I received a Breitling Superocean Steelfish as an engagement present from the father of my fiance in May this year. I must say that I was exceptionally pleased with the watch when it was given to me as it is a really good looking time-piece. Unfortunately, the joy of having a Breitling has only lasted for 6 months and has now turned to absolute dismay.

On honeymoon earlier this month I decided to go swimming with the watch on for the first time. With the confidence that Breitling promised that the watch would function down to depths of 2000m I ventured into the water for a bit of snorkling to explore the waters around New Zealand. Imagine my dismay when later that day I look at my Breitling to see that it has stopped and there is condensation build-up on the inside of the glass face. Not even the Cqsio I had as a 13 year old boy had a problem with the depths of 2-3m that I experienced when snorkelling. If a 35 euro watch can manage this type of stress then why not a 2300 euro watch?

Imagine then my disbelief as I send it back to Breitling under warranty only for them to tell me that I will have to pay 685 euro to have it fixed and get it back!!!! Apparently it was my fault for not tightening the time adjustment knob properly. this is despite the fact that I tightened it as much as possible before entering the water to ensure that there would not be a problem. On mentioning this to Breitling I was told that this was not possible and that it was si,ply my fault and that there was nothing wrong with the watch. I informed them that I have a masters degree in mechanical engineering and have been a professional engineer for the past 9 years of my working life but apparently according to them I still do not know what I am talking about when it comes to how to tighten a screw.

All I can say is that despite being a beautiful watch - I would not recommend ANYONE to buy a Breitling watch. In my opinion, this is a company who use their name to charge astronomical prices for a watch that doesn`t even perform as well as a 35 euor Casio and then don`t even honour their warranty agreement hitw you nad provide you with ZERO service.

If you are reading this review before purchasing a Breitling then hopefully it will stop you from making that VERY BIG MISTAKE. If you have already purchased your Breitling then all I can say is - unlucky and don`t use it in the water.

There are a lot of people on here who can testify that the watches are waterproof to the depths claimed, but obviously, no manufacturing process is perfect and there are individual pieces that have problems.

hmmm, I' m having exactly the same prob with my old Breitling. Condensation build-up. I' m quite amazed at the amount they wanted to charge you, I didn' t think it would be that expensive. I hope fixing mine won' t cost as much

The problem here isn't that some watch might have had a defect...

The problem is that some of the Swiss appear to have the same nasty attitude as the Germans, when it comes to Customer Service.

In America, it would be unthinkable to treat the buyer of a very expensive product this way. Especially, since the cost to them is next to nothing, they got their stupid seals laying around by the dozen. Every American company would have immediately sent you a replacement watch and placed your watch in their returns service queue.

That they did what you describe even once, makes me think the only Breitlings one should ever buy are old ones that have no warranty to boot, and are appropriately discounted for not expecting any help from the Manufacturer.



Matter of fact, Rado gives a good example that SOME Swiss do know that giving good service is more important than being pedantic.

My Rado watch, being only water resistant to 100m to begin with, had lost its water resistance after a battery replacement. (done at the dealer I bought it from) So after swimming a few laps, I found it to be full of water, and very dead.

I took it to the dealer, the dealer said he had to send it in, with the result that Rado sent me back a new one inside of a week with an apology for my troubles. I know I got a new one, cause I had managed to scratch mine in a couple of places, and the watch I got had no scratches, and I had to adjust the bracelet again.


But I can just see the corporate culture at Breitling, just going by their designs and attention to detail: working away slow and deliberate, pedantic and slightly myopic, everything in their universe must have its perfect balance, and if they can't see themselves at fault for something, they sure as hell don't want to cover it, if it looses them reputation and goodwill, so be it in the name of exactness. Hell, some of their watches look like they could be a roman artifact from some archeological dig. (that's a compliment, I like their design)

Good luck!

I think this rant should be removed...at least from reviews...he didn't really review the watch as much as he did, bitch about a bad customer service experience...