The Breitling Watch Source Forums

As they should. Breitling can spew forth how the 5 year warranty is evidence of how proud they are of the movement and how they have the confidence to stand behind what they described as "the best chronograph movement in the world" in their marketing material, but the bottom line is that 4 years in to the modern in house era they are still selling watches that appear to have significant movement issues, and at least some of those issues seem to be design related.

I entirely agree. Knowledge is power.

OK, the Chronomat, TOC and the Navi all fully wound, time synchronised and chronos activated also in synch for overnight check.
Update in about 8 hours.

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"It is just a matter of time!"

Wait a min...Besides BUSA, anyone here have sent your Calibre 01s to a service centre in another country? Of course that doesn't indicate that B01 is not flawed because it shouldn't have any issues in the first place. I mean for those who sent in yr B01s but still face issues after collection. Seems like most of these unresolved problems are happening at BUSA, from what I have read so far.

Anyway is it because Calibre 01 has many more parts and is more complex as compared to a normal calibre so unless with proper care, it is more prone to issues? Forget it because I think most will disagree...I'm just talking...

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Breitling Chronomat 01 Limited Edition
Breitling Navitimer 01 46mm

I dont think its an issue of "many more parts and is more complex as compared to a normal calibre" as you put it. It really has to do with them making their own movement for the first time. Its bound to have some kinks and flaws. You have to keep in mind that the ETA/Valjoux movement has been perfected over Decades.

As I understand, anyone working on the 01 must be trained and certified by Breitling SA.
Quite an investment for any service centre.
How many 01 certified technicians do BUSA have?
Could it be that the one certified chap at BUSA is a bit sloppy hence the issues with watches coming back from service and still having some problems?
Just speculating.

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"It is just a matter of time!"

Thanks for running a test, you definitely have have some great subjects.

On another note, at what point do we say, and does Breitling admit, there are issues with these movements? They are not functioning correctly. I would love to own a Navi 01, but I just can't see spending the money knowing about the (seemingly common) problems. I understand that the warranty has been extended... but I see that as there are so many issues Breitling HAD to extend the warranty to save face on their huge investment. Also, some of us buy a nice watch thinking it will last a lifetime, with these apparent growing pains, potential design flaws, and warranties eventually ending how much is it going to cost to fix and maintain these in house pieces over a lifetime?

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sco
Breitling Chrono Superocean
Omega Aqua Terra 8500
Rolex Submariner Date Ceramic

Never. That would be a commercial suicide.

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"It is just a matter of time!"

good question SCO. To be honest I dont think that they can never come out and admit that there is a problem with the movement. it would really just mess up the image of the company. but as already pointed out, the extension of the warranty from 2 years to 5 is their way of saying there is an issue.

I like Breitling and I love the idea of in house movement, but IMO I think they took this to market a little quicker than they should have.

1 hour 20 min, all three still ticking in perfect harmony.
Good night, lets see the status in the morning.

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"It is just a matter of time!"

Ya most likely but I think it's kind of linked.. Many more parts and complexity of the design lead to higher chances of facing different issues or prone to external factors(eg. Changing temperatures) that will affect the accuracy and functions....U know the expand and contract with temperature changes law thingy, that will affect majority of the parts inside(since they are mostly metal parts) which in turn can affect the functions and accuracy. The more parts, the more easily the entire movement will be affected by different external factors, and as u mentioned it's the first time Breitling manufactures their own movement so lack of "real time testing" leads to these design flaws. I think they need to gather those real life issues before slowly modifying their movement to perfection.

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Breitling Chronomat 01 Limited Edition
Breitling Navitimer 01 46mm

I'm picking this thread up late, as I've been traveling. In any case, I'm really sorry to hear about your issue, Sharkman. As quite possibly the person with the worst luck on this forum with the B01, I must admit that I'm not surprised you've developed a problem. I haven't personally experienced this one, but I've just fully wound my watch and started the chrono just to check.

Over the course of my Chronomat's 4 trips to BUSA, I ended up working with the Technical Director, Gerhard. I believe he's since left BUSA and returned to Switzerland, so I can't tell you who's running the show now. You seem pretty hopeful about BUSA getting the issue worked out, but I'd recommend preparing yourself to have it returned with the issue remaining. In the end, BUSA replaced my entire movement and I've since developed a similar issue to what I previously had . . . not to mention that now both my Chronomat and Navi 01's are running WAY out of COSC spec- about +12 sec/day.

Do keep us posted on how it pans out. Let's hope BUSA has figured out how to fix these movements.

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Chronomat 01- Sierra Silver/Steel
Navitimer 01- Limited Edition #1337/2000

Why do we think that there are "many more parts" in the in house movement vs. an ETA chronograph????

Column wheel vs. tilting pinion adds a couple, instant date change a couple, but after that it's getting to semantics. Sure manufatcurers will claim high part numbers by counting things like jewels but that's not going to affect the complexity of the movement.

Bozman u are really indeed the most unlucky one that I have encountered...Really sorry to learn about yr issues from past to present. I really cannot think of any reasons for your plight other than something is really wrong with BUSA... I remember there was a thread asking how many faced issues with their B01s and in fact majority's answers were No. I have sent in mine only once because of 10 sec per day loss but had been perfect after getting it back. That got me to check my wife's Rolex Perpetual Datejust which was bought 2 mths after mine and it turned out that it was losing 10 sec per day too. Have yet to send it in. Wessa is one of those who didn't face any issues with his B01. I mean facing issues is common to me because I have heard of issues with other movements too sometimes, but to the extent of facing issues after repeatedly being sent in is a real pain and besides your case, most who experienced repeated issues all seemed coming from BUSA....seriously I am really curious if BUSA only has one watchmaker and maybe he is a super slacker? Maybe u guys might wanna write a petition or something to HQ to check on BUSA....

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Breitling Chronomat 01 Limited Edition
Breitling Navitimer 01 46mm

Sorry I am not sure of technical things like this but if a column wheel chronograph is nothing new, why does Breitling even need to spend 5 years and "design" the movement in the first place? After all it's nothing new...just curious about what are really the things about the movement that is newly designed? Surely there are...?

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Breitling Chronomat 01 Limited Edition
Breitling Navitimer 01 46mm