The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Congrats on the watch - are we ignoring the winding and the T or just the winding???

Just in case - T means Tritium (the type of lume used).

Just the winding to be ignored (it was already fully wound, but I'd pressed one of the push buttons without noticing which had stopped the central second hand). Thanks for the explanation of the T (I was way off......)

The case needs a bit of buffing, no deep scratches in it though, just surface wear. Can I sort that with a cape cod cloth, or should I give it to someone who knows what they are doing?

Also, as you rightly spotted a while back Roff, the case-back is a little tired, which is why I could not see the 810 ref (it is there). Is that something that can be remedied to bring the script "back to life" as it were, or is it best left alone?

Cape Cods won't hurt, but a professional case restoration will obviously be more effective. There's not much that can be done to bring back the caseback short of redoing it, which I never think is a great idea - it never looks quite right.

Righto. Hoping to have the case opened tomorrow (it actually looks like it's opened through the crystal) but thought I'd post a couple of better pictures to see if anyone had any thoughts as to the dial/crown/pushers. Any thoughts would be very welcome. If it doesn't look original, I'll send it straight back and save myself the trouble.

Roff - you were right about the case-back. The 810 ref is actually visible, but is quite faint (as is the Breitling engraving). Someone obviously got trigger happy when polishing. Not ideal, but can't have it all.

Back to the winding of the watch - I've let it run all day, but as soon as I try and wind clockwise, I get resistance. Any thoughts? Don't suppose there's any possibility that it could wind counter-clockwise?

It doesn't wind anti-clockwise.

It may just need a clean and lubrication - the mainspring is obviously fine or it wouldn't have run. I am slightly concerned that it was fully wound when it arrived - that implies that it isn't running consistently. My guess is that it's just dirty and a service will sort it out.

Thanks Roff. When I said it was fully wound, it was just my assumption given the resistance I was getting when winding the crown. The watch stopped overnight, but pressing/resetting the top pusher (30 minute counter) seems to have started it off again, so I think I may have a problem. I will contact the seller.

Did your expert eye notice anything amiss with the dial/crown/pushers. I guess the faded/worn case-back reduces the value, but do you have any idea by how much? Is it a question that someone (in the know) would offer 10% less, or would it just make it very hard to subsequently sell, should I choose to? Not the plan, but stranger things have happened.

Crown and pushers are original style if not original, so not worried about those. The worn caseback will reduce the value a little, and will make the watch unappealing to those who want their watches mint, but it also becomes more accessible to people who want a watch that they can wear and enjoy. You'll still be able to sell it, and the price that you paid was lower than one with a mint caseback so no real loss.

Thanks Roff. I was also worried that the Tritium 'T' that you explained earlier was a lot closer to the 'Made' than in all the other Top Times I've seen and that something may not have been genuine. But if the rest of the dial looks ok, shouldn't be any issues there.

Actually winds fine (was merely a little stiff), so should be in decent shape after a service.