The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hello Everyone.
I've been relying on this great forum for info on purchasing my first "pre-owned" Breitling and it has been a great help. Now that I've acquired my first Breitling (since one week) I'd like a little help in determining if what I'm experiencing is normal.

What I have is a B13047 Chronomat bought from a watch dealer off Ebay. Watch has obviously be taken apart and detailed as it looks absolutely mint. Can't imagine a 20-yr old watch in this condition. Anyhow, what concerns me is the movement has a tendency to spin freely for extended period of time. I've read in the FAQ and am aware that it's normal to feel the movement on my wrist, more than is normal with other self winding watch. However, we are talking some serious movement here, like what appears to be 12-15 winding after a good shake on the wrist. Is this normal? I suspect that it means the watch is fully wound and automatically disengage the winding mechanism to spin freely which may be a good thing but am a little concern that it's a little too loose. Any advise would help as if this requires servicing in anyway, I would contact the seller before it's too late. I also discovered that although it's mint, the date changeover is at 4:20 AM would would mean I'd have to bring it in to reset the hands. Not sure how much that would cost. Should be simple but not sure if I should try to do it myself since I've never taken a watch apart before. Any help would be appreciated.

This watch is equipped with the Cal 13 movement which is the ETA 7750.
It winds in one direction only so when the rotor spins in the other direction there is no tension on it hence it pretty much spins freely, especially after a good shake of the wrist.
The fact that your watch changes date at 4.20 AM indicates that there is a problem most likely caused by someone changing dates in the risk zone between 8PM and 3AM.
The only way to fix this is to get the watch serviced unless you can live with it changing the date four hours late.

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"It is just a matter of time!"

Don't agree on a damaged date wheel - that wouldn't cause consistent late date change, if it's 4:20 every day then it's probably just the hands not attached properly, but it is not something that you should be doing yourself. It's not going to cause any issues so I would just wait until the next service interval and it will be resolved.

In terms of the free wheeling, as wessa says it's simply the rotor rotating in the opposite direction to winding and is normal, but if you keep shaking the watch it will stop eventually!

I do not recommend a DIY repair. In many cases, the sweep second hand is destroyed during removal. They are usually on very tight and are a real problem to remove without damage. If you don't happen to have another one, you are screwed.

It is not possible to lift the hour and minute hands far enough to move them to a new position with the sweep seconds hand in place.

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Thanks everyone for your quick response and help. I guess it's no biggy to leave the watch alone with regards to the date change being at 4AM. I cracked the case opened today just to take a peek inside. Someone at work scared me when he mentioned that just because the seller posted a picture of the opened back doesn't guaranty that the movement you have is the same. Anyway, I opened it and it looks the same. Just wondering if there is a way to tell the difference between a "stock" 7750 movement and a modified Breitliing 13 movement. I suppose they're easily interchangable and a seller may profit in replacing the original movement which according to my research suppose to be the highest grade of the 3 grades available and then modified to Breitling specs. Please advise if there is a way to tell the difference by inspection.

Thanks in advance.

You can't visually tell.

Thanks again for the quick response.

That's a shame as I would assume that from a price point, it would be substantially different between a base Valjoux 7750 and there top model let a lone what it is compared to the Cal. 13. I guess that's the price for buying pre-owned. I am at least happy to see that it wasn't a quarzt or chinese movement inside.

Now that you have removed the case back you better have it pressure tested.

Cheers