The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hey everyone. Thank you in advance for the help to my two questions:

1) I have a 6-month old Breitling Navitimer Chronomatic. I have recently not been wearing it quite as much and I think I need to wind it. It certainly is not staying wound for 42 hours. Is that a problem??? Does the watch need to be serviced/sent in to be looked at?

2) How do I wind the watch if I want to give that a try first? Do I wind the crown clockwise in place? When I pull it out once that changes the date and when I pull it out twice it changes the time...

3) I have a croc band. I have noticed that as I sweat the band becomes EXTREMELY smelly. I have searched far and wide on the internet for some type of leather band cleaner. ANY ideas anyone? Or am I just going to have to convert to a bracelet.

Thanks a ton!!!

Welcome!

I'm no authority compared to many around here, but here goes:

1) You should definitely try giving it a full wind, as it may not be charging fully when you're wearing it. You'll probably find this will fix the problem.

2) To wind it, unscrew the crown but don't pull it out to one of the stops, just let it stay where it goes when it's unscrewed. Wind it clockwise - about 40 times seems to be a figure commonly mentioned. Then screw the crown back in.

3) That happens with leather bands, consensus seems to be that you just have to get a new one when the old one gets too bad. If you find this happening too much (especially if you sweat a lot and/or live in a hot climate) you might have to change to a bracelet. Or you could try a rubber strap - plenty of people on here will tell you how much they like the Ocean Racer.

cheers
Otto

Unless I am missing something here....my crown doesnt seem to unscrew??

Navitimer crowns are not screw locked, so you are able to wind it in the "normal" position - i.e. not pulled out. A full wind is approx 40 turns clockwise, although it is not possible to over-wind automatic watches as they have a clutch mechanism to avoid over-winding. Just give it at least 40 winds and it'll be fine.

Leather straps (all types, including calf and croco) benefit enormously from being allow to "rest" every few days. This allows the sweat (and any smell) to disipate and definitely prolongs the life of the strap - however I realise that is not always possible if it's your only watch.

In terms of cleaning, I've not come across any specific cleaner that can be used on the inside of the strap. Breitling do a leather care cream that is sometimes given away free by AD's (and appears on the Bay now and then) but even that is designed for the outer surface only. Any cleaner will affect the nubuck finish of the inside of the strap. However, if you less bothered about the appearance of the inside of the strap and just want to clean it, then there is no reason why you can't use any propriatory leather cleaner. Something like car leather seat cleaner or leather jacket cleaner should do the trick. Just ensure that whatever you use replaces (or at least doesn't strip) the natural oils out of the leather. Note, this will change the appearance of the inner surface, but it will be cleaner!

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Driver8

Site Moderator

D'oh!! I wondered before I posted whether Navi crowns were screw-locked, assumed they were. Sorry.