The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi Everyone,

I've got a chronomat late model which is having problems since this morning. I can basically hear the rotor loose in the casing. I didn't drop it although i do remember the watch hitting the door frame but it has had much harder impacts than that before.

I'll be travelling around Africa for the next two months so won't be able to get my baby serviced or bring it to an AD. I'll be travelling on many bumpy roads, dusty villages and sandy beaches and there will be a high risk of theft if the watch is not on my wrist so i'm really wondering what I should do. I took it on this trip knowing it would be safe on my wrist but if i keep it in my luggage its a different story.

The spring hasn't wound down yet so I'm not sure if the rotor is still functioning but would I damage the movement if I kept wearing it while handwinding the movement? I wouldn't mind handing winding it for the next month but would this cause excessive wear on the parts and maybe the movement of the rotor cause damage?

Has anyone had anything like this happen before? The watch hasn't been serviced before due to all the travelling in recent years but it hasn't shown any signs of needing it either.

Any idea what this might cost to repair? I would probably be having it repaired in Germany.

Any help is highly appreciated

Manually winding the watch won't do damage - the rotor roaming around loose in the movement absolutely will. Get it shipped insured to a service centre asap.

I took this Chronomat in for service a few months ago and as soon as the watchmaker opened the back he showed me a lose rotor, about to fall off.
Apparently I got it in just in the nick of time.
As Roff says, get it serviced right away, don't even dream of taking it on the trip with you.
If you send it now before your trip it will be back and good as new just as you get back.

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"It is just a matter of time!"

Thanks for your input. I am however already in Africa and shipping it somewhere isn't an option where i'm staying. Unless i'm shipping a container, there really is no insured shipping service

So basically the option is to wear it and risk it getting damaged or to put it in my luggage and risk it getting stolen and possibly still damaged by the bad roads. I think i'll have to put it in my luggage and hope for the best!

No, the risk is wearing it OR storing in your luggage and having the rotor come completely off and really messing up the movement.


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SHARKMAN

In a situation like this where the rotor has come off and is loose in the case, and if I was travelling for 2 months and therefore couldn't get it fixed, I'd personally (and this is my personal opinion and in no way am I advocating it for anyone else!) take the case back off and take the rotor out before replacing the caseback. I'd store the rotor carefully along with the watch and then once I was back home I'd sent it in to Breitling for a full service/repair. But that's just me.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

I have thought about this, however I thought Breitling wouldn't service the watch if I opened it myself.

Do you know what the best way is to open it with improvised opening tools?

You can actually open the caseback with a soft rubber ball. Just press it against the caseback and twist it. Here's a video showing someone using a specially made ball, but in practice any soft rubber ball usually works just fine - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEo_6sH0jW8

Alternatively I've opened casebacks by wrapping sticky tape round my hand - sticky side out, obviously! - and twisting the caseback with the flat of my hand.

In terms of servicing/repairing it, Breitling should be absolutely fine with it especially if you explain the circumstances that forced you into doing it (although it will obviously cost you as they won't do it under warranty).

My disclaimer again - this is what I'd do personally, but I'm not advocating it per se, so it's all at your own risk!

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Driver8

Site Moderator

I've just seen this tread - hope you got it sorted out by now. The same thing happened with my Chronomat 2 weeks ago. I had bought it 'pre-owned' from my local AD (Lunns, Belfast) 18 months ago. I took it back to have it repaired. Of course I expected to pay for the repair - it merely boiled down to the cost!!! Whenever I collected the repaired watch, I asked, more in a vain hope than expectation "..will there be a charge for this?" "Of course not" I was told. Credit to Lunns!!!