The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Airwolf came back from BUSA with a complete service about a month ago. (2nd page of viewtopic.php?f=12&t=20598&start=0) Ever since it came back, the outer bezel has been VERY sticky. When you first try to twist it, it's like the bezel is glued in place, and take a good amount of force to get it going. Then as you twist it, it goes through feeling like a consistency of molasses, then honey, then eases up to to feeling like you're turning an electrical motor that is not powered. There's still resistance, but it does fully rotate. If I leave it alone for a few hours or overnight, the next time I go to rotate it, it's just as sticky again.

I've given it a month now, with lots of turns, thinking that it may have just been something like it was over-serviced with old grease, and would maybe break in with some operation.

The bezel worked perfectly when I sent it in, and felt nowhere near what it does now. I already paid almost $700 to send it in for service, and don't want to have to pay a chunk more just to send it back in for warranty service if it wasn't done right. But if I'm going to pay so much money for a professional watch and every time to have it serviced, I just can't accept a defect like that being created.

Advice or opinions?

_________________
Chris
Club Member #0070
2009 TT Chrono Evo w/Rose gold, blue face
2009 Airwolf w/black face, Co-Pilot module
2009 TT Lady Cockpit w/Mother-of-Pearl, Diamond face for the wife

Send it back if you feel they have in any way conrtributed to this condition. If a service means a full strip down, then there is no reason to believe this should be occuring one month in from a service.

I have a few watches with rotating bezels that display the same characteristics you describe. Starts off very tight and frees up after a few turns. It could be an accumulation of dust between the case and the bezel mixed with a bit of body oil. I doubt its anything fundamentally wrong, having taken a few apart myself and discovering that grime is the culprit.

Exposed bezels will suffer this by virtue of the nature of their design. Enclosed bezels don’t have as many problems as they are protected. You might also consider that if you use a creame polish to clean your watch, then this may also lead to an accumulation of grime between the two surfaces causing a similar problem.

_________________
Jim

"You have Control".

If the watch was serviced a month ago and didn't have the issue before it's not caused by dirt or dust.

Clearly something not quite right, and the service comes with a warranty so I would take it to an AD and have them send it off on their dime - they may want to charge initially but doubt that they will argue with the point that you shouldn't have to pay extra because of BUSA's mistake.

BUSA will send you a prepaid UPS label.

_________________
Breitling Montbrillant Olympus
Breitling Navitimer World
Breitling Chronomat
Breitling Colt GMT
Omega Seamaster GMT "Great White"
Omega Speedmaster X-33
Rolex GMT Master IIc
Bremont ALT1-ZT

Did not know that - that's good news.

Yep, I came to the same conclusion. But that thought assumes that they stripped it completely in the service and cleaned it before reassembly. It’s inconclusive until they have another look but I make no such assumptions for what might have occurred. It may well turn out to be the retaining clip that is not seated properly as they do get pinched if they have not been bedded corectly.

_________________
Jim

"You have Control".

I finally got ahold of Lissette at BUSA. Like I thought, she said that after a complete service, if not precisely oiled in reassembly, the bezel can stick at first. Since it's been a month now, though, and I've been repeatedly rotating the bezel, it definitely should be back 100% by now. So Lissette said in the next day or two I'll receive a pre-paid return label in my E-mail account. Hoping this turns out all good.

_________________
Chris
Club Member #0070
2009 TT Chrono Evo w/Rose gold, blue face
2009 Airwolf w/black face, Co-Pilot module
2009 TT Lady Cockpit w/Mother-of-Pearl, Diamond face for the wife