The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hello to all.....

I am new to this forum but unfortunately my first posts will have to do with a used Skyland that I've purchased that seems to have a problem.
The problem is that there is a "blurriness" on the crystal, near the bezel which can be seen only under the right angles. In my opinion this is probably one of two things. One is condensation under crystal due to water/humidity entrance (as Roffensian commented). The second is something like anti-reflective coating wear/decay. As you can understand I am very worried and I've also started questioning the authenticity of the watch. I am sending some photos. At the first 2-3 you can spot this "fogginess".
Sorry for the quality of the photos. They are from my mobile phone but if you need better ones I can use my camera next time.

Can you please tell me if this looks authentic to you?
If it is OK, can you guess what is this blurriness?
Of course I will take it to the local AD but till then I want to ask you opinion.

Thank you in advance for any help ......

It's real.

It looks to me to be wear on the AR crystal - definitely not condensation, that would look worse.

Thank you very much....this is a relief....I think...
Now the next question is....how hard is to fix, and how much will it cost
Any assumptions?

Breitling don't replace the AR, just the whole crystal - $150 or so, but likely also looking at a service at close to $600. I would wait until the service is due (assuming that it is the AR), if it bugs you then you can remove the outer AR completely by polishing with something like cape cod cloths so that the crystal is even, although of course then you only have the inner AR.

I have the same issue on a pre-owned piece, though it is less noticable. I ordered a crystal through my AD and the price quoted was $220. I'll have my AD's watchmaker do the swap and also a chrono service beacuse it is running -15 seconds/day. Total will cost me $720. I'll be without the watch for a couple weeks rather than a couple months.

I think what happened to both of ours, is the chimney (polished ring between the crystal and bezel) was polished with a Cape Cod without proper protection on the crystal. Mine is very hard to see, but once I knew it was there I had to order a new cyrstal.

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SHARKMAN

Thank you all for your answers .....

I agree with you sharkman. It might be a bad polishing work because the seller told me that he had it polished recently.
The cost for replacing the crystal is considerably high for me. I will call them to check but I am almost sure that I will be disappointed by the answer.
So my next question is....should I ask anything from the seller? I haven't left my ebay feedback yet and certainly this problem was not obvious from the photos. I think that the seller is a good guy, the price was good (auction) ,and I really like the watch.

It is the first time that I face such a big problem with a purchase and the worst thing for me is that it happen at my most expensive one

You need to check the seller's terms and conditions but most sellers want to have happy purchasers and good feedback. What is their policy on returns? If you feel that the watch is not as described then you should contact the seller to seek a resolution. Should you wish to return the watch and claim a refund then eBay has a process to support this. Alternatively, the seller may be willing to offer a partial refund, though perhaps not enough to cover a replacement crystal. Contact the seller and clearly set out why you are unhappy.

If it is only the AR coating that is damaged and not the crystal itself then another option is to remove the AR coating which some owners prefer to do. There are tips on how to do this in this forum.

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Breitling B-1 1999
Breitling Chrono Superocean 2004
Casio G Shock
Citizen Eco Drive AT4000-02E (for gardening)
Seiko 5 SNZG15J1
Hamilton X Wind LE

Just to add another confirmation,

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Thanks again.....

I will take it tomorrow to the local AD to check it and give me the cost for the repairs.
I hope that the seller will agree to cover a percentage of that.
If not and the cost is too high for me then I will start thinking of removing the AR.
I really like it but the damage is too big and when I wear it I cannot stop looking at it.

Hope you don't wear the watch with unscrewed crown (noticed on photos).

Don't worry about it bnewbie......
I have over 20 watches (cheaper than this) ... and almost all of them are divers .... and some of them are actually used for open water diving.... so this is a mistake that I do not usually do .... nevertheless thanks for the advice