The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi Guy's

Heard via the grapevine some interesting news.

Dassault are no longer going to support the Emergency transmitter. Thus the spares will no longer be made. they have a considerable stock of spares, but will not be adding to it.

Could this mean the recall of all unsold Emergency models?

What would this mean to aftermarket sales values?

Hmmmm let's see how true the rumour is.

Davey

Wow! If it's true I guess we'll see what that does to second hand values, but one thing is absolutely certain - it's definitely not going to increase values!

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Driver8

Site Moderator

That is surprising.

I assume that they will still provide servicing support for existing ones, and I doubt that Breitling will recall unsold pieces as spares are available. It does mean that if Breitling can't find an alternate supplier then the Emergency / Emergency Mission is going to become essentially unserviceable when supplies run out.

Given the fact that the 121.5 MHz emergency signal is no longer received by the orbiting satellites, the use of these transmitters will certainly decline. There has been a lot of discussion in the USA over the proposed banning of the transmitters by the FCC. Breitling did get an exclusive waiver for the transmitters in their watches. Currently, the FAA has asked the FCC to reconsider their draconian edict.

Although most pilots, including myself, still listen on 121.5 MHz, along with ATC, the handwriting is on the wall. It is not surprising to me that Dassault has made the decision to phase out production of the transmitters. There will be a day in the not too distant future where the 121.5 MHz transmitter will be used only for a paperweight.

The reality is that neither the older transmitters nor the new 406 MHz units are very reliable in a crash. Many times they fail to energize. The most reliable SAR device is the 406 MHz personal locator beacon with built in GPS. The only requirement is you have to be conscious to activate it. The same goes for the Emergency. However, the PLB will pinpoint your location to within a few feet where the Emergency will provide a signal that must be tracked with a radio direction finder to locate you. That process takes substantially more time and effort.

Yeah, I know it’s neat to sport a watch with an emergency locator. The chance you will ever use it is remote and it makes a great conversation piece!

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1809 Cosmonaute
1903 Navi
Navi Olympus
Super Avenger

i have heard the E is being discontinued although there will be continued service support and spares available and i believe BUK are still aordering the models

Yeah, I got the same thing. Manufacturing being stopped but existing pieces will still be sold.

No replacement planned as it would require a 406MHz transmitter which isn't considered feasible in a watch.

Not directly related to them being discontinued, but I wonder what's going to happen to these as they age. There are going to be a bunch of unserviceable emergency transmitters out there just waiting to be triggered either through failure or human action. I guess that it's no different to old emergency beacons, but has to be a concern.

Not wholely related to the Emergency, but this situation is indicative of one of the main reasons (which has been discussed plenty of times on here) that puts me off quartz watches. i.e. there will come a time when the technology will have moved on and a movement (and hence the watch) will be unserviceable....... as has already happened with a number of quartz watches from the 70's and 80's. It's one of the main problems with transient technologies.

With a mechanical watch you will always be able to service one because they are pretty much just cogs, wheels and springs. And ultimately you can always get a watchmaker with a precision lathe to make replacement cogs for you!

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Isn't the saying 'i heard it THROUGH the grapevine'.

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"I don't own any watches, I just lease them"

Yay! Looks like I bought in at just the right time...

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Emergency + UTC

Marvin Gaye put it that way with a very nice song, sometimes we Brits choose to say things in a different manner, thats all. That particular rumour was still a hanging when I noticed it. Therefore, it was on, as opposed to through, said Vine.


We don't have Scuttlebutt here either, well we do if we watch JAG, but thats finished now.


A fanny over here is really not what you chaps refer too either.

We choose to use a U in some words where it's sadly missing in the U.S method of spelling. Color Vs Colour, Neighbor Vs Neighbour for example.

See we are all quite different. George Bernard Shaw commented;

"England and America are two countries separated by the same language."

So understanding you can sometimes be more complicated than the dial on a 1st generation B2.

Anyway I'm pleased you made a comment, what's your opinion on the Emergency news?

I hope your wife and newborn are well.

Chill dude,

Oh sorry,

Have a pleasant day my good man.

Davey

Don't despair Baron, it's still one of the best looking watches in the world!

Davey

You got that right Davey-boy!

Had some thoughts regarding this. If the rumours are true, I wonder what stock will have been acquired vs. number of Emergencies out there.

Could this induce a kind of 'panic-servicing'?

I am still to have my first free service (2007 watch), so do I get it serviced reasonably soon, or wait?

This makes me wonder what would happen in the unlikely event that my watch does not make it's first service.

That would not be good press!

Just some thoughts for y'all to play around with.

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Emergency + UTC

Hi Baron,

I'd think it's only a short time until your battery needs replacing anyhow if it's circa2007. Mine lasted 3 years.

As for a rush on servicing I kinda doubt it. People seldom rush to spend £300 if it's not totally essential. Unless it's towards a new watch of course......

I'm hoping Breitling will be up front and perhaps devote a page on their website to reassure Emergency owners that there is enough stock in reserve to last the next decade perhaps.

What if, let's say, any dedicated fans wanted to pre-purchase spares, I'm guessing that would simply get a total negative response.

I'm certainly not going to lose sleep over this and will hope that in 3 years time when my next service is enforced by battery failure that there will be no issue to bring up on the forum!

Dave

Don't get me wrong, I'm not particularly worried, just thinking out loud really.

Sorry for the slight deviation, but how did you know when to get yours serviced (I know RTFM!)? Mine works perfectly at the moment, only the digital display is fairly dim, but only like that in your pics.

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Emergency + UTC

Hi

Well mine suddenly stopped........I'm not even sure I saw a warning in the LCD as I did with the B1 that reads EOL. Not sure the E shows this I'd have to check the instructions and that's a bit alien to me.....

So being a bright kind of guy (yeah right) I deduced the battery was dead!

The service was £275 but they did give the case a brush up and it certainly looked great upon it's return

I've found the display is always pretty poor brightness wise but again I bought the Emergency on looks alone.

D