The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hey everyone- I've been lurking aroiund the site now for a while and finally registered. Recently got a chronomat evo (love it!!) from AD but have some questions/ worries:

My bracelet is from mid 2007 although purchased Oct 2010. I haven't been able to date the watch as I don't have the tools or know how to remove the strap. Should I be concerned that my watch was potentially sitting around for a long time?

Second issue is the bigger problem- the tachymeter works correctly most of the time except for the odd glitch e.g. earlier I started the tachymeter and stopped/ started it a couple of times in fairly quick succession and the 3rd hand got stuck i.e. it would not start again by pressing the start button. I hit the reset button and it started timing again instead of resetting. This has happened twice.... and I am very worried!!!

Third thing- if I shake the watch I can hear a very distinguishable mechanical sound followed by a kind of 'zip' or ratchet sound. Is that correct?

I would really appreciate your advice!!

Further info: The tachymeter problem seems to happen when I start and stop the tachymeter in very quick succession and then attempt to start it again i.e. within a second or couple of seconds. I can for example start and stop the tachymeter at every 5 second mark without issue. Please help!!

Last time this happened I started and stopped the tachymeter couple of times in quick succession and reset the dial but could then subsequently not start the tachymeter- the start/ stop button was not clicking in....I then hit the reset button and it started and was back to normal operation... worrying

Well let's try to clear up the confusion.....

It's not the tachymeter it's the chronograph. I suspect that all that is happening is that you are starting and stopping it too quickly - remember this is a mechanical watch - it's not designed to time events of only a second or so in length. You have to give the mechanical elements a chance to set themselves properly into running / not running.

The noise is perfectly normal - search for valjoux wobble on here and you'll find many threads on the subject.

It's not unusual for the watch to be sitting at an AD for a period of time so no cause for concern.

Might be a good idea to just run the chronograph for a day every so often to get all the gear bedded in and the oils moving around.

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Breanach78

A Few Breitlings.

Thanks for your response! (and sorry for the confusion re. tachy vs chrono- my stupidity!)

I thought I might be stopping and starting the chronograph too quickly. I just happened to start and stop it quite quickly once and the 3rd hand got stuck. I repeated the conditions that caused the issue maybe 5 times - and twice it happened again. However, once reset and using a more realistic timing duration of e.g. minimum 5 seconds everything seems to run smoothly and the chronograph resets precisely at 12 O Clock.

I am still quite worried about the start/ stop button becoming inactive- there was no click sound and the chronograph did not restart.... Is it likely I have caused some damage?

PS> Thanks breanach78: I'll give it a good run!

Probably not, but I wouldn't keep trying to start / stop the mechanics instantly.

I let it run for most of last night- 3 rd hand runs smoothly, dials run well....stops and starts ok (once I gave it a couple seconds!) and resets precisely...

Thanks for advice guys- was worried I'd damaged it but I think it's ok

Just to update anyone interested- I went out the AD yesterday and the same occurence happened with a chronomat they allowed me to look at in the shop....of course the dealer could not make it happen but I was able to repeat what I had experienced on my own watch...so to cut a long story short- its not a problem- its just not specced to handle split second start stop actions (although surprisingly it will probably handle split second start stops about 80%+ of the time- no doubt testament to an excellent mechanical movement!! ). Thanks for the advice received

Nice to see its sorted for you...

Enjoy your Breitling

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Breanach78

A Few Breitlings.