The Breitling Watch Source Forums

getting new brietling which will carry a warranty... spoke to lots of people who then swapped to an aftermarket bezel and then needed service so a jeweler swapped back to the Original bezel and sent it in and their were no problems...

is this true? I want a new breitling with diamond bezel but I dont want to spend 13+k on it ...

I feel like aftermarket is the way to go... then swapping back to OE and sending it in for service...

please help me my head has been spinning with all the watch stuff going on !

thank yoU !

Can anyone comment on this before I pull the plug on it please?

Breitling usually don't care about aftermarket diamond bezels as swapping them isn't a "case invasive" procedure, so there's no compromising of the case itself. But if you buy an aftermarket diamond bezel, you will still have the original bezel and it's a two minute dead-easy job for you to swap yourself if you have the right sized screwdriver. (Note - I'm assuming you are buying either a Chronomat or an Aeromarine model, and not something with a more complex bezel arrangement like a Bentley or a Skyracer?)

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Driver8

Site Moderator

I was going to ask this sooner or later...Thanks

I think with aftermarket I would always swap back to the original before sending in, just seems like a better plan to avoid any possibility for Breitling to be difficult.

Thought I'd missed this first time round when I saw the OP bump it, then realised that we were only given about an hour to answer.........

It is a superavenger


yeah sorry about that it was sort of a time important question..sort of a long story though

Have you actually looked at aftermarket diamond bezels compared to Breitling's own? I personally haven't seen an aftermarket diamond bezel that could come within hailing distance of how Breitling does theirs.

Very true..... and as I've alluded to in the OP's other thread in the Help forum. OEM is impossible to beat, but so much depends on what an individual is prepared to accept.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

I'll also add that haste makes waste. The worst time to make a decision on a multi-thousand dollar purchase is when you're pressed for time and when your head is "spinning" with information overload. That's a recipe for buyer remorse and a quick resale. I'm not saying for sure you'll make the wrong choice under these circumstances, but the odds of it are substantially greater than if you take your time and make sure you are really getting what you want.

Ive seen quite a few and I like the single row diamond look better to be honest...

Yes, but when you look closely at the setting of the diamonds (and in many cases the diamonds themselves) then aftermarket bezels don't come close to OEM in terms of quality. But ultimately it's your watch, and if you want diamonds on a budget, then you have to be prepared for not quite perfect settings unfortunately.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Admittedly, I'm not a fan of the double row, either, but I haven't seen an aftermarket bezel yet that didn't look like it was dreamed up by a cut-rate pimp.

Get yourself a Bergeon screwdriver (think the correct size is 1.2mm). Then as mentioned above, it's a 2 minute job switching bezels on the SA.

I have an aftermarket twin row bezel which I may let go for the right price if you're interested.
Bought it in Feb 2011, but it's too much bling for daily use, hence, it's been sat in the watch box for the past half year as I've reverted to the original brushed bezel.

As already mentioned, the setting on aftermarket bezels just doesn't compare with OEM ones.
I initially preferred the single row bezels too, but in my search, I found that the imperctions were somehow more noticeable on these ones. For example, on many of them (mainly due to the size of the diamond) you could still see the bezel markings in the setting which looked ugly IMHO.
Ended up going for twin setting because it looked more OEM.




PM me for more info if you're interested in it.

I am going to wait on the bezel for now... I would prefer to find a local jeweler or a website with very high positive feedback from people on here to get one from ...

I have something against buyin pre-owned diamonds.. no offense to you tho just in general

That's not going to happen.

For everyone who says that they used x place and liked the results there will be ten people saying that they can't hold a candle to OEM.