The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I have a Steelfish that out of the blue began gaining time.

At first I noticed it was 5 minutes fast. I reset it and after a few days I noticed it was gaining around 25 seconds per day.

I kept resetting the time and it started getting even faster, around 35 seconds per day!

I have messed around with it again since and it is now not gaining noticeably.

I usually wear the watch all day everyday so it's running most of the time. The only time it ever goes dead is, for example, when I go away for a few days somewhere I don't want to risk losing it and I leave it at home. (Is this a bad thing?)

I have always taken it off at night and placed it face up flat on my table.

The watch was manufactured in mid 2005 and I bought it second hand. It has not been serviced yet and probably needs to be.

Any ideas why it was gaining and now it isn't? Does this suggest there's something going on inside that isn't right?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Yes...........



The inability to maintain accurate time on a watch this age is a sure sign that the watch needs servicing. Watch accuracy at the best of times is dependent on a number of factors - temperature, power reserve, position, etc. Add in oils that are breaking down and parts that are in need of service replacement and the inconsistent timekeeping is no real surprise.

Send it for a service and you'll get a like new watch back.

The watch running outside of COSC certification (-4/+6 seconds a day) is an indication that the watch is in need of a service. You might check your power reserve as well - it will have a tendancy to shorten as the watch approaches a service.

The watch is about 5 years old, so it's probably time to send it to Breitling for some TLC.

EDIT: Roff beat me to it. Big surprise!

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“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.” - Albert Einstein

Thanks to you both for your help.

Incidentally, is it a problem to let the watch stop/die occasionally?

I hear about people buying watch winders to keep things ticking along, but I really don't want one of those monstrosities!

Not a problem, just wind it manually than.