The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi,

I'm the (somewhat) happy of a Breitling Colt that 1 minute fast (/day...).
Now I want to take it to warranty as it is still covered, but the only thing I have is the warranty certificate, not the original store receipt. Is it going to be enough? Can they tell the date of purchase from the serial number?

Thanks

--Z

Welcome aboard.
After 1978 it's impossible to date the watch by the serials.
It has the date stamp between 6 o'clock lugs (ww/yy).
Your warranty should be dated and it lasts for two years.

You aren't getting confused with the COSC certificate are you?

The warranty isn't a certificate, it's a booklet and at the back is a section for the retailer to complete purchase date as bnewbie says.

Only if this watch was properly registered. Breitling's records will show that serial number as purchased by the AD on the warranty book and the date of purchase, salespersn, etc.

I had a similar problem with a Skyracer I purchased used. It had a problem with the chrono hands resetting properly. I traced it from the seller to a guy who traded it to him, to some cop in Connecticut who bought it on ebay - and there the trail ended. It was bought from an AD in PA.

I emailed BUSA with the serial # and was told they had no record of the sale becase it was never registered when purchased. Finally I took the matter to MY AD who contacted the selling AD and confirmed the date of purchase, wrote it on the back page of the warranty book, sent it off to BUSA - problem solved.

Call BUSA (if US) and ask for registration info on serial #. If that fails, try calling the AD on the book, but that one is less likely to get you a repsonse. If that fails, call BUSA again and ask, very nicely f they wouldn't mind contacting the AD so you can get the date of purchase for the warranty and BUSA can make sure this AD is following BUSA's own rules.

I've heard of others who simply put a date on undated warranty book and send the watch off to BUSA - I DO NOT recommend that!

There are 2 things to keep in mind - one, warranty says requires AD stamp and date of purchase but most ADs don't stamp. So long as the watch is registered, BUSA has the info it needs and typically doesn't care about stamps and such. Two, it is the AD's job to send in the registration card upon original purchase and BUSA likes it's ADs to follow their contracts. So BUSA may be helpful if the watch was never registered.

_________________
SHARKMAN

That's all well and good, but that process only works in the US. generally the best that Breitling can do is tell you which country the watch was sold in because once it gets to the distributor they lose track. It's only because BUSA has implemented detailed tracking that it's easier to track.

Well I was hoping, not assuming, OP from US - his profile doesn't say - thus, my "if in US" and references to BUSA.

Don't know about other Breitling distributors, though evidently not as consumer friendly elswhere.

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SHARKMAN