not for months, and maybe only once...
It is a mystery to me as well. Some watches get affected at the airport, most of them don't...
When you get an MRI or X-rays though, ALWAYS take your watch off, coz that will almost always have a negative affect on your watch (also with quartz movements).
I wish I could give you a better answer...........

_________________
Vanessa
#18

I never thought of the cell phone. Very useful info! Thanks, Vanessa.

_________________
Breitling Cosmonaute
Breitling Wings Automatic

Just to follow up, my problem (according to my AD, who fixed it) was apparently a tangled hairspring. Not sure how that happened, but it's working well now...

That has the exact same effect as the magnetised hairspring! So that was the only other option I had in mind, but since you said you hadn't abused it, I kinda ruled that out. So that means you DID abuse it (involuntarily)...
This hairpring can ONLY get tangled if it received a big impact of some kind. Unless... there was grease or oil on the spring which I don't know how it would have gotten there....

I'm glad the problem got solved, but please remember that the inside of a watch doesn't just start acting weird because of no reason whatsoever.... Something must happen to it before it'll start acting up. Which isn't ALWAYS the wearer's fault, but 90% of the time it is....

_________________
Vanessa
#18

Yes, obviously I did something, but I'm really having a hard time figuring it out. I'm so anal that I'm sure I would have noticed a drop or a hard knock. I get pissed even when I get a little (easily fixed) scratch on the bracelet.

Does the malfunction always happen immediately after the incident that caused it? In other words, could it have gone a few days or weeks after the damage before showing symptoms? The only thing I can think of the day before it started having a problem is that I was out in the cold a lot. All of my jewelry gets looser in the cold (I guess I shrink!), and maybe it was moving around on my wrist more than normal as I walked. But it doesn't seem like that should cause this kind of problem, and it's not like I was jogging or playing basketball or anything; I was (quite literally) taking a walk in the park. And that's about all I did the day before it broke. So I'm stumped, but I really want to figure out what I did so I can make sure it doesn't happen again...

Yes the time gain would happen immediatly after the impact.
It's hard to imagen what could have happened by walking in the park...
Don't sweat over it, it's unlikely it will happen again!
Take care!

_________________
Vanessa
#18