The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi there,

Just got a new Montbrilliant Navitimer Breitling. First Breitling ... First automatic watch ever. Super excited!!

I want to understand the winding process. Just to confirm, it's about 40 turns clockwise (when looking at the bezel). No need to turn counter clockwise and let it pop out right? I have seen some people do that??

Everything else is great. I have the time and date set. Beautiful watch

Thanks for the advice!

Sam

What is the model number of your watch?

What do you mean by "let it pop out"?

The Montbrillants should have a push-down crown, and, depending on model, will wind either clockwise, or in both directions, with the crown pushed down fully. This means that you can turn the crown clockwise, back counterclockwise, continuing for about 40 turns. The watch will wind during the clockwise turns, and some models will also wind during the counterclockwise turns.

You can look up the info for your particular model on this site.

Montbrillant 47 - that's the exact model.

I've seen some Rolex watches where you turn the crown counter-clockwise and the crown pops out, then it can be wound. That's not how this watch works right? No pop out?

Thanks!

Sam

Here you go, Sam. According to the info here, yours is a pushdown crown, and winds in both directions: http://www.breitlingsource.com/watch_de ... d_255.html

The crown type that you describe sounds like the screw-down crown used generally on watches intended for underwater use. You don't have that.

Make sure you read the instructions about what not to adjust between 8pm and 3am. There are threads here that talk about it, too.

Thank you so much for the information.

Just to confirm, when I turn the crown clockwise, it sounds like a whirring noise. No clicks, just "whrrrrr.". When I turn it counterclockwise it sounds like "click click click" etc...

If it does the same thing why the different noises?

Thanks!

Sam

Way too much misinformation here for a simple question.....

'Winding in both directions' refers to the rotor, nothing at all to do with manually winding it.

The crown on any Navitimer range is push in so there is no need to unscrew it first (which is what is happening when people turn it anti-clockwise first). 99.9% of mechanical watches, and 100% of the ones that you are likely to come across will only manually wind in a clockwise direction - i.e. turning the crown away from you while looking at the dial and using your right hand. 40 turns, generally considered to be 40 hand movements, will give a full reserve, but you can't overwind an automatic so don't worry about doing more.

When you wind the crown the other way all that you are doing is moving the first couple of parts of the keyless works and then slipping the click (that controls the engagement with the rest of the winding works and prevents the mainspring from releasing all it's power back through the crown).

Welcome to BreitlingSource!

Thanks for the correction, Roff. I thought that "Watchwinder direction: Both" on the model page meant that it wound in both directions of turn. But I understand that it's the automatic process.

Thanks for the clarification. I have a question about the 8p-3a blackout time. I didn't wear my watch for almost a week so the time stopped at 11:30p and the date is a few days back. What's the procedure to do now? I knew it was pm because I advanced it to set the time (without knowing about this). Just curious how I should handle this in the future.

Thanks!!!

Sam

Your instructions will tell you what not to do. Here's a thread with some info, and a link to at least one other thread here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=36550

Make sure that the time is wound forward until it is between 3 and 8 (that way you don't care if it's am or pm) and then advance the date to the day before the current date and then wind time forwards to the correct time to get the am / pm correct.