The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi, all...wondering if you could help me identify a problem.

Got a preowned (authentic have all the documentation and even double checked the markings to the information provided on this website) Colt GMT Auto on ebay a few weeks ago. Date of purchase was in December 2006 and I have no idea if it was serviced at all. The watch runs perfectly, havent noticed any time gain or loss. My problem is in the winding. The first day i got it i tossed it in the watch winder and took it out a day or so later to wear all day, left it on my bedside that night after wearing it all day and it stopped in the middle of the night. Because i was curious, i wound it manually and let it run for 2 days and it stopped after 44 hours, which is right around the specs of the power reserve.

My problem is I guess it doesnt respond to movement, only to manual winding. Has anyone heard of this before? Could it be fixed by a normal relatively inexpensive cleaning or is it something more serious? Any information would be great. thanks guys!

While rotor winding failure is possible I'm not convinced that is the issue here.

First off, a winder won't wind a watch that'sfully wound down, it just maintains, so if you put it on the winder without winding it first then you would still have a watch with a low power reserve. Secondly, that caliber does wind in both directions but needs at least 650 turns per day to maintain the reserve so make sure that it is getting enough.

I would do another test by fully winding it and then wearing it for a few days as a daily wearer - just leave it on the nightstand overnight. If it still stops after 44 hours then there's a problem, if it continues running then you are fine.

Thanks for the advice...tried that and it still stops after like 40 hours or such. For some reason this thing just does not respond to movement and only to manual winding. Is this problem common, easily fixed, etc?

OK, so it needs Breitling attention. It's probably a relatively simple problem in the transfer of power from the rotor to the mainspring, but will need service centre attention. I've heard of the problem before, but it's not particularly common.

Appreciate it!