The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Almost exactly a year ago I was given a Breitling ref 2005, this is a vintage and quite rare chronograph from the late 60's. The watch had some water damage, however the donor had ordered parts to get it fixed, and meanwhile cleaned up the movement. It was working fine, but not keeping very good time - the cause of this was the hairspring touching the centre wheel.

Last week I decided to take it to a watchmaker, have the movement overhaul completed (new pallets, stem, and a few other parts). Meanwhile, trawling ebay, I came across a brand new dial - after lengthy deliberations (it was very expensive!) I bought it, in for a penny in for a pound after all.

The dial is on the way, and this morning I receive an email from the watchmaker telling me that the old stem broke very close to the crown and he cannot extract it .. this means i'll be needing a new crown, and as I know very well, I think a bag of hens' teeth will be easier to purchase!

I'm wondering if anyone here can help out.

I suggest you touch base with the UK seller that had the dials. Hope you bought the dial and the inner bezel because you don't see them often. Those were bought up almost instantly. He does tend to sell nos Breitling parts in small batches though but seems to have an endless supply of hard to find parts. Luckily that crown pops up on ebay fairly regularly although finding the stem might be more of a challenge.

Fortunately it's a lot easier to get a stem fabricated than a crown.

thankyou for your comment .. the dial that was for sale is on its way to me at this very moment, and the stem was being unscrewed from the crown because I have a new one that's meant to go in its place ..I've already emailed the dial seller, and he said that he doesn't know exactly what crown goes on a 2005 but given a photo to work with he will try to find one. Meanwhile, I have also read that it's possible to dissolve the remaining bit of stem that's stuck inside the crown using alum solution and a lot of patience.