The Breitling Watch Source Forums

All,
Just purchased an original ('07-'10) Skyracer used about a week and a half ago, from a very reputable company in the U.S. As soon as the piece arrived, I wound it and started wearing it daily along with checking how it was keeping time. Timing was excellent, +1.5 a day, with no jitter. Yesterday, though, the racer started having serious timing problems and I'm hoping someone can shed a bit of light on this.

Yesterday morning, I put on my watch and the time was correct. At about 3pm, I checked the time and it was 40 minutes behind. I had left the chronograph running on Saturday by accident for several hours, so I assumed that I'd burned most of the power reserve. I set the correct time, wound it, and put it back on. About 7:30pm, it was 30 minutes slow again. I set the time again, and took it off for the evening. This morning, time was spot on so it had run 12 hours correctly. I put it on, came into the office, and just noticed that once again, I'm 30 minutes behind.

I'm assuming that off to BUSA it goes, but I'm also a bit confused. I'd expect to have seen some kind of gradual problem with timekeeping if service was needed, not just a sudden inability to keep time. To go from running well within COSC specs to losing an hour a day in a matter of less 36 hours is very worrying. I haven't subjected the piece to any shocks or knocks, just normal wear around the home and office. Do you usually see an abrupt change like this when a watch needs servicing, or is it a gradual issue?

Any advice appreciated; I'm within a returns window with the seller but prefer to have this Skyracer serviced if possible so I can keep it. This is the configuration I've been chasing for a couple years, and it's out of production, so I'll have a difficult time finding another like it if I send it back to the seller.

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Patek Philippe pocketwatch -- Rolex Sub LV -- Hamilton Khaki X-Wind -- Oris RAID Chrono -- Slate dial Skyracer

I don't think that it's losing time, I think that it's stopping.

The fact that it keeps perfect time when not worn (i.e. not moved) suggests that there is something wrong in the movement that is causing the watch to stop at certain angles. That could be caused by a number of things, none of which are going to cure themselves so definitely needs servicing. Make sure that Breitling are made aware of the symptoms - you don't want them to miss something like a broken jewel.

Roff, thanks for the quick response. Hadn't considered that something could be broken, but I'll get it to BUSA shortly so they can figure it out and get it fixed. I'm tempted to contact the seller because I have been extremely careful with this piece since its arrival, but can't prove one way or the other that it arrived damaged vs damaged by me.

Thanks for the advice, very much appreciated.

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Patek Philippe pocketwatch -- Rolex Sub LV -- Hamilton Khaki X-Wind -- Oris RAID Chrono -- Slate dial Skyracer