The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi all

I'm wondering if someone here can give some help and advice.

I took my Colt Chronograph to an authorised Breitling dealer who did in-house repairs just before Christmas for a cell replacement and reseal. It cost £145 and took 4 weeks.

Now, after I collected it I noticed that the B pushbutton was not as 'fluid' as it was previous. It is hard to explain but when I pushed the A button it clicked with 1 click (normal) whereas with B it was kind of like 2 little clicks. I just thought nothing of it and assumed it would just 'wear in'. Anyway, in the first week of 2018 pushbutton B became jammed and would not push so I took it back to the store.

The guy refused to believe that it had anything to do with the cell and reseal and said that the work they carried out couldn't have possibly affected the operation of the pushbuttons. He played around pushing the buttons and it eventually started to work again. That was 2 weeks ago and it is now jammed again. I truly believe this was caused by the repair but no nothing about the inner workings of the watch. Can anyone hear let me know if I have any reason to thing this was caused by their repair?

In the store he handed me the watch back and I was testing the buttons and he freaks out saying "don't push button B until you have stopped the chronograph with button A, that will damage the watch'. I pressed B again and said, "isn't that for the interval timer?" and he says "stop doing that, it's making me nervous, it could be why it's gone faulty" HUH????

Any advice before I proceed with this?

Thanks

Dene

Ok, not an easy one this there are 2 issues, the cost of the work and the actual cause of the problem Did they do the work in the shop or did they send it to Breitling UK? I ask this because you were charged £145 for a battery and reseal. That is £5 more than the Breitling UK official price for a battery change and reseal at their service centre and the extra £5 could be the delivery and return cost . Had Breitling UK done the work it would have been guaranteed for one year and the AD could have simply sent it back to them for an assessment of the problem. I would go back and ask if they did the work in house or if they sent it back to BUK. If the AD has charged you the BUK price for an in-shop repair then I think you should have some redress. The AD should have advised a return to BUK for the work rather than doing it themselves and the charging you the BUK price for what may have been a botched job. I'd go back and pose some questions to the manager and demand that they send it to BUK like they should have done in the first place. The pusher issue complicates the matter as there is likely to be dispute as to how that was caused but any AD should assess the watch before taking on any service work to check for damage, scratches and general condition. When I have used Goldsmiths in the past they have always undertaken a visual inspection of the watch before sending it to BUK.

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Breitling B-1 1999
Breitling Chrono Superocean 2004
Casio G Shock
Citizen Eco Drive AT4000-02E (for gardening)
Seiko 5 SNZG15J1
Hamilton X Wind LE

It definitely was done in-house because I didn't want to be without it and they said it would take them 4 weeks as they had to order the seals but would take up to 8 weeks if they sent to Breitling.

They did an inspection when I booked it in and noted down any imperfections but obviously nothing about any faulty pushers.

So, in my mind, this fault only occurred AFTER the repair and probably my own fault for not going back immediately but it just seems too much of a coincidence to me.

Not good

Still may be worth going back and having a go. Hope you get some sort of resolution.

_________________
Breitling B-1 1999
Breitling Chrono Superocean 2004
Casio G Shock
Citizen Eco Drive AT4000-02E (for gardening)
Seiko 5 SNZG15J1
Hamilton X Wind LE

Wait, £145 for an in house battery and gasket and it took 4 weeks? That's insane. That's a 50p battery, a 20p gasket and 20mins work. I know all the watch houses are rip off merchants with batteries but for an in house to charge more than them and not do same day is mind boggling.

As for the pushers, has he perhaps de-cased the movement and damaged the pusher or the button on the movement in the process? Might need to send it in to BUK to assess and show him the findings.

Hi,

I've owned a Colt chronograph for over 20 years now - still working fine...
You are quite correct in the operation of the 'Interval timer' ! - The guy in the shop is wrong, it won't damage the watch...
You could show him the operation from the 'Working' operation instructions...
https://www.breitling.com/user-manuals/ ... nograph_II
I have an old model A53035 but the operation is identical.

Back in the 1990's a new battery and re-seal used to cost me £60.
But just wait until you get the "... We cannot guarantee the battery and re-seal this time as the watch has not been serviced for several years..." So we'll have to quote £250...
Nowadays, you'll note the battery is £140 with a 'Service' costing £500 from Breitling !!! - I was quoted this only last week...

I would go back to the shop and demand that the manager/owner sorts out the button operation for you.
If they're charging such a fee, they must accept responsibility.